I have introduced a number of supports for farmers and the agri-food sector to assist in addressing the challenges posed by Brexit. These include the Agriculture Cash Flow Support Loan Scheme, the Brexit Loan Scheme, the Future Growth Loan Scheme and the Beef Exceptional Aid Measure.
The uptake of these schemes is as follows:
Title of Scheme
|
Details
|
Uptake to 6 December 2019
|
Agriculture Cash Flow Support Loan Scheme
|
Developed in co-operation with the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI)
Funding of €150m
Cash flow support facility, providing farmers with a low cost, flexible source of working capital loan amounts up to €150,000 for up to six years at an interest rate of 2.95%
Scheme closed.
|
Approximately 4,246 applications to the value of €145m
Average loan size of €34,127
Average loan period of 41 months
|
Brexit Loan Scheme
|
Joint DAFM/DBEI/Dept. of Finance/SBCI Scheme
Funding of €300m
Operable 28 March 2018 to 31 March 2020
Loans of €25,000 to €1,500,000 per eligible enterprise
Maximum interest rate of 4%, ranging from 1 year to 3 years
At least 40% available to food businesses
Unsecured loans up to €500,000
|
822 applications approved
218 to the value of approx. €47.4m have been sanctioned
38 (with a value of €9.56m) relate to food businesses
20 loans to the value of €5,715,000 have been drawn down in Cork as at 16 December 2019
|
Future Growth Loan Scheme
|
Joint DBEI/DAFM Scheme
Funding of €300m available since 17 Apr 2019
Available to Irish businesses, including farmers and the agri-food & seafood sectors
Applications submitted through the SBCI since 17th April 2019
|
2,215 applications approved
615 loans progressed to sanction at bank level.
Total value of sanctioned loans is €116.9m
284 (with a value of €32.5m) relate to farmers and to 49 food businesses worth €13.7m.
85 loans have been sanctioned in Cork totalling €14,731,000
39 of them, to a value of €6,942,000, have been drawn down
|
Beef Exceptional Aid Measure
|
34,517 eligible applications received.
A further 560 applications have been submitted under appeal from applicants that have been deemed ineligible but who have requested to be considered for inclusion in the scheme.
Payments commenced in December 2019.
The scheme is closed.
|
€78,192,380 in potential payments (not including allocations to the 560 appealed applications)
Average payment €2,265
|