Credit Review Bill 2024: Second Stage
Seanad Éireann — 2026-01-21
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Pat Casey (FF), Labour Panel

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. Fianna Fáil will be fully supportive of this Bill.
We have to think back in time to when this service was first introduced. At that time, the banking industry itself was beginning to change. As a business person myself, I know the whole attitude of the bank had shifted away from a one-to-one situation whereby a person walked in to meet their bank manager, who understood them and their business and was there to assist. It moved to a more regional level where there was a gap between the customer and the bank manager or the people making decisions on whether to lend the money. While that was happening, we had the world financial crisis on top of that. It is hard to understand and express how the attitude in the banking industry changed almost overnight. I remember sitting with our bank the year before the crash happened, and it threw millions of euro on the table. One year later, we tried to establish an overdraft facility which, because we are a seasonal business, had been in place every winter for the previous hundred-and-something years, and it was no longer there. That is how bad the attitude within the banking sector became during that whole process. It did untold damage to small businesses, family businesses and farms. That is why the advent of the Credit Review Office was very much welcomed. At that time, we ourselves were 48 hours from picking up the phone and going through that process, but we eventually solved the problem. It is important to have that facility for small businesses or farms which do not have the expertise or the professionalism to take on the banking industry. For them to be able to go to an organisation that can make the case for them has been critically important. I am delighted to see that has been maintained because it is a great support to the industry.
The Minister of State pointed out there were 1,400 reviews in total up to 2023. Some 930 of them were successful, so there was a 60% success rate. Some €83 million was put back into the economy. That saved family businesses and farms, More important, it saved jobs and helped the economy to move forward.
Again, I welcome this legislation. It is critical. As the Minister of State pointed out, it is technical in its nature. The office was originally set up under the NAMA legislation, which we all know has wound down. This gives the service its own legislation. The Minister of State mentioned the limits that are in place. They can be amended by the Minister. I would love to see it promoted more to the sectors that this facility is there for them and they can use it when they do not have their own expertise. I would like to see that promoted more from a Government point of view.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-01-21/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:31+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-21