Dr. Ailish Byrne:

To respond to Deputy Jackie Cahill’s question on the demand for the product, there was much media attention, as well as from the SBCI and the banks, in that it was a limited fund of €150 million at an attractive rate of interest and on a first-come, first-served basis. This drove the high initial demand for the scheme. Today we have a limited waiting list of people who wish to avail of this product, if more funding becomes available for the scheme.

It is not a very large waiting list. The policy of a first come, first served basis drove people to apply for the loan within a very tight timeframe.

Let us consider the low take-up by the tillage and pig sector. The people who work in the pig sector sought larger loans and the full amount of €150,000 from the Ulster Bank. The loan has been used to clear their merchant credit bills that had built up over the past number of years, a situation that was driven predominantly by a low price for pigs. Ulster Bank has taken out some of their merchant credit bills, up to the maximum of €150,000, for the full six years of the loan. We did so due to the uniqueness of the pig sector and the current market.

Ms Finnegan commented on the tillage sector. The sector has become localised around the main grain growing areas here. It has been affected by adverse weather and low prices for a number of years. Prices will remain an issue for the sector this year. The people who work in the sector have sought loans to pay off their merchant credit bills and provide working capital to buy fertilise seed and sprays for the 2017 growing season.

Stocking loans have been predominantly addressed. A stocking loan was deemed suitable for the scheme. As the scheme was ran on a first come, first served basis the farmers approached us for stocking loans and we provided them.

We provided the loan terms to match the purpose. As I said in my opening statement, if the purpose was to purchase stock that would be for sale within a 12 month period then loans were given for up to 12 months. If the loan was sought to replenish working capital that had been used to partially construct a farm building then the loan term was up to six years. The terms varied, depending on the purpose of the loan.

My colleague, Mr. Cullen, will talk about interest rates.