Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 26 March 2013
301. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the amount set aside for loans from the microenterprise loan fund from Government; and the amount leveraged from the private sector for 2013. [14925/13]
View answerAt a meeting on 24 November 2011 the Government approved the allocation of €10 million in the form of a non-repayable grant as seed capital for the Microenterprise Loan Fund. The allocation of €10 million to Microfinance Ireland was met from savings in the Vote of my Department. Using an initial 5 year horizon, this €10 million seed capital, supplemented by a further €15 million bank borrowing in tranches of €5 million over years 2, 3 and 4, is expected to generate €40 million in loan expenditure and create 3,800 jobs over a 5 year period. To date, no private sector financing has been utilised, but Microfinance Ireland, through its parent Social Finance Foundation, has been engaged in discussions with banks in recent months with a view to obtaining loan funding during the Summer of 2013.
