Kevin O'Keeffe (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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1221. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of persons that have applied under the agriculture cashflow support loan scheme; the number of dairy, tillage, beef farmers and so on that have applied for the scheme; and if they have been successful. [20277/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The “Agriculture Cashflow Support Loan Scheme” was developed by my Department in co-operation with the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI), making €150 million available to farmers at interest rates of 2.95%. One of my priorities has been to address the impact of the change in the sterling exchange rate and lower commodity prices in some agriculture sectors. Distributed and administered through AIB, Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank, the Scheme provides farmers with a low cost, flexible source of working capital and will allow them to pay down more expensive forms of short-term debt, ensuring the ongoing financial sustainability of viable farming enterprises.

SBCI uses the €25 million of public funding provided by my Department to leverage the total amount of €150 million and, along with the European Investment Fund’s ‘COSME’ (the EU programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and SMEs), is providing the guarantee required to underpin the loan’s flexibility and lower the cost of the loans. My Department’s contribution of €25million includes €11 million from the EU’s ‘exceptional adjustment aid for milk and other livestock farmers’.

The participating banks will report on progress to the SBCI on a regular basis.  Although no official returns have been made to my Department as yet, I will shortly make preliminary information on the Scheme available. The banks have confirmed that they have applications up to the amounts available under the Scheme. There may be some residual availability but this will only emerge as applications are processed and loans drawn down

I am pleased at the very positive reaction by farmers to the Scheme, which has proved that significant demand exists for low cost flexible finance. I am currently meeting with the Chief Executives of the participating banks to discuss this and other issues relating access to finance in the agri-food sector. I am asking the banks to respond positively to this demand by reducing interest rates and providing more flexible terms for cash flow loans in the future.