Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Adams mentioned small and medium-size enterprises and the facilities available to them. With regard to mortgages, at the end of August 2014, which is the end of quarter 3, there were 691,434 mortgages or mortgage accounts. The total number of accounts not in arrears at the end of quarter 3 2014 was 595,319. That means the total number of mortgage accounts in arrears from one day past due date is 96,115. The total number of mortgage accounts in arrears of greater than 90 days is 67,854. The total number of mortgage accounts in arrears of 90 days or less is 28,261. With regard to mortgages in arrears of more than 90 days past due date, there were 19,811 restructures, with 14,900 permanent restructures and 4,840 temporary restructures and there were 48,443 in arrears greater than 90 days but not restructured.

The SME situation has been critical for some time. The unstructured banks that applied when the Government was elected was something that had to be dealt with, and their restructuring involved setting up two pillar banks, Bank of Ireland and AIB, and the Central Bank setting targets for them. Deputy Adams raises an important point about access to credit for SMEs, which are the back bone of the country and for which so many job opportunities rely. The Deputy is aware that the Government has put in place an Action Plan for Jobs which is followed through and monitored by the Department of the Taoiseach and the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation under the Minister, Deputy Richard Bruton. A range of measures were introduced, including the credit guarantee scheme, which will shortly be widened in scope after an external review. It was not working in the way it should have been working.

Microfinance Ireland was established to provide unsecured business loans of between €2,000 and €25,000 for commercially viable propositions that had been declined bank credit, or in other words, to give them an opportunity to get in there. The Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, ISIF, will make €7 billion of resources available to support SME funding and for investment on a commercial basis to support economic activity and employment in the country. The local enterprise offices, which were set up as a one-stop shop in local authority areas, mean that anyone seeking information on support, starting, and growing a business in Ireland have the facilities available to them. The enhancement of the Credit Review Office under Mr. Trethowan, which provides a very simple and effective review process for small and medium-size enterprises, including sole traders and farm enterprises, applies where requests for credit are refused or existing credit facilities are withdrawn or reduced. This includes increasing the limit for loan applications that can be reviewed from €500,000 to €3 million. The House is aware of the value of the Credit Review Office, which was overturned refusals by banks in over 50% of cases. It is important information for SMEs to be aware of. If they are turned down by banks, the Credit Review Office can analyse the application and has overturned a great number of decisions.

There was also the development of the online tool for supporting SMEs to establish the State supports for which they may be eligible. It is available on one site so that any retailer or SME owner can have the access to credit checked quickly and efficiently. It is popular with SMEs. The Government increased the VAT cash threshold from €1.25 million to €2 million in last year's budget.

The Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland is an important development. I met Chancellor Merkel last year at the meeting held in Paris to deal with youth employment and unemployment. I stressed the importance of a country like Germany assisting Ireland in credit opportunities for small and medium-size enterprises. The result was that the structure of the KfW triple-A rated State bank in Germany was made available to us, with significant sums of money invested. Together with the Silicon Valley Bank, the European Investment Bank and our resources in the NTMA, we were able put on the table €800 million in secured funding. The legislation establishing the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland allows €5 billion to be made available to SMEs over the next five years. I expect to leverage capacity from the €800 million will make credit readily available to SMEs at longer terms and with greater flexibility than under the current structures of the banks.

In budget 2015, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, announced that Permanent TSB, which will shortly recommence actively lending to the SME sector, has agreed to participate in the Credit Review Office process. Ulster Bank is also actively considering making a similar commitment. These are important developments providing extra security, clarity and certainty to SMEs.

The Government has also made changes to the employment and investment incentive scheme, including by increasing the amount of finance that can be raised by a company to €5 million annually, subject to a lifetime maximum of €15 million.

The range of enterprises now qualifying is widened and the seed capital scheme will be launched in the coming months by the Minister, Deputy Bruton. The Departments of Finance and Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation will roll out an integrated export finance strategy in 2015, with financing products and different platforms being developed by the strategic investment bank and the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund in conjunction with Enterprise Ireland. These are important issues.

Deputy Adams is well aware of many cases in the past number of years in which investment abroad by small and medium enterprises, SMEs, has not worked out. Many of those property issues have dragged down working SMEs that have been commercially viable. There has been quite a deal of engagement with the banks in respect of those cases where a business is commercially viable but is being dragged down by purchases of property.

These are some of the issues on which the Government has focused directly with small and medium enterprises. It is a matter of listening to those voices and addressing the issues they feel are important for improving their business propositions in order that they can take on more employees, expand their remit and provide services to bigger firms in a better way. It is about enabling them to export and providing an opportunity for more people to be employed, which is an essential part - and a consequence - of having extra availability of credit.

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