Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy was unavoidably unable to attend, but we had an opportunity to present to the committee last week. We are seeking to proceed with the legislation with all haste.

The small to medium-sized enterprise, SME, guarantee scheme was launched in October 2012 in response to numerous calls from business interests. In the Irish context, it is a novel scheme that is continuing to develop a position in the financial arena.

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As of 30 June 2014, the SME credit guarantee scheme had 93 live facilities, resulting in €12.2 million being sanctioned through the scheme by the participating lenders and 468 new jobs being created and 236 being maintained. A further five loans had been fully repaid at that date, amounting to €450,000, which supported 33 new jobs and maintained ten.

As the Deputy is aware, I commissioned an independent review of the scheme which was submitted to me in the third quarter of last year. My Department has since worked to determine the improvements that can be made to the 2012 Act. I have prioritised this work and the Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Bill 2014 is now on the A list of the autumn legislative programme. We are working on the draft Bill with officials from the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel. Some of the proposed amendments it will address include: extending the maximum length of the guarantee from three to seven years; providing for a wider range of financial products to be covered, not just traditional credit products - for instance, invoice finance, factoring, leasing and overdrafts; providing for a wider range of providers of financial products to be eligible, that is, not just licensed banks; increasing the level of guarantee on individual loans from 75% to 80% and the portfolio cap from 10% to 13%; and removing the requirement for a formal decline letter. This revision is in accordance with the Government's policy to support access to finance for SMEs. I hope the Bill will be in the House before the end of the session.

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