I am in regular contact with Hotel Industry representatives and am well aware of the issues and their concerns in these matters. The Government recognises that SMEs are the lifeblood of the economy and will play a vital role in the recovery of employment growth. One of the key priorities of the Programme for Government is to ensure that an adequate pool of credit is available to fund SMEs across all sectors, including the tourism industry.
The Government has imposed SME lending targets on AIB and Bank of Ireland for the years 2011 to 2013. Each bank was required to sanction lending of at least €3 billion in 2011, €3.5 billion in 2012 and €4 billion in 2013 for new or increased credit facilities to SMEs. Both banks have reported that they achieved their 2011 and 2012 targets and the recent Credit Review Office quarterly report commented “both banks are on track to achieve their €4bn loan sanction targets, assuming the pattern of previous years of a strong Q4 performance is repeated.” AIB and Bank of Ireland are expected to lend to viable businesses both for investment and working capital purposes.
I am advised by my colleague the Minister for Finance that the Credit Review Office is available to assist businesses which have been refused credit. The recent CRO report shows that the Credit Review Office upheld the credit appeal in 150 cases or 55% of cases decided. The upheld appeals have resulted in €18.5m credit being made available to SMEs and farms, protecting 1,521 jobs. This shows that there is a strong prospect of success for SMEs going to the Credit Review Office and I would strongly encourage SMEs refused credit to seek a review by the Office.
The SME State Bodies Group, chaired by the Department of Finance, was established in 2012 to develop key policy initiatives to support SME access to credit and other forms of finance, and to ensure their implementation. Fáilte Ireland, which is among the bodies represented on the Group, promotes the sector-specific needs of the tourism and hotel industry.
The Minister for Finance and his officials continue to engage with the lending institutions and he has met the Boards of each of the banks in which the State has a shareholding three times since the start of this year. At these meetings, he has emphasised the importance of access to credit for SMEs and the need for an adequate flow of finance to be available to viable small businesses in Ireland.
