Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 January 2014
304. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the total amount of money's lent via the credit guarantee scheme since its inception to the end of December 2013, broken down by month and by county; the number of jobs sustained by this investment; the reasons the scheme did not meet its targets for 2013; his plans to address this in 2014; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1144/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe SME Credit Guarantee Scheme (CGS) was launched in October 2012 in response to numerous calls over many years from business interests. It is a novel Scheme in an Irish context which is currently developing a position in the Irish financial arena.
As of 3 January 2014 the SME Credit Guarantee Scheme has seventy-five live facilities resulting in €10.3m being sanctioned through the scheme by the participating lenders resulting in 401 new jobs being created and 236 jobs being maintained.
My Department publishes quarterly progress reports on the SME Credit Guarantee Scheme on my Department’s website www.enterprise.gov.ie. The progress report detailing the analysis and performance for the quarterly period ending 30 September 2013 is available on my Department’s website. I intend to publish the next progress report for the period to December 2013, once the report has been finalised.
In addition, I commissioned an independent review of the Scheme, which was submitted to me in Q3 2013. Since then my Department has worked with the Review Steering Group to determine the changes that can to be made to the Credit Guarantee Act 2012, and the contents of a new Credit Guarantee Scheme, on foot of this review. This complex work is progressing as quickly as is practicable. The review also contained a number of recommendations outside of the legal framework such as awareness raising that can be pursued without the need for legislative changes. In addition, my Department has been working with the Irish Banking Federation to determine the likely take-up of the revised Scheme.
I will ensure these changes to the Credit Guarantee Scheme are made in 2014 through the Action Plan for Jobs and I will implement the review recommendations, as appropriate, with a view to enhancing the up-take and impact of the Scheme as soon as possible.
