Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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111. To ask the Minister for Finance the actions he is taking to increase the rate of credit lending to small and medium enterprises, SMEs, via the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland; the level of take up from the fund by SMEs at 31 December 2017; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7986/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy will be aware, the goal of Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) is to facilitate and encourage the availability of appropriately priced funding to SMEs on more flexible terms than has been available in recent times on the Irish market. The strategic mission of the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) is to deliver effective financial supports to Irish SMEs that address failures in the Irish credit market, while driving competition and innovation and ensuring the efficient use of available EU resources. The SBCI achieves this aim through the provision of low cost liquidity and risk sharing activities supporting the provision of appropriately priced, flexible funding to SMEs.

The SBCI uses an on-lending model. This means it does not lend directly to SMEs, rather the SBCI channels funds through partners, known as on-lenders. These on-lenders are both banks and non-banks finance providers. Since March 2015, to the end of December 2017, the SBCI has supported loans totalling €925 million to 22,928 Irish SMEs employing 119,533 people and operating in all sectors of the Irish economy, including agriculture, food, retail, healthcare, transport and manufacturing.

The SBCI expects to announce further on-lenders in 2018. In this regard, the SBCI is actively engaging with potential future on-lenders, in particular non-bank finance providers. This will allow the SBCI to broaden its distribution capability and market coverage. Entering in to agreements with on-lending partners is subject to a robust due diligence process by the SBCI to ensure any risks to SMEs, European funding partners and Irish taxpayers are sufficiently mitigated. 

The SBCI is working to develop more innovative products, such as the Agricultural Cashflow Support Loan Scheme and the Brexit Loan Scheme I announced in Budget 2017 and Budget 2018 respectively. Additionally, the SBCI is also continuing to work on a number of other initiatives, including the continued use of guarantees and risk sharing schemes to support lending by finance providers. These aim to address recognised market failures.  

The Deputy can rest assured that the SBCI is working to develop a more diverse range of on-lenders and innovative products in 2018 to meet the evolving requirements of the SME finance market and contribute to a growing and sustainable economy.