John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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89. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the set up and running costs of Microfinance Ireland; the amount Microfinance Ireland has lent to business to date and on an annualised basis; the amount of income Microfinance Ireland has generated since its inception; if value for money has been achieved for the taxpayer; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12547/14]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Microfinance Ireland (MFI) was established by the Oireachtas pursuant to the Microenterprise Loan Fund Act 2012, as a private limited company, and a subsidiary of Social Finance Foundation. Under section 5 of this Act I was required to make a grant of €10 million to MFI out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas. Section 21 of this Act sets out the provisions in relation to annual accounts and auditing by the Comptroller and Auditor General and section 22 sets out the provisions in relation to the annual report.

The annual report for 2012, the year that MFI was set up can be found on my Department’s website: or on MFI’s website: . This report details the costs of operating MFI in 2012 which amounted to €207,000 of which €115,000 related to staff costs, €38,000 related to marketing and promotional costs and €39,000 related to administration and financial costs, including some once-off legal and consulting costs associated with start-up. In addition, in 2012 MFI reimbursed €278,000 in costs to its parent company Social Finance Foundation. These costs relate to the Microfinance project during the period August 2011 and October 2012 and were once-off and have been accounted for as an exceptional item in the 2012 MFI accounts. The accounts for 2012 show income of €37,000, which was interest receivable from banks.

The 2013 accounts will be audited and published in 2014 in accordance with the requirements of the Microenterprise Loan Fund Act 2012. To year-end 31 December 2013 €2.159 million has been approved to 137 microenterprises supporting 310 jobs. My Department publishes quarterly reports on the progress of Microfinance Ireland on its website . The 4th quarter progress report for MFI showing detailed breakdown of lending in each county and other analyses for year ending 31 December 2013 is available on my Department’s website.

In terms of value for money I am advised by MFI that when the exceptional/set up costs are excluded the cost per job as at 31 December 2013 is €3,100. This key ratio has decreased from €3,420 at 30 September 2013. This measure does not take account of cost avoided by the Exchequer or Exchequer receipts that may accrue as a result of each job. MFI intends to continue to drive down this indicator over time as awareness and demand increases.