Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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115. To ask the Minister for Finance if Ireland has drawn down any funding under the COSME loan guarantee fund; and, if so, the instrument or financial intermediary under which it has been disbursed. [32969/16]

Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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116. To ask the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, SBCI, report and financial statements to 31 December 2015; and his plans to utilise the SBCI for the purposes of acting as the requisite instrument or financial intermediary for the EU COSME fund. [32971/16]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 115 and 116 together.

The Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland's (SBCI) objective is to increase the availability of low cost, flexible credit to Irish SMEs. The SBCI published its first Annual Report and Accounts, for the period 1 September 2014 to 31 December 2015, on 21 July 2016. The Annual Report and Accounts were sent by the board of the SBCI to me for consideration and my Department subsequently laid them before the Houses of the Oireachtas.  These documents are published on the SBCI website and are available at: http://sbci.gov.ie/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/SBCIAnnualReport2015.pdf 

The Government is committed to supporting the financing needs of SMEs in all sectors of the economy and ensuring that there is an adequate supply of affordable and appropriate credit to meet their needs. One of the means by which this objective can be achieved is through the use of European Financial Instruments, such as the COSME programme. The SBCI has been in active discussions with the European Investment Fund (EIF) on the use of European financial instruments in order to optimise the funding support available to Irish SMEs.  

Following a detailed due diligence procedure, the SBCI has obtained initial approval from EIF and intends to reach final agreement on a financial instrument supported by the COSME programme in the coming months. The purpose of this financial instrument will be to facilitate the deployment of additional funding, and to enhance access to finance for Irish SMEs.