Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Minister of State on his appointment and I wish him well. It is an important role that he is taking on in this portfolio.

The role of credit unions, in particular, is something that is undervalued in society. The good they have done for people who the banks do not want to deal with is huge. I would love it if the Minister of State would consider it appropriate to beef up what the credit unions can do for those people so that they serve a particular section of society that is often forgotten by the mainstream retail banks.

The issue of insurance is also important and it is something we have probably not tackled properly. Many of the speeches in the context of this debate have been about the value of this legislation for the SME sector. Insurance is one of the matters that is undoubtedly doing massive damage to our SME sector, as has been mentioned by other Senators. It is important that we tackle the damage that is being done to small businesses by public liability insurance and so on.

A number of Senators have spoken about the value of this legislation and of our membership of the European Union, and that is important as well. This Bill is an important statement of solidarity with every other member state of the European Union. I know the Minister of State has been asked about this and I would echo the request to indicate which member states still have to become signatories to this or if there are any such member states at this stage. As if we needed to know this in Ireland, this matter brings home the importance of being part of that greater Union and it outlines the depth of support that is there for us.

I have listened to other Senators in the course of this debate mentioning the importance of this Bill as a stimulus package and as something that supports the small business sector, and I agree with that, but the contrast with the previous massive downturn that we had a little over ten years ago was also pointed out, as was the suggestion that it is hoped this shows that we have learned from that. In that context, it is extremely important to recognise the difference between what happened in 2008 and 2009 to the economy globally and in Ireland and what has happened to the economy now. They are different types of recessions with different effects, and the remedies for them must be different.

It is important that when we look back to 2008, 2009 and 2010, we look back to a time when there was a massive credit bubble and a massive problem with financial institutions. Recovering from that required getting people back on their feet in a different way. Today we have a situation where viable and active businesses have been shut down, notwithstanding that they have the capacity to turn a profit and employ people on a continuing basis. It is a different set of circumstances that have led us to our current economic difficulties and that must be recognised. I wholeheartedly agree that the way we deal with that into the future is through stimulus and supporting those businesses that we know are viable, are working and are employing people locally. We know these businesses are using local services and products and those profits are being retained in the local economies throughout the country. That is a tremendously important part of SMEs. An issue I would like the Minister of State to address relates to section 10. A concern has been expressed by one or more banks about whether the insurance provisions extend to them in the context of the SBCI. I disagree with them. I do not believe that there was something that needed to be clarified but I accept that that was the advice. Section 10 solves that matter. However, I want to tell the Minister of State that the information given to me by SMEs in my constituency in Dún Laoghaire is that there is a cold welcome for them when they go to the retail banks. When they go to financial institutions, they do not get the kind of warm welcome we expect they should get. I am of the view that an obstacle was put before this legislation in terms of identifying problems and that it was something which suited those banks. I hope the Minister of State will ensure that the SME sector is valued by the banks wherever possible and that a clear message will be sent from the Department to the effect that the time for cherry-picking by banks between who they do and do not want to lend to is gone. They must stop putting obstacles in the way of viable, good local businesses that can survive and decide that they will not take any risk.

The approach of the banks now to lending, and this probably applies to personal finance also, particularly in the context of how they changed all the goalposts for people looking for mortgages, seems to be that they will only lend money to an organisation or an individual if they can identify a set of circumstances which afford them no risk whatsoever. That cannot be acceptable if we are to have a functional retail banking market.

The legislation is important and I commend the Minister of State on bringing it before the House.