Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 4 September 2018

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Fodder Shortages and Drought Issues: Discussion

2:30 pm

Mr. Nick Ashmore:

That is correct. It means we are structuring a bespoke transaction. We are working very closely with the EIB on that. We are also working through all the state aid rules in relation to it and the administrative and operational set up. We can learn lessons from one scheme to the next but we are targeting a specific focus. The preclearance facility means that in future, applicants for SBCI loans will come first to the SBCI for preclearance and eligibility confirmation which effectively gives them a certificate with which they can walk into a bank and say they have a guarantee for the loan. It means the discussion they have with the bank about what kind of loan they can get is a different discussion. The SBCI guarantee is as though one walks into a bank carrying assets on one's back, which can be used as security for the loan. We are looking to see how we can deliver and improve these products. It also helps us in the information we can gather. We have a much more direct contact with customers. We can work with the bank to iron out kinks in these things.

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