Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 12 November 2013
163. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the help and support the Department provides to small business; the grants and help available to access finance in the event of refusals by banks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47851/13]
View answerThe Deputy will be aware that this Government is fully committed to supporting small businesses to grow and develop and is making Ireland the best small country in which to do business by 2016.
To this end I introduced two targeted schemes to support an additional flow of credit into the economy in 2012, namely the Microenterprise Loan Fund and the Credit Guarantee Scheme.
These Schemes are in addition to, and complement, the work Enterprise Ireland and the City and County Enterprise Boards (soon to be Local Enterprise Offices) undertake to support small businesses. This support includes the provision of grants and other supports, such as mentoring.
The Microenterprise Loan Fund improves access to credit for microenterprises and facilitates the growth and expansion of viable businesses with less than 10 employees from all industry sectors across the country, which have been refused access to credit from the banks. Support is in the form of loans for up to €25,000, available to start-up, newly established, or growing microenterprises, with viable business propositions, that do not meet the conventional risk criteria applied by banks. Microfinance Ireland is delivering the Microenterprise Loan Fund, and is making available additional credit to companies in this very important sector of the economy.
The Credit Guarantee Scheme (CGS) is also designed to support SMEs who, because of lack of collateral or because of the novelty of the business model, market, sector or technology of the business, face difficulties in accessing traditional bank credit. Commercially viable, well performing micro, small and medium enterprises that have a solid business plan and a defined market for their products or services, and can demonstrate their ability to repay the loan are the target of this scheme. I am in the process of having the CGS independently reviewed to help improve the Scheme for all businesses, and I intend taking appropriate action as a result of the review to ensure use of the Scheme is maximised.
Quarterly progress reports on the Microenterprise Loan Fund and the SME Credit Guarantee Scheme are published on my Department’s website www.enterprise.gov.ie. The progress reports detailing the analysis and performance of both Schemes for the quarterly period ending 30th September 2013 are available on my Department’s website.
