Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The funding that the State and the EU put into the loan scheme and that was used to leverage the fund at €150 million, at the subsidised interest rate, was to make it available to farmers without having the security that banks would normally have, for example, the deeds of the farm, and to have it at a competitive interest rate, unsecured, interest free for a few years. That was the State's input. Thereafter it was subject to normal terms and conditions. We see that in a few weeks the fund has been drawn down completely. We await the information from the individual banks and the SBCI to see what lessons we can draw from that, the sectors, the size of the loans and their terms. We want to know what lies behind the terms between one and six years, all for future purposes.

With €14 million of Exchequer funds and a total cost of €25 million to subsidise it, this has not been a cheap product but it has identified a gap in the market and driven others to be more competitive. Until we get the full information on the drawdown we will not be able to answer all the detailed questions. I will meet the chief executive officers, CEOs, of the pillar banks and it would be appropriate for the committee to meet with them too on that and many other issues.