A recent report by Ireland's Central Statistics Office – the equivalent of the ONS - into credit provision in the economy for small and medium enterprises showed, unsurprisingly, that credit is very hard for small firms to access.
Overall, for firms that apply for finance, only 66% of them are getting it. This is down from 99% in the heady days of 2007. We knew this already, of course. The chart below shows the collapse in private sector credit since 2004.