Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)

The scheme is currently being finalised and will be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. The Deputy refers to a unique case. There is a code of practice in the scheme whereby a decision must be made within two weeks or 15 days - I will have to check the exact timeframe. The core principle of the microenterprise loan fund is that even in good economic circumstances the risk criteria might not be met by a certain coterie of people, such as the person to whom the Deputy referred. They might be credit-worthy but they do not fit within the banking criteria. The fund is designed for people in that position. Given that the local bodies will then feed into that process, one hopes there will be a fit solution for such people so they will not have to incur massive administrative costs to be able to access the fund so they can start their businesses.

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