Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In fairness, the rate of 4% for an overdraft facility is a very attractive rate of interest when one compares it with rates for overdraft facilities across Ireland. I do not know what the business rate is but I am sure it is in the region of 8% to 9%, but in my book 4% is a very competitive rate and I feel there will be a lot of interest in it. We are also considering developing a long-term or capital loan as well. Many businesses are looking at this, as seven years is generally the term of long-term loan so we are going to work closely with the European Investment Bank, EIB, which has supported us in this scheme and we will talk to it about providing a long-term capital loan to run concurrently with this overdraft facility. Again, I do not know what the rate is, but members will see it as a competitive rate in terms of the rates in Ireland. The provision of an overdraft facility at what I consider is a good rate, coupled with a long-term loan, mean we will be able to support businesses extremely well in terms of the facilities we can offer them to prepare them for Brexit.