Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 176: To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she has considered the introduction of an small and medium enterprise working capital guarantee scheme to ensure access to credit for viable businesses particularly those with fewer than ten staff and with most difficulty accessing credit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44871/09]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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Work is underway within my Department on the examination of a possible scheme of loan guarantees for the SME sector. This is in line with one of the recommendations contained in the Mazars report on credit availability.

There are significant issues to consider and weigh up before any final decision can be made. For example, we need to be certain of the extent to which any scheme would assist SMEs, if a scheme would actually result in an increase in total lending and if the cost of borrowing by SMEs under such a Scheme would not prove prohibitive. A properly tailored and targeted scheme could prove successful in assisting viable companies secure credit that they might not otherwise get.

Enterprise Ireland and Forfas have carried out examinations of loan guarantee schemes in the UK and in some other countries. Forfas, together with the Department, is carrying out a further examination and on completion of this work, I will bring the results before the Government. We will need to ensure that any scheme developed directly assists businesses while at the same time safeguards the taxpayer.