Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 79: To ask the Minister for Finance in respect of the two pillar banks, the amount of new lending actually extended, as opposed to approved, to small and medium enterprises in 2011; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17475/12]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, the Government has imposed lending targets on the two domestic pillar banks for the three calendar years, 2011 to 2013. Both banks were required to sanction lending of at least €3 billion in 2011, €3.5 billion this year and €4 billion in 2013 for new or increased credit facilities to SMEs. I can confirm to the Deputy that both banks have achieved their 2011 targets. I should stress that the targets are for approvals of credit. Targets have not been imposed for drawdowns and I have no plans to introduce such targets at this time. I would point out that the drawdown of funding is at the discretion of the borrower. There are many factors affecting whether or not funding is drawn down, such as changes in market conditions or company restructuring. The recent Mazars Survey of SME Lending, conducted on behalf of my Department, found that the most frequently cited reason for not availing of approved credit was 'not needed at present time'.

The two pillar banks have provided me with the relevant data on drawdowns but as this material is commercially sensitive I cannot share it with the Deputy. However, the Deputy may wish to note that the Central Bank gathers and collates statistics on a wide range of Financial Services Sector activities on an on-going basis. As a general rule, my Department does not engage in a separate exercise to collect such statistics, but has access to and relies on statistics provided and published by the Central Bank.

Data provided by the Central Bank indicates that the drawdown of new lending by non-financial SMEs from credit institutions in Ireland was €3.1 billion in 2011. Figures for the equivalent period in 2010 show drawdowns of €3 billion. Excluding SMEs in the property related sectors these figures show drawdowns of new lending of €2.2 billion in 2011, roughly equal to amounts drawn down in 2010. For the Deputy's information, the relevant statistics for credit made available to small business are accessible at: http://www.centralbank.ie/polstats/stats/cmab/Documents/ie_table_a.14.1_credit_advanced_to_irish_resident_small_and_medium_sized_enterprises.xls