Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I take it that the Deputy is referring to the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), one pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe, at times referred to as the Juncker Plan.

As the Deputy may be aware, since EFSI's enactment in July 2015, it has been possible for any project promoter, either public or private, to engage with the EIB regarding the possibility of receiving loans or guarantees under EFSI for particular projects.

In this way, EFSI is providing an important additional funding possibility alongside other possibilities such as the EIB's normal lending, the State's borrowings through the NTMA and other mechanisms such as PPPs and off-balance sheet vehicles which are options for funding investment additional to the State’s capital investment programme. It should be remembered that each EFSI loan entered into by the State pre-commits funding for the repayment of such loans, and has to be considered in the context of the expenditure benchmark under the EU's fiscal rules.     

In general, Government Departments have existing relationships with the EIB so it has been a matter for each Department to advance any projects, in coordination with the Government's Capital Plan as  coordinated by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. My Department has no role in assessing projects either public or private which may be the subject of applications for EFSI loans/guarantees.

Since inception, Ireland has seen the main potential beneficiaries of EFSI as being in the private sector including entities such as PPP companies. I am pleased that the Department of Health's Primary Health Care Centres PPP has successfully drawn down EFSI funds.  In addition, the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) has successfully engaged with European Financial Instruments such as the COSME and the InnovFin Guarantee Programme, both of which are made available under the EFSI SME Window. These support the financing needs of SMEs and ensure that there is an adequate supply of affordable and appropriate credit to meet their needs.

I can inform the Deputy that there is a publicly available list of projects which have been approved for EFSI support by the EIB in the State which is available on the EIB website. The list can be viewed according to each Member State and I would ask the Deputy to be aware that the Irish list contains both private and public sector projects, and it also includes cross-border projects between Irish entities and entities in other Member States.