Banks not lending to business due to lack of funds, says competition chair

It isn’t a lack of competition that is causing banks not to lend to small businesses but a lack of funds, the chairperson of the Competition Authority believes.

Isolde Goggin told the Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation yesterday that the banking sector was in such a bad state that financial stability trumped competition as a key priority.

“I am not sure what the Competition Authority can do about the lack of loans to small businesses if the money isn’t there in the first place,” said Ms Goggin.