Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Question 61: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation if he will provide details of the proposals for State guaranteed loans to small business; the criteria envisaged for eligibility for those loans; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8116/11]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The introduction of a temporary, partial credit guarantee scheme as provided for in the Programme for Government was discussed by the Government on Tuesday last and is currently under active consideration. It is important, however, that any new initiative complements, rather than substitutes, the main banks' lending commitments and activities under the recapitalisation packages and that they would represent value for money from the taxpayer's perspective.

I would envisage that any scheme would be closely targeted at specific market failures and that it would impact on 2%-4% of overall lending to the SME sector. The focus of any scheme would have to be on commercially viable businesses. The introduction of a temporary, partial credit guarantee scheme will require legislative backing and will have to be compatible with EU state aid obligations.