Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour)
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Question 147: To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the date on which the partial credit guarantee scheme will start; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16470/11]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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As part of the Jobs Initiative announced in this House on, 10th May, both the Minister for Finance and I confirmed the Government commitment to initiating a tendering process for the development of a temporary partial credit guarantee scheme. A call for competition for the design of a scheme was published on e-tenders on 15 June.

The design of the scheme will draw from international experience to support new lending that would not otherwise have been extended by the banks. In this way, the scheme will be limited in its scope and will complement, rather than be a substitute for, existing lending activities by the main financial institutions. It will be designed to encourage banks to lend to these new or expanding commercially viable SMEs so that they can grow their company, develop new products or expand into new markets.

The Government's commitment will be for an initial period of one year. Specific performance criteria will be set down that allow for review and revision of the scheme at the end of that initial period before committing to a roll-over of the scheme for subsequent years. It is intended that the Scheme will be in place in the autumn.