Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of additional staff posts created in Microfinance Ireland to promote and process applications from the Microenterprise Loans Fund. [16403/13]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Microfinance Ireland opened for business on 1st October 2012, and as of 11th April 2013, seven staff are employed by Microfinance Ireland (MFI). On the 22nd April a new systems and finance position will be filled bringing the total number of staff employed by MFI to 8.

MFI also has an external assessor panel of ten credit assessors depending on application volumes so they can ensure a satisfactory turnaround for applicants.

It is my intention that progress reports on the Microenterprise Loan Fund will be published via the MFI website microfinanceireland.ie and on my Department’s website enterprise.gov.ie on a quarterly basis.