Skip to main content
Normal View

Brexit Supports

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 28 February 2019

Thursday, 28 February 2019

Questions (182)

Mattie McGrath

Question:

182. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of applications received under the Brexit loan scheme; the number of approved and rejected applications; the number and value of loans provided; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10074/19]

View answer

Written answers

The €300 million Brexit Loan Scheme was developed by my Department in cooperation with the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, the Department of Finance and the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) to provide working capital support to enable eligible Irish businesses (SMEs and small mid-caps) to implement the necessary changes to address the challenges posed by Brexit. Given its significant exposure to the UK market, at least 40% of the fund is available to food businesses. The Scheme opened for applications on 28 March 2018 and it will remain open until 31st March 2020.

It provides for loans of €25,000 to €1,500,000 per eligible enterprise at a maximum interest rate of 4%, ranging from 1 year to 3 years, with unsecured loans up to €500,000. The loans can be used for future working capital requirements or to fund innovation, change or adaptation of the business to mitigate the impact of Brexit.

Applications for eligibility assessment must be made to the SBCI who, on approval, assign an eligibility reference number. This reference number along with the loan application may then be provided to a participating lender.

At 22 February, there were 462 eligibility applications received, of which 413 are approved and 10 are ineligible. The total number of loans progressed to sanction at bank level is 81 with a total value of €17.3m, 13 of which relate to food businesses with a value of €4.2m.

Top
Share