Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 January 2018
170. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the loans made available to persons through the agriculture cashflow support loan scheme to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3785/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraOne of my priorities is to support the provision of lower-cost, more flexible finance for farmers. The “Agriculture Cashflow Support Loan Scheme” was developed by my Department in co-operation with the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) to address the impact of the change in the sterling exchange rate arising from Brexit and lower commodity prices in some agriculture sectors during 2016. It made €150 million of flexible working capital funding available at low-cost interest rates of 2.95%. I launched the Scheme on 31 January 2017 and by the beginning of March, all of the participating banks had reported that their funds were committed.
The SBCI have reported that, to the 18th December 2017, there have been 4,200 loan drawdowns amounting to a total of €142,397,350. This is an average loan amount of €33,900. The last date for draw down of approved loans was the 31st December 2017 and the SBCI will report final figures for the Scheme shortly. I was pleased with the positive reaction to the Scheme by farmers, which among other things, allowed them to pay down more expensive forms of short-term debt, ensuring the ongoing financial sustainability of viable farming enterprises.
This successful Scheme has provided a template for publicly-assisted loan schemes and I expect to launch the new “Brexit Loan Scheme” shortly with the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation. This will make up to €300 million of working capital finance available to Irish businesses currently impacted by Brexit, or to those who will be in the future, with my Department's funding (€9 million out of the total €23 million in public funding) ensuring at least 40% of the Scheme will be available to food companies.
