Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 20 September 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

General Scheme of the Microenterprise Loan Fund (Amendment) Bill 2023: Discussion

Ms Jean Carberry:

That is 100% the case. The fact is that Social Finance Foundation was MFI's parent and Social Finance Foundation, as one can tell by the name, was strongly orientated towards diversity and making a difference. The culture of MFI is very much one of helping minorities. It has had various loan offerings over the years. It had an immigrant loan. It very much targets women entrepreneurs. Because it is lending to people the banks will not lend to, these are its markets, including minorities and people who need additional assistance. It is very much its space. We are very pleased that MFI has a woman as chair of the board. Unfortunately, its previous chair, who was also a woman, passed away in December. We were lucky to find another very good woman, who is leading the board. It has a balanced board and is very much in that space. I am proud of it. It is very public service orientated as an organisation.