Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 March 2021
1. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if additional funding will be provided to the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland Covid-19 loan scheme (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16126/21]
View answerThe Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland operates several loan guarantee schemes on behalf of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. These include three schemes with particular relevance to businesses that have been negatively impacted by the outbreak of COVID-19.
The Future Growth Loan Scheme makes lending available to SMEs and small mid-caps (businesses of up to 499 employees) seeking financing for long-term strategic investment, including in response to the impacts of Brexit and COVID-19.
The scheme was launched in 2019 and initially provided for up to €300m in long-term lending, however in July of 2020 it was expanded by €500m to make a total of €800m available through participating financial providers.
As of 22 March 2021, 3,246 loans have been sanctioned through the Future Growth Loan Scheme to the value of €675.61m.
Funding under the scheme is made available through participating finance providers: AIB, Bank of Ireland, Ulster Bank, Permanent TSB, KBC and Close Brothers. While the scheme is not fully subscribed as of yet, the scheme has seen rapid uptake and as such a number of the participating finance providers are currently closed to new applications as they process a “pipeline” of existing applicants. That pipeline is expected to amount to further tens of millions of lending through those participating providers.
At present, Close Brothers and KBC still remain open to new applications under the scheme.
The COVID-19 Credit Guarantee Scheme, which is the largest loan guarantee scheme in the history of the State, also provides for access to finance for investment purposes. The Scheme provides €2 billion in lending, for terms up to five-and-a-half years and offers a range of lending products between €10,000 and €1m and is available to SMEs and small mid-caps (business with less than 500 employees), including primary producers (businesses engaged in the farming and seafood sectors). I would strongly encourage businesses that are seeking funding for investment purposes in order to respond to, or to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 to consider this scheme as an opportunity for addressing their financing needs at this time.
To date (11 March), 3,575 loans have been drawn down by applicants to the scheme, to a total value of €214.73m.
For businesses seeking shorter-term working capital in response to the pandemic, the COVID-19 Working Capital Scheme facilitates loans to eligible businesses as they seek to innovate, change or adapt in response to COVID-19. Loans under this scheme are for terms of up to three years and range from €25,000 to €1.5m. This scheme is also open to SMEs and small mid-caps.
To date (19 March), 1,009 loans have progressed to sanction under this scheme, to a total value of €136.69m.
