Dara Calleary
Question:300. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Finance the number of staff employed by the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41430/14]
View answerTuesday, 4 November 2014
Questions (300)
Written answers
In order to have the SBCI operational as quickly as possible, it will operate in a manner similar to how KfW operates in Germany, as a wholesale lender, that lends to on-lenders, who will then lend direct to SMEs. SMEs will use the on-lending institutions' resources to apply for an SBCI funded product. The on-lending model is designed to ensure that as much of the benefit of the SBCI's low funding cost is passed onto SMEs. This also means avoiding as much operational overhead as possible.
Recruitment for the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) is currently being conducted by the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA). The NTMA is the State body which is mandated to provide resources to the SBCI. The SBCI will in turn reimburse the NTMA for these resources. Staff will be employed by the NTMA to resource the SBCI in much the same way the National Asset Management Agency is resourced. Recruitment at the SBCI has commenced and it is anticipated the SBCI will reach its full complement of staff by year end. The SBCI will be a tight operation and it is expected that between 10 and 15 staff will be sufficient to carry on the business of the SBCI.
At the end of October, four direct full time staff were working in the SBCI and a number of NTMA staff were providing the SBCI with support services. These support services were legal, IT, HR, Communication and Administrations. The Chief Executive Officer of the SBCI will also be employed by the NTMA but specifically for the role of CEO of the SBCI.