Opposition parties have called on the Government to act following a report which revealed that banks are refusing funding to a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises.
Fine Gael has called on the Government to introduce a series of measures to help busineses following the publication of an industry report today which shows that the number of firms refused funding by banks has risen sharply.
On foot of the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (Isme) report, the party's spokesman on enterprise, Leo Varadkar, said the country's business sector is being decimated by "a perfect storm".
"Viable businesses are being wiped out, and small and medium enterprises (SME) are the hardest hit. Ireland will not see any economic recovery without a vibrant SME sector. But we are rapidly losing this important resource", Mr Varadkar said.
He called on the Government to set up a National Recovery Bank which would lend to viable businesses, as he claimed Nama "clearly is not working."
Costs controlled or regulated by the Government could be reduced through the establishment of a national competitiveness action plan, Mr Varadkar argued. He also called on the Government to "apply pressure" on landlords to "bring down costs on existing contracts in order to reflect true market value."
Sinn Féin's finance spokeman Arthur Morgan said Isme's report put the "nail in the coffin of the misconception that banks have kept a steady flow of credit to the people of this State."
He said access to credit is "vital" for enterprises and called on the Government to "take moves to make sure that corporate greed is no longer at the heart of our banking system, by moving to nationalise the two main banks and create a State bank."
