I am shocked by the Taoiseach's response to Deputy Kenny. It made him and the Government seem like helpless bystanders.

Correct.

There is a credit famine in this country. Businesses are being starved of credit. The position in this regard was outlined yesterday by the Small Firms Association, which indicated that many small businesses have experienced their worst month of trading for 20 years. It also stated that unless specific actions are taken within a matter of days, the small business sector will implode and unemployment levels will soar. The Small Firms Association drew attention to a €15 billion fund established by the European Investment Bank. Banks in 22 of the 27 member states of the European Union have applied for and obtained money from that fund in order to assist the small business sectors in their jurisdictions. However, the banks here, which are fully guaranteed by the State, have not applied to the fund.

On Thursday last, the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, in a reply to a parliamentary question tabled by Deputy Bruton, stated that she was urging the banks to facilitate capital and credit for small businesses by accessing the funding available through the European Investment Bank. She also stated that she and the Minister for Finance would be having further discussions with the banks in respect of this matter.

When the bank guarantee scheme was introduced, we were informed — this was explicit in the scheme and the legislation — that the Minister for Finance was taking onto himself all kinds of powers to direct the banks in the public interest. I have not seen evidence that this is happening. Why is it that no Irish bank has sought to access the European Investment Bank fund, which would make available to small businesses the money they so desperately need and which has been accessed by banks in other countries in order to assist their small business sectors? What has been done to direct Irish banks to take action in this regard?

The Taoiseach referred to the examinations under way to establish the level of bad debt that will have to be written off by the Irish banks before recapitalisation can occur. I understand the PricewaterhouseCoopers, PWC, report was made available to the Financial Regulator earlier today. I presume the Taoiseach and the Government are aware of the contents of that report. Is that the case? If it is, will the Taoiseach and the Government be in a position to make decisions in the near future in respect of the recapitalisation of the banks?

The Financial Regulator has kept the Government briefed on the report, which was a work in progress until today. The Governor of the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland will be meeting the Minister for Finance later this afternoon — if he has not already done so — to outline the position in full. It is important to point out that despite many statements to the contrary there is no question of impending insolvency in our banks. On the question relating to the requirements of Irish businesses, the Labour Party voted against the State guarantee scheme.

That is correct and we were quite right to do so as it turned out.

We were right to do so.

We were dead right.

It was not right. It provided the means by which access to liquidity could be provided to the Irish banks at a time, six weeks ago, when a real problem existed and continues to exist. The issue before us this afternoon is Allied Irish Bank loans. We are continuing to work with the banks to ensure that if they can get access to such loans they do so.

Access to capital, private or otherwise, is a continuing concern for banks. It is not correct to say that the Government is stepping back from the situation. The Government is at an advanced stage in respect of all of these matters, which are commercially sensitive. I am constrained in what I can say in regard to these matters at this particular time other than to say that the Government is seized of this issue in every respect and is considering all options in seeking to find a solution that will ensure lines of credit remain available to Irish business going forward.

To suggest that the recapitalisation of the banks is the solution to that problem is not to see the full picture. Business plans for the future are the best means, in practical terms, of doing this.

The Taoiseach does not need to remind me that the Labour Party voted against the blank cheque that the Government decided to give the banking system which——

Hear, hear.

——incidentally, the Minister for Finance described only a couple of weeks ago as the cheapest bail out in the world so far. He also stated that the guarantee scheme had successfully attracted a lot of liquidity into the banking system.

Where is it?

It is a con job.

It has not gone to Irish business.

It is a blanket rejection of the scheme.

It was only a promise of money.

If it has, it has not managed to work its way back to Irish business. It now looks as though we are heading into the worst of both worlds, namely, a blanket guarantee for the banking system and, it would appear, an increasing inevitability of recapitalisation of the banks with taxpayers' money, which we were told the guarantee scheme was designed to avoid in the first instance.

I want to return to the first question I asked of the Taoiseach. Will he explain why the Irish banks have not availed of the European Investment Bank fund? What is his response to the call by the Small Firms Association for the establishment of a small business operational fund of approximately €600 million which would make credit available to Irish businesses which are starved of credit from the banks and are facing into an uncertain future, many of whom have stated that may be put out of business in a matter of days?

It is now six or seven weeks since the bank guarantee scheme was introduced and all the Taoiseach can offer is to come into this House and say he is awaiting this and that report and is examining every option; he cannot give direct answers on why the banks are not availing of the European Investment Bank fund. Has the Taoiseach asked them why this is so?

The Tánaiste told us last Thursday that she and the Minister for Finance were in discussions with the banks. What discussions have taken place with the banks and what explanation have they given as to why, unlike their counterparts in 22 other member states, they have not availed of the fund established by the European Investment Bank?

The Tánaiste has been in touch with the banks on that matter since then.

What was their answer?

We are awaiting——

Is it in the post?

That was weeks ago.

It was not weeks ago, it was last week. Let us be clear about what we are talking about. It was not weeks ago. The bank guarantee scheme was introduced weeks ago, not months ago as suggested by Deputy Kenny when making his initial point.

It was introduced a month and a half ago.

It was introduced six weeks ago. We were all here.

The point is——

Please allow the Taoiseach to finish his response.

The point is, and it is a simple point——-

The Taoiseach should ensure he is correct when making the point.

The record will show otherwise. I will leave it at that.

It was introduced six weeks ago.

Which record?

As far as the Government is concerned, whatever can be done by the Irish banking system to assist Irish business, will be done.

What did the banks say?

The second point relates to the stability of the banking system. The party that opposed the decision which provided stability in the banking system——

Why have we not heard it?

I am entitled to reply. If Deputy Gilmore is entitled to ask a question without interruption, I am entitled to respond with interruption.

The Taoiseach, without interruption.

Answer the question.

I have answered the question and will continue to answer it.

The Taoiseach should answer the question I asked and not the question he would have liked me to ask him.

I answered the question

The Taoiseach must be allowed to finish his reply.

If Deputy Gilmore is going to get involved in this type of nonsense——

The Taoiseach should answer the question.

I have answered the question. In regard to the provision of sufficient funding for Irish business, the Government will do everything it can to achieve that.

What will the Government do?

The suggestion that recapitalisation is the solution to the problem is not correct. In regard to the European Investment Bank fund, I have informed the House that the Tánaiste has been in touch with the banks and we are waiting to hear if they have been successful in that effort.

The Government has some control over them.

That is like the discussions with the National Consumer Agency.

It is not true to suggest that no effort is being made by anybody to try to improve the situation. That is not the situation.

We are doing all that we can. We are at an advanced stage in respect of a whole range of issues that I cannot discuss this evening——

Time to go, Taoiseach.

——but which will ensure the stability of the banking system into the future. We will insist on that. It is what we are going to do in the coming days and weeks.

Small businesses are going out of business and the Tánaiste is waiting for a reply from the banks.