Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 November 2014
303. Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Finance the number of institutions with outstanding loans to small and medium enterprises here; the number of institutions that are subject to targets for dealing with SME loan arrears; if the details of actions taken by banks subject to targets to deal with arrears will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41434/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy is aware, targets to move distressed small and medium enterprise borrowers onto longer-term solutions were implemented in 2013 for a number of institutions involved in SME lending. The institutions are required to report performance against the targets on a quarterly basis to the Central Bank along with specific management information. To date, the institutions report good progress in agreeing solutions with many distressed SME borrowers which will, in time, resolve the loans. The targets are not in the public domain, our dealings with each institution are on a bilateral basis.
While I do not have precise numbers on the financial institutions with outstanding SME loans, the full list of Credit institutions regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland has been forwarded to the Deputy with the written reply.
The Deputy may also wish to note that in June 2014 the Central Bank of Ireland's Financial Stability Division published the SME Market Report (H1 2014) providing an up-to-date picture of developments in the Irish SME credit market. The report which provides information on credit demand, credit access, loan terms and conditions, loan default, interest rates and credit market concentration can be found at the following link:
