Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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340. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his views on whether the Government action to promote small and medium enterprise financing has been sufficient in 2013; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4188/14]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Since coming into office this Government has had a clear focus on assisting SMEs to establish, expand and export, with a view to driving economic recovery and creating jobs across the country. Access to finance is critical for SMEs and requires a range of Government interventions.

At present bank lending is the primary source of finance for SMEs. The Government imposed SME lending targets on the two domestic pillar banks for the three calendar years, 2011 to 2013. Both banks were required to sanction lending, including lending for working capital purposes, of at least €3 billion in 2011, €3.5 billion in 2012 and €4 billion in 2013 for new or increased credit facilities to SMEs. Government has monitored the banks in this regard to ensure these lending targets were met.

In addition the Government has recognised that a range of non-bank financial supports are vital to support SMEs in our economy. The 2013 Action Plan for Jobs brought a greater focus and co-ordination of Government efforts in relation to access to finance for SMEs. A range of initiatives such as improving the financial capability of SMEs and communicating supports available were developed in 2013 and will be rolled out in 2014 with expected positive impacts for SMEs.

My Department has taken the lead on a number of SME funding initiatives. I have introduced two targeted initiatives to support an additional flow of credit into the economy by filling gaps where specific market failures exist – the Credit Guarantee Scheme and the Microenterprise Loan Fund. Both Schemes launched in late 2012 and my Department continued to promote and support these Schemes in 2013. The Credit Guarantee Scheme was reviewed in 2013 and will be improved in 2014 with a view to increasing its take-up and impact. The operation of the Microenterprise Loan Fund Act 2012 will be reviewed in 2014 with a view to increasing its take-up and impact.

In addition to these initiatives, my Department through Enterprise Ireland manages and funds the Seed and Venture Capital Scheme, the Innovation Fund Ireland (IFI) and Development Capital Scheme help Irish companies access funding in the current difficult environment. The National Pension Reserve Fund launched 3 SME funds in 2013 which are beginning to make investments in businesses.

My Department will soon launch the Action Plan for Jobs 2014 which will continue on from the Action Plan for Jobs 2013 committed by Government to support and improved access to finance for SMEs by setting out in detail the actions needed to address difficulties in this arena.