Michael McGrath
Ceist:174. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance when the remit of the Credit Review Office will be extended to include Permanent TSB; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50444/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 26 November 2013
Ceisteanna (174)
Freagraí scríofa
As the Deputy is aware, the Credit Review Office (CRO) reviews decisions by the banks participating in NAMA to refuse, reduce or withdraw credit facilities (including applications for restructured credit facilities) from €1,000 up to €3m. Permanent TSB are not a participating institution in NAMA, and indeed would have very limited lending to the SME sector compared to AIB and Bank of Ireland. Following the publication of an assessment of the CRO carried out by Grant Thornton, I engaged in a public consultation process in order to see what more the CRO can do to ensure SMEs are getting the support on bank lending they require. As a first step, I sanctioned an increase in the numbers on the Credit Review Panel in order to facilitate faster processing of decisions, thereby implementing one of the recommendations in the assessment. In addition, in Budget 2014 I increased the threshold by which SMEs can appeal refusals from €500,000 to €3 million. This will facilitate requests from a broader range of SMEs as well as large requests for refinancing.
The recent CRO report shows that the Credit Review Office upheld the credit appeal in 150 cases or 55% of cases decided. The upheld appeals have resulted in €18.5 million in credit being made available to SMEs and farms, protecting 1,521 jobs and I would strongly encourage SMEs refused credit to seek a review by the Office. My officials and I continue to liaise with the banks on a regular basis and the decision as to whether to amend the remit of the CRO to include non-NAMA participating banks remains under review.