Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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176. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine when farmers will be able to access the €400 million fund to support investment in Europe’s agricultural sector via the European Investment Bank; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18487/18]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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One of my priorities is to improve access to finance for the agri-food sector. Food Wise 2025 identifies competiveness as a key theme and includes a recommendation that stakeholders work to “improve access to finance for agriculture, forestry and seafood producers and agri-food companies”.

Therefore I welcome last week’s announcement by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the EU Commission to mobilise up to €1 billion in investment for the agriculture and bio-economy sectors. It is my understanding that farmers will not apply directly for this funding but that EIB is encouraging private cooperatives and companies in the agriculture sector to apply for direct lending for private sector investments (from €15m to €200m) with a loan amount ranging from €7.5m to €50m. The announcement states that “The EIB is already active with Multi Beneficiary Intermediated Loans to support the implementation of smaller projects by farmers and small and medium-sized enterprises active in bio-economy value chains through commercial banks across Europe”.

In January 2017, I launched the Agriculture Cashflow Support Loan Scheme.  The guarantee for the Scheme is supported by SBCI and the EIB Group through COSME (the EU programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and SMEs). This type of innovative risk sharing product is new to Ireland but common across Europe.

I recently launched with colleagues the €300 million Brexit Loan Scheme, which used the Agriculture Cashflow Support Loan Scheme as a model, and is designed to provide funding support to enable eligible Irish businesses to implement necessary changes to address the challenges posed by Brexit. This is being delivered by the SBCI and supported by the EIB Group through the InnovFin SME Guarantee Facility.

My Department will continue to engage with the EIB in relation to funding options for the agri-food sector, including participation in the Department of Finance led “EIB-Ireland Financing Group” and through bilateral discussions.