Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I think we will have good news. The need for continued investment and support in the agrifood and forestry sector is well-established, and the recent approval of the forestry programme and the rural development programme are key supports in this regard. As a complement to the traditional grant-based approach to our schemes, the European Commission has announced that it plans to double the usage of financial instruments in co-funded programmes such as the RDP. Financial instruments can take the form of loans, guarantee funds or equity investments. The funding for any such financial instruments would have to draw on our existing RDP allocation of European agricultural fund or rural development funding as well as national Exchequer funding. It is also possible to incorporate funding from other sources, and it is in this context that the possibility of EIB funding has arisen.

In our RDP, we have made a commitment to examining the potential for the use of financial instruments. Accordingly, I have asked officials in my Department to engage with the European Commission, the EIB and other stakeholders to identify areas where financial instruments could be implemented to best strategic effect and to explore the practical steps which are required to implement financial instruments. Any such financial instruments are required by EU regulation to be structured on a clear investment strategy which identifies real market failures and economic needs.

In addition, my Department has been exploring new and more competitive sources of funding and will continue to do so in the context of evolving market requirements. For example, the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, which includes the EIB, is one of the funding partners and has recently announced a new agriculture investment loans product. This credit is available at favourable terms for investment by agricultural SMEs involved in primary agricultural production, the processing of agricultural products or the marketing of agricultural products.

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