Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am not arguing the policy intent as to why there is a guarantee. I have accepted this. The Minister of State called for people to be factual earlier and he needs to be factual. Of course, it would only be called on if there were a loss. This is the legislation whereby the State says if there is loss it will take that hit. What I am pointing out is that there is still a profit even at 2% or 1%, and I hope it is very low. I would be delighted if the Minister of State were to inform me, for example, that any interest made on those loans that are successful goes back in some way to other enterprises that might be struggling more. Perhaps any profit that comes from those who use the scheme and succeed will be redirected to give leniency to those who might be struggling or take a longer time.That would be a situation in which there was not profit and it was redirected within the scheme. That is certainly not in what is before us today. I look forward to seeing the statutory instruments when they are drawn up, but at the moment there is the potential for loss which the State absorbs 80% of. There is a potential for profit, which the banks will hold. That is a fact, that is how it is. We should be clear on it. I absolutely realise that the policy intent is that the State wants to drive this to happen but let us be clear.