Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 June 2020
301. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the number and value of loans provided by the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland by bank or lending institute for each type of loan product in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10326/20]
View answerThe SME Credit Guarantee Scheme encourages additional lending to SMEs by offering a partial Government guarantee to banks against losses on qualifying loans to eligible SMEs. Loans under the scheme range from €10,000 to €1m for terms of up to seven years.
Government has agreed a new €2 billion COVID-19 Credit Guarantee Scheme as a further development of the existing Credit Guarantee Scheme already available. This Scheme forms a major component of the government’s strategy to aid SMEs in these difficult times by providing critical support to ensure businesses are facilitated in having access to credit facilities to assist a return to a more regular trading environment. This Scheme will be available to all SME sectors, including primary producers. It will also have interest rates below current market rates. The implementation of this Scheme will require primary legislation, the drafting of which has commenced.
The Future Growth Loan Scheme currently makes up to €300 million of loans available with a term of 8-10 years and is operated by the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) though participating lenders. We have seen strong demand for the scheme since its launch in April 2019, resulting in a rapid take up of the scheme. Funding made available by the scheme facilitates long-term, strategic investment. Our department is working toward an expansion of the scheme which should be announced shortly.
The SBCI Covid-19 Working Capital Scheme is offered by my Department in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and is supported by the InnovFin SME Guarantee facility. The scheme is operated by the SBCI. This scheme is now being expanded to make available significant additional lending under the scheme. The scheme is available to eligible businesses that have been negatively affected by impacts arising from the outbreak of Covid-19 to enable those businesses to innovate, change or adapt in response to the current business environment.
The Brexit Loan Scheme makes lending available to eligible Irish businesses that have been negatively impacted as a result of the UK's withdrawal from the EU. Finance provided under the scheme is easier to access, more competitively priced, and offered at more favourable terms than other lending for such businesses.
With the exception of the Credit Guarantee Scheme, these schemes feature a two-stage application process, whereby businesses must first apply to the SBCI to confirm their eligibility under the scheme. Once they have received eligibility confirmation, they can apply to one of the participating finance providers for a loan under the scheme.
Regarding the specific number and value of loans provided by each of the participating finance providers, the SBCI does not release scheme data by bank or lending institution to preserve market confidentiality.
Details of uptake are set out in the following table.
|
Available Scheme |
Total eligibility applications received |
Total Loans (Sanctioned) |
Value of Loans (Sanctioned) |
|
Credit Guarantee Scheme |
N/A |
867 |
€152,559,224 |
|
Future Growth Loan Scheme(as of 05/06/20) |
3,741* |
1,098 |
€240,793,048 |
|
Covid-19 Working Capital Scheme (as of 05/06/20) |
2,984 |
372 |
€45,676,500 |
|
Brexit Loan Scheme (as of 22/05/20) |
1,163 |
270 |
€54,667,300 |
*The figure for total applications under the Future Growth Loan Scheme is that as at 29/05/20, as an updated figure was not yet available at time of writing.
