Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 January 2019
515. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the number of businesses that have applied for loans from the Brexit loan scheme; the number of applications that have been refused; the number of businesses by county that have been approved funding; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1211/19]
View answerThe Brexit Loan Scheme provides affordable working capital to eligible businesses with up to 499 employees that are or will be impacted by Brexit and meet the scheme criteria. The €23 million exchequer funding (€14 million from my Department and €9 million from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine) has been leveraged to provide a fund of up to €300 million.
It has been designed to assist eligible Irish businesses in the short-term to deal with the challenges of Brexit, which include the pressures of increased market instability and currency volatility. The scheme is open to both State Agency clients and businesses that do not have any relationship with State Agencies. Sole traders may also apply.
The scheme features a two-stage application process. First, businesses must apply to the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) to confirm their eligibility for the scheme. The SBCI assess the applications and successful applicants receive an eligibility reference number.
Successful applicants can then apply for a loan under the scheme with one of the participating finance providers. Approval of loans under the Brexit Loan Scheme is subject to the finance providers’ own credit policies and procedures.
The scheme was launched in March 2018, as of 11 January 2019, there have been 369 applications received, of which 325 have been approved, and a further 36 are being processed and 63 loans progressed to sanction at finance provider level to a value of €14.8 million. Six businesses were deemed not eligible. These figures were issued as an interim update, more detailed information is available on a quarterly basis.
Information on the number of businesses approved for funding by county could identify individual enterprises. A more meaningful approach is to look at the activity by industry, economic regional level and innovation criteria. For example, Manufacturing accounts for 38% of approvals, Brexit impacted exporters account for almost 50% of approvals while 20% of approved applications relate to investments in new products or markets.
