Credit Review Bill 2024: Second Stage
Seanad Éireann — 2026-01-21
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Joe O'Reilly (FG), Labour Panel

I will not comment publicly on that. The bank manager knew the ones who might be chancers and that, while they might present a very good theoretical framework, it might not be good in reality. The bank manager knew all of that stuff. In latter times - I get this a lot from businesses, farmers and individuals, and we are not talking about personal borrowing - people resent that when they make a proposition to the local institution, the decision might almost be made with a computer programme. It is made in an office in Dublin using a desktop analysis that does not take local considerations and family expertise, tradition, knowledge, integrity and capacity to be flexible and adaptive to different situations into account. Consequently, the Credit Review Office is very important. Any way we can bring those original values into the lending process so that everything is not down to desktop analysis is important.
By and large, the Bill only seeks to regularise what exists by placing it on a statutory basis to give it more strength and flexibility. That is important and I support it. We have to support our small businesses and farmers. I will raise a case from years ago, although I will not go into names. Hotel Kilmore in Cavan was built by a particular local family. The bank would not keep confidence in the hotel at that time. It said the family was overborrowed. Some young genius who had come out of university and done accountancy examinations decided that, after looking at the matter at face value, the family could not go on. The bank put the hotel into receivership or liquidation. That person could not have been more wrong. That family had an enormous tradition and was locally based and, under new management, the hotel went on to thrive and be a phenomenal success. Had there been some sort of body at that time to supervise that exercise and prevent that decision, that family would today be running Hotel Kilmore. It is irrelevant, as the family has done well otherwise and life is fine, but the point I am making is that arbitrary decisions like that cannot be allowed go unchecked.

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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