Breeda Moynihan-Cronin (Kerry South, Labour)
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Question 193: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if Ireland will take part in the European Investment Fund's JEREMIE programme for micro to medium enterprises; if so, when a memorandum of understanding is expected to be signed; if not, the reason he is not availing of these supports for small businesses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2548/07]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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My Department and its agencies support the financing of SMEs in a number of ways. The funding provided by Enterprise Ireland and the County and City Enterprise Boards, in the form of grants, refundable aid and equity participation, provides an important source of finance to many SMEs. In addition, Enterprise Ireland actively promotes the availability of venture capital in Ireland and I have approved funding of €175m for venture capital that is projected to leverage venture capital funding of some €1 billion over the next decade.

Furthermore, the HALO Business Angel Partnership which is managed by the Dublin Business & Innovation Centre (BIC) and supported by the Cork, Waterford and Galway BICs, is designed to encourage and facilitate the provision of informal investment in enterprises by Business Angels, typically high net worth individuals who wish to invest in early stage companies with good growth potential. This partnership is being supported financially by Enterprise Ireland and InterTradeIreland.

JEREMIE (Joint European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises) is a joint initiative of the European Commission with the European Investment Fund and the European Investment Bank to promote SME access to finance and financial engineering products in the regions. Under the JEREMIE programme, national and regional authorities can opt to deploy money made available by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in the form of market-driven financial instruments, instead of offering grants.

The European Investment Fund's JEREMIE programme was examined in the context of the arrangements already in place to assist enterprises in accessing appropriate financial support. However, given the nature and structure of the programme, particularly in terms of the scale of operations that would be required to secure EIF participation, it was felt that it was not best suited to the present circumstances pertaining in the Irish economy.

Nevertheless, my Department is, in response to a recommendation of the Small Business Forum, currently researching the possibility of the financial institutions accessing loan guarantees from the European Investment Fund that would enable them to expand their lending to small enterprises and remains open to the possibility of participation in the JEREMIE programme if circumstances indicate that it could benefit Irish businesses in a workable manner.