In the aftermath of the budget I wish to add to what I said last night on the housing grants scheme that was announced. It is a retrograde and a bad step. Some commentary has been positive but that has mainly come from the construction sector. Much of the commentary has been bad in respect of the scheme. If implemented, the scheme could lead to an extraordinary uptake of debt by individuals who wish to purchase a home. The scheme provides an incentive for people to take on debt. No Government should incentivise private individuals to take on debt by way of a scheme but that is what this scheme does.

There is no incentive for people returning home. There is a total undermining of the Central Bank position on loan-to-value ratios and savings ratios. I can only guess that this initiative serves to undermine the Central Bank and to subvert it in respect of the savings initiative. The Central Bank did one thing in the aftermath of the financial crisis to try to help people. Many people have criticised the Central Bank for the limits of 10% or 20%. However, if the State subscribes to cultivating another housing boom, we are going to be back where we were before. That is wrong. This is going to push up prices on existing stock and it is going to help developers in parts of the country that are already over-housed. For example, in my county people cannot get a mortgage. How are they going to be able to avail of the scheme? The banks are simply not lending in certain parts of the country.

The banks are only lending in areas where they know, through economic evaluations and models, they can sell on the property if the loan goes pear-shaped. Shame on the banks and, in particular, AIB, which is largely supported by the taxpayer. These are major issues which have not been addressed. This is feeding into a situation where increased lending rates internationally will cause a major crisis in the housing system again.

Following on from yesterday's Budget Statement which was positive in many respects, I want to focus on the speech by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Michael Creed, and his unique take on low-cost finance for farmers. It was a major step forward for the agricultural community that, through the good work of the Minister, €150 million has been made available for low-cost finance. Loans from the scheme to provide working capital for the agriculture sector will have a low interest rate of 2.95%, a positive development. We have been looking for this for a long time. We have been on about the interest rate issue and the pillar banks. In Austria, farmers can get finance with an interest rate of 2%, but in Ireland one can pay anything up to 8%. The Minister has stepped into the market, making €150 million available in low-cost finance at 2.95%. This is an important day and has the ability to put cashflow and working capital back into this industry. That is what it required. Grain and dairy farmers have been looking for working capital for the past 12 months. We have a unique opportunity with this scheme. I encourage everyone in the agriculture sector to get involved in the scheme because it has the potential to lift us out of this crisis and, I hop, put us on a footing to go forward. The agriculture industry has the ability to repay and become a major driver in the economy.