Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 21 April 2021
204. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if consideration will be given to putting in place a new loan facility scheme for SMEs in order to reflect current challenges posed by the pandemic to small and medium-sized businesses by which the scheme would be independent of the main commercial banks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20300/21]
Amharc ar fhreagraSince the onset of the pandemic, my Department has worked to ensure that there are schemes in place to help businesses to access appropriate financing in response to the challenges presented trading in the environment brought about by COVID-19. Initially, this meant the adaptation or expansion of existing schemes to ensure support could be in place as quickly as possible. These schemes included the COVID-19 Working Capital Scheme, MicroFinance Ireland’s COVID-19 Business Loans, and the Future Growth Loan Scheme.
These were followed by the €2 billion COVID-19 Credit Guarantee Scheme, which was developed as a tailored loan support for COVID-19-impacted businesses and is the largest such scheme in the history of the state.
This scheme was developed with the specific goal of widening the pool of participating lending institutions. To that end, the participating finance providers under the scheme include three banks, four non-bank lenders, and nineteen credit unions. Work is under way to bring more non-bank lenders into participation under the scheme, further broadening the options for businesses seeking to access appropriate financing in response to the impacts of the pandemic.
The proposal outlined in your query specifies a scheme not to be delivered through the major banks, however the delivery of these loan guarantee schemes through existing finance providers allows the Government to leverage existing lending infrastructure that these lenders have in place around the country, ensuring accessibility for impacted businesses.
The scheme’s spread across bank and non-bank lenders provides an efficient mechanism for making competitive lending products available to COVID-19-impacted businesses. There are some businesses in sectors or regions that may have difficulty in accessing financing from specific types of lender, and as such it is considered prudent to ensure that a range of finance providers be involved, including the major banks.
The COVID-19 Credit Guarantee Scheme has seen strong uptake since its launch in September of 2020. To date (8 April), the scheme has seen with 4170 loans drawn, to a total value of €255 million.
I want to assure you that I and my colleagues across Government are continuing to keep the range of supports for businesses under review.
