Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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Question 153: To ask the Minister for Finance the amount of funding that was given to the three main Irish banks by the European Central Bank to date in 2009; the amount of funding that has been lent to date in 2009 by these banks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40195/09]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I have no function in regard to the level of ECB lending as this is a matter for the ECB and the associated national central banks, and it would be inappropriate for Ministers to comment on specific institutions in that regard.

AIB and Bank of Ireland gave certain commitments to make funds available as part of recapitalisation and figures on their SME lending form part of the supplementary documentation on NAMA which I circulated in the Dáil on 16 September 2009.

A Report Stage amendment to the NAMA Bill provides a power to issue guidelines to the participating institutions on lending practices and procedures to improve the flow of credit to SMEs and, if necessary, other sectors and guidelines relating to the review of decisions of participating institutions to refuse credit facilities. The power is a wide ranging one and will allow for a response adapted to the particular circumstances of different institutions and sectors. This approach recognises that this is a complex situation and allows for a flexible response to changing credit needs.

It should be noted that the Central Bank figures for lending are calculated after various adjustments, notably the deduction of banks' provisions against possible losses. Accordingly, where the headline figure shows a reduction, this may not mean that actual lending has fallen, as the ECB monthly bulletins have explained.