Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 8 September 2020
284. Deputy Ged Nash asked the Minister for Finance the way in which the pandemic stabilisation and recovery fund will operate; the nature of the investment the fund has undertaken to date; the criteria applied to inform investment decisions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21546/20]
View answerThe Pandemic Stabilisation and Recovery Fund (PSRF), is a €2 billion sub-portfolio within the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF). The ISIF is managed and controlled by the National Treasury Management Agency.
The initial focus of the PSRF will be on enterprises with over 250 employees or with an annual turnover of in excess of €50million, which have been materially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Such enterprises must demonstrate that the enterprise was viable pre COVID-19, and that it is expected to return to viability and to contribute to the Irish economy. Further, it should also be clear that ISIF investment, either alone or with co-investment, will be critical to supporting the enterprise in its return to financial viability.
ISIF has engaged extensively with a broad range of businesses in Ireland to date, primarily across sectors impacted by the COVID pandemic such as tourism, aviation and retail, and has a current pipeline in excess of 30 transactions. Many of these companies are currently availing of existing government supports and/or bank forbearance and are therefore seeking investment targeted towards the end of 2020 and into 2021. ISIF will continue to support such medium to large Irish businesses with commercial equity and debt based investment.
ISIF’s normal investment criteria also apply, in particular appropriate commercial return and economic impact remain core to the ISIF mandate. Further details have been published by the ISIF on the operation of the PSRF, these can be found on the ISIF website at https://isif.ie/
