Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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257. To ask the Minister for Finance the total amount of lending undertaken by the NPRF SME Credit Fund to date; the number of projects involved; the total number of jobs supported; the percentage of applications approved; the way in which the operation of the fund compares to the initial targets set for it; the future plans for the fund; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41411/14]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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258. To ask the Minister for Finance the total amount of investment undertaken by the NPRF SME Equity Fund to date; the number of projects involved; the total number of jobs supported; the percentage of applications approved; the way in which the operation of the fund compares to the initial targets set for it; the future plans for the fund; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41412/14]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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259. To ask the Minister for Finance the total amount of investment undertaken by the NPRF Turnaround Fund to date; the number of projects involved; the total number of jobs supported; the percentage of applications approved; the way in which the operation of the fund compares to the initial targets set for it; the future plans for the fund; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41413/14]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 257 to 259, inclusive, together.

SME Equity Fund - Carlyle Cardinal Ireland

(€275 million fund focused lower mid-market private equity investing. NPRF Commitment €125 million)

Since the inception of the fund, Carlyle Cardinal has developed strong networks across Ireland and has generated a strong pipeline of attractive opportunities for the fund. The Carlyle Cardinal Ireland fund completed its final closing in June 2014 at €292 million, just short of its €300 million target. In January 2014, Carlyle Cardinal announced that it had completed its first transaction with a significant investment in Lily O'Brien's, the Irish manufacturer of premium chocolates, and it has recently closed its second investment in GSLS, a cash-in-transit company.

SME Credit Fund - Bluebay

(€450 million credit fund focused on lending to large SME and Mid Cap companies. NPRF Commitment €200 million)

The SME Credit Fund considers credit provision through acquiring and refinancing loans close to maturity where existing lenders are not willing to provide new lines of credit. Lending by the fund is at competitive market rates with loan sizes ranging from €5 million to €45 million with a projected average size of €15 million. To date six loans have been completed totalling approximately €120 million. The pipeline remains strong as BlueBay considers opportunities across a number of industry sectors and currently is actively working through diligence and documentation on a further 3 transactions.

SME Turnaround Fund - Better Capital Ireland  ("BCI")

(€100 million fund focused on deep turnaround investing in troubled companies. NPRF Commitment €50 million)

The NTMA and Better Capital have agreed not to extend the investment period of this fund which expires at the end of December 2014; however, the two parties will continue to collaborate in respect of turnaround investment opportunities in Ireland post-December 2014. The fund had been set up with a lifespan of two years, with the intention of investing in distressed firms but positive changes in the economy meant it has not completed any investments.

In response to some of specific information sought in this Parliamentary Question the NTMA have advised that they are developing their capabilities for collating and analyzing data to measure and report on economic impact on an ex-post basis (i.e. after the investment has been made). This will require a completely new data set to be sought and reported on by funds and the underlying companies in which funds have invested and by companies or project sponsors in which the Fund has invested directly. While it is standard practice that companies report financial information to their investors, the new ISIF mandate will also require metrics that can be used to help assess economic impact to be reported. Once approved by the incoming NTMA Board, a preliminary assessment of the economic impact of the investments made to date in Ireland will be published.

Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI)

As you are no doubt aware the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) has been established by the Government as another initiative to ensure that SMEs in Ireland are provided with sufficient finance for growth.  Loan agreements with the international funders, KfW and the European Investment Bank, to the value of €550m have been signed to fund the SBCI during its initial period of operations.  The SBCI is funded to the value of €800m of which €150m is from KfW, €400m from the European Investment Bank and €250m from the National Pension Reserve Fund. A key benefit of the SBCI will be its ability to facilitate loans with initial capital repayment breaks or the offering of loans with longer durations than are typically available currently.  In such cases, SMEs would have greater capacity to make investments on the basis of improved cash flow matching, which makes growth more likely.