The Central Bank of Ireland or the Department of Finance does not collate and publish loan level data.
However, my Department, closely monitors developments in the SME credit environment, including the level of SME applications for credit that required some form of collateral and the type of collateral sought by the bank, through its biannual SME Credit Demand Survey. This informative survey series can be accessed through the Department’s website https://www.gov.ie/en/collection/788135-credit-demand-surveys/. The survey also reports on the terms and conditions attached to bank loans including personal guarantees.
The SME Credit Demand Survey is based on a randomly selected representative sample of 1,500 SMEs. The sample error for a survey of this nature is good and has a margin of error of +/- 2.66%, at a 95% significance level.
The following table sets out the overall percentage of applications that required collateral with a percentage breakdown of the type of collateral for each survey. It should be noted, for comparative purposes, the survey to March for each year was selected.
|
2014
|
2015
|
2016
|
2017
|
2018
|
2019
|
Percentage of applications requiring collateral
|
43%
|
49%
|
33%
|
45%
|
39%
|
39%
|
Buildings
|
15%
|
14%
|
10%
|
12%
|
10%
|
12%
|
Land
|
6%
|
9%
|
|
6%
|
8%
|
8%
|
Personal assets of owner
|
14%
|
8%
|
10%
|
7%
|
7%
|
8%
|
Machinery & Equipment
|
4%
|
8%
|
6%
|
8%
|
7%
|
5%
|
Accounts receivable
|
N/A
|
3%
|
3%
|
3%
|
2%
|
4%
|
Inventories
|
2%
|
1%
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
Other
|
3%
|
6%
|
2%
|
18%
|
12%
|
12%
|
Percentage of applications requiring no collateral
|
57%
|
51%
|
67%
|
55%
|
61%
|
61%
|
The following table sets out the percentage of loan applications that required a personal guarantee.
|
2014
|
2015
|
2016
|
2017
|
2018
|
2019
|
Percentage of loan applications requiring a personal guarantee
|
44%
|
46%
|
45%
|
28%
|
47%
|
50%
|