John Bruton
Ceist:29 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment whether he has had discussions with the banks regarding the spread in their lending rates which is adversely affecting small business.
Written Answers. - Discussions with Banks.
Chapter 3 of the report of the Task Force on Small Business deals with the question of finance for small business. The report refers to movements over the past six years in the differential between the prime AAA rate which mainly covers large companies and the public sector and the AA rate which mainly covers small businesses.
On 20 May this year I met representatives from all the major banks and I outlined my concerns, and those expressed to me by the business community, about the provision of finance for indigenous Irish industry and for small and medium sized companies in particular.
This question will be pursued in the regular discussions which my Department has with the banks. The Small Business and Services Division which I recently established will be involved with these discussions.