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

Until individual farmers walked into the banks and made applications, we could not say there would be X number for one year, X number for five years and X number for six years. In structuring a loan portfolio like that we would have had to engage with the banks, as the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, SBCI, did, and said that this is what we want to achieve. In terms of the profile of lending across various sectors, there would have been sufficient experience within SBCI and my Department to ensure we got the best result possible for the €25 million. We could not state definitively how many applications would come in for one year, five years or six years. Ultimately, in terms of the individual banks, that became a decision for the banks to make. Our subsidy was to ensure that the interest rate, the term of the loan and the unsecured nature of it made it more attractive than anything already in the marketplace, but we await the outcome on that.