Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the Deputies who contributed and welcome the fact that they all indicated that they would support this Bill.

As I stated at the outset, this Bill is urgent as it will give both Ministers the power to sign an agreement with the European Investment Fund by the end of the year for the purposes of launching the future growth loan scheme in early 2019. The scheme is a key Brexit mitigation measure.

There have been a couple of overarching observations and concerns. In response to Deputy Broughan, the Government has been actively promoting relevant supports. The Deputy himself referenced some of them. Through the Getting Ireland Brexit Ready roadshow that has taken place at a number of locations, all relevant Government agencies were present to provide information and support. Over 3,000 businesses have completed the Enterprise Ireland, EI, Brexit scorecard at this stage.

Budget 2019 provided over €110 million for additional Brexit preparedness resources and initiatives across the Department. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is funding 98 additional staff for the agencies and regulatory bodies with the remit to date to prepare Irish businesses to be Brexit-ready. We are providing €8 million in 2019 for the Department as well as the agencies and regulatory bodies to continue in our work on a Brexit response in an increasing global footprint. In other words, we are funding extra resources across the globe for market diversification. Indeed, we have engaged extensively. Both the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Heather Humphreys, and myself were in China recently and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Michael Creed, took a delegation to Malaysia and Indonesia, with Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and Bord Bia accompanying us on those occasions.

On whether the application process is too onerous, I make the point that this scheme means up to €500,000 unsecured; up to €200,000 with no additional business plan; and from €200,000 to €500,000 with a business plan as part of the application. It is relatively easy. At the same time, one must make sure that we do not have the Committee of Public Accounts stating in a couple of years that we loaned money to somebody where due diligence was not done properly on the applicant and the funding went astray. One must achieve balance. The Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, SBCI, conducted one-to-one interviews with 22 applicants, all of whom had a positive opinion on the application process. It shows that the majority of applicants are receiving eligibility confirmation within 24 hours.

I refer to some of the other statistics. We have had 307 applications, 270 of which are eligible to apply for a loan. Thirty applications are still being processed. At the end of November, 55 companies had received sanction for loans of €13 million. Many more of the approved applications are going through the bank process currently. The Exchequer funding for this scheme is €62 million because the loans are for up to ten years.

On Deputy Kelleher's point about this not replacing existing credit that the banks would provide, I make the following points. Typically, the banks provide three-to-seven year financing for companies that would qualify for this. This scheme is about eight-to-ten year funding and it is a different product in the first instance. Up to €500,000, it does not involve the same security requirements as a conventional loan. In many ways, it might be competing with them but it is not allowed to replace an existing loan. It is important to bear those points in mind but I take the point that we must be careful.

I also point out that the interest rate typically will be lower than what is available on the market and, as I stated, no refinancing is allowed. Also, at the end of the day, the Credit Review Office is available to businesses which wish to have their application for a loan reviewed if it is refused by a bank.

We are asking people to do something different here. It is not business as usual. It is about allowing businesses the opportunity to borrow for periods of between eight and ten years for where they see their business needs to go to, with the aid and assistance of the various agencies, whether it is Bord Bia, which has put in a lot of extra resources in support of getting Brexit ready, EI or the local enterprise office. All of the statutory State agencies that are there to support businesses are available to mentor and continue to do so with the various SMEs, agrifood producers and businesses.

It is a scheme that will assist businesses that are trying to invest strategically in a post-Brexit environment by providing the opportunity to borrow, as I stated, for eight to ten years, to support long-term capital investment which is something that is not readily available currently. We want to provide businesses with the opportunity to invest to allow them to prosper and remain competitive by diversifying their business and it is important in this way. It is an effective use, as has been stated already, of Exchequer funding as it means €62 million can be leveraged using the EIF counter guarantee to unlock funding for businesses of up to €300 million with the 64% guarantee.

The Bill will give the Ministers the necessary powers to enter into the agreement with the ElF and implement the future growth loan scheme which is a key component of the Government's response, and together with other initiatives, such as the Brexit loan scheme and the many supports available through agencies, we are helping businesses to face their Brexit challenges and overcome them.

I have covered all queries on which I can see notes. The Minister for Finance is perhaps the more appropriate person to answer Deputy Broughan's final question.

I commend the Bill. I thank all the Members. My officials and I have taken notes and will reflect on the contributions of all the Members.

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