Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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47. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of Irish enterprises that have applied for funding under the SME window provided by the European fund for strategic investments; the number of Irish enterprises that have drawn down funds to date; and the amount of funding drawn down by Irish enterprises in euro. [38313/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI) is a joint initiative of the European Investment Bank, European Investment Fund and the European Commission, established to help overcome the current investment gap in the EU by mobilising private financing for strategic investments.

While the Minister for Finance is responsible for the Irish political and policy input on the shape of EFSI, including its ongoing review, it is in fact EFSI itself which is charged with day to day operations independent of all EU Governments including the Irish Government.

EFSI does however publish project lists on its website, and, in this regard, I would direct the Deputy's attention towards this information, which can be filtered by country and by sector, including under the heading of 'smaller companies.

The website address is www.eib.org/efsi/efsi-projects/index.htm

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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48. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of Irish enterprises that have applied for funding under the infrastructure and innovation window provided by the European fund for strategic investments; the number of Irish enterprises that have drawn down funds to date; and the amount of funding drawn down by Irish enterprises in euro. [38314/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) is an initiative launched jointly by the EIB Group (European Investment Bank and European Investment Fund) and the European Commission to help overcome the current investment gap in the EU by mobilising private financing for strategic investments. EFSI is one of the three pillars of the Investment Plan for Europe that aims to revive investment in strategic projects around Europe to ensure that money reaches the real economy. EFSI has been integrated into the EIB Group and projects supported by EFSI are subject to the normal EIB project cycle and governance.

My Department has no direct role in applying for, or securing, funding from EFSI for SMEs or commercial enterprises operating in Ireland.

EFSI has two specific windows: the SME Window and the Infrastructure & Innovation Window. The latter is managed by the European Investment Bank (EIB) whilst the former is managed by the European Investment Fund (EIF), through financial intermediaries. Each Window has a ring-fenced budget.

Under the SME Window, SMEs and mid-caps seeking loans and equity capital under EFSI must contact EIF-approved financial intermediaries directly.

Such financial intermediaries are Financial, Credit & Guarantee Institutions, and Loan Funds established and operating in one or more of the EU Member States duly authorised to carry out lending/leasing activities to SMEs and Small Mid-Caps, as well as Fund management companies targeting SMEs and Small Mid-Caps. They apply to the EIF to become approved financial intermediaries and to secure EFSI financing, deployed through EIF.

Under the Infrastructure & Innovation Window, large corporates, special purpose vehicles or Midcap companies (with up to 3,000 employees) can apply directly to the EIB for project loans or loans to finance research and innovation. These loans have a minimum size of €25 million. Such projects undergo the standard EIB due diligence process, in order to verify their eligibility for EIB financing and for EFSI backing.

The EIB provides a partial list of approved projects with companies in Ireland on the following webpage:

Note that details of projects that are commercially sensitive may be withheld by the EIB.