Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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62. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if her Department monitors the take-up of the Brexit loan scheme operated through the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland; the number of applications received; the number that have been successful; the amount of loan finance that has been approved; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20510/19]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department and its agencies are working to provide extensive supports, schemes and advice to ensure that businesses are prepared for Brexit. These measures aim to assist businesses in identifying key risk areas and to facilitate the practical actions to be taken in response to the UK's exit from the EU.

The Brexit Loan Scheme provides affordable working capital to eligible businesses with up to 499 employees that are or will be impacted by Brexit. The €23 million exchequer funding (€14 million from my Department and €9 million from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine) has been leveraged to provide a fund of up to €300 million.

The scheme has been designed to provide working capital and liquidity support to eligible Irish businesses in the short-term as they deal with the challenges of Brexit. The scheme is open to both State Agency clients and businesses that do not have any relationship with State Agencies. Sole traders may also apply.

The scheme was launched in March 2018 and, at close of business on 3rd May, there have been 608 eligibility applications received of which 550 eligibility applications have been approved and 124 loans progressed to sanction at bank level to a value of €27.77m.

The conversion of eligibility to loan application has been impacted by the uncertainty surrounding the final form that Brexit will take and the implications for individual businesses. This is leading to a reluctance on behalf of businesses to take on debt until the details of the Brexit challenge becomes clearer.

The availability of the BLS at this stage means that qualifying Irish businesses will have access to low cost working capital without delay as they need it, and forms part of the support for Irish business to cope with potential Brexit challenges.

Brexit of any kind means change. We have been preparing for well over two years. The last three Budgets introduced supports to help businesses prepare for Brexit and while my Government is still focused on achieving a deal, we are preparing for all scenarios, including no deal. We have our Comprehensive Contingency Action Plan in place, our whole-of-Government response, working in tandem with the EU, to implement measures to mitigate the impact of no deal Brexit. Whatever the outcome of the Brexit process, Ireland will remain in the EU with all the stability and certainty that membership brings.