Ms Adrienne Murray:

On young entrepreneurs, our quarter three report shows that we have approved loans for five people under the age of 30 years. This is a huge problem about which we are all concerned. As stated and in the context of youth staff and youth initiatives, we are linking with the city and county enterprise boards which have submitted a proposal to the Government on initiating a youth entrepreneur training programme. Microfinance Ireland contributed to the proposal to which I refer in that it would be the designated lender if the programme in question was put in place. We are asking the Minister to agree that there would be no necessity for the young people involved to go to the banks and that they would come directly to us. We are actively considering opportunities of this nature. It is absolutely imperative that young people and young entrepreneurs have access to training and mentoring which must go hand in glove with access to grant funding. We take on board the fact that this is very much a priority.

In terms of proactively working with the banks, I must acknowledge that they have been supportive in promoting what we have to offer. To provide some indication of the activities in which they have been involved, references to Microfinance Ireland can be found in AIB's and Bank of Ireland's decline letters in respect of applications for loans and working capital. They have been mentioning the organisation in letters they have issued on declined loan applications since the outset. We engaged with them in order to have the reference included in their overdraft letters also. As I stated, it is mainly working capital that we are funding, which is very important. We deal with the banks on an individual basis and some of them have made our brochures available in their branches. They also issue them with decline letters. They have also included a reference to Microfinance Ireland and the loan fund scheme and how people may apply under the scheme in their own SME newsletters. We are working with the banks. Not only are we actively engaging with their strategy people, we have also briefed the wider lending teams, appeals teams and front-line business development people on how they can refer declined customers to Microfinance Ireland. We are hoping to run a small pilot project in the coming weeks, the purpose of which will be to examine the point of source position with regard to what happens when banks decline or partially decline applications. Instead of being obliged to undergo a separate application process, we would like the banks to be in a position to immediately pass on - with their consent - customers' information directly to Microfinance Ireland. It is important to state we are seeking the same information and that our form is based on the model used by the banks. When applying for any form of loan or grant funding, the supporting documentation, business plan, accounts information, etc., are all relevant. As a result, there is no duplication on our part in asking customers for more information.

On the new home improvement scheme, we recognise the impact there has been on the construction industry. We see opportunities in this regard in people using our small loans to purchase essential equipment, new vans or whatever else. We would prefer those who are involved in business to approach us for finance, particularly as we can offer it at a fair rate of 8.8%. We are a very good source of finance at a very fair price.