Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will support calls for the introduction of export credit insurance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3329/13]

John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)
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The Government’s position on the issue of export credit insurance generally has been informed by the findings of the 2009 report commissioned by my Department from KPMG consultants. That report established that the introduction of a general scheme would be expensive, with significant on-going costs arising for the State. Annual costs in respect of quite a low level of intervention in the export credit market would be about €1.7m and this cost would rise significantly, if higher risk profile exports were covered. In addition, it was found that such a scheme would be of very limited impact, and that a negligible number of jobs could be connected with such an initiative. As the Government has a responsibility to ensure efficient use of scarce resources, it would be unwise to make a commitment to funding an initiative with marginal benefits for the wider economy and high level risks to the State.

However, in the context of the wider issue of access to finance for SMEs my Department continues to monitor business needs, and will review the availability of medium term trade finance for SMEs, particularly in the area of working capital and performance bonds, in the current year. Work on facilitating access to credit and finance will remain a priority in the context of the forthcoming Action Plan for Jobs 2013.