Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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210. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if funds from the €300 million working capital loan scheme can be made available to farmers in view of the fact that take-up has been so low since it opened in March 2018; and if he has had discussions with his colleague in the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation in this regard. [46445/18]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The Brexit Loan Scheme provides affordable working capital to eligible businesses with up to 499 employees that are, or will be, impacted by Brexit, and meet the scheme criteria. Exchequer funding from the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation has been leveraged to provide a fund of up to €300 million. The scheme was launched on 28 March this year and will remain open until March 2020.

It has been designed to assist eligible Irish businesses in the short-term to deal with the challenges of Brexit, which include the pressures of increased market instability and currency volatility. Because of the terms and conditions of the scheme, including the EIF Innovfin counter-guarantee and EU State Aid rules, primary agriculture is not eligible for the scheme.

I have had ongoing engagement with the banks on the cash flow pressures arising from the effects of the weather this year at the primary producer level. I am pleased to see that this engagement and the delivery of last year’s Agriculture Cash Flow Loan Scheme have acted as a catalyst to encourage financial institutions to improve and develop new products for the sector.