Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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322. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the value of drawdowns issued under the microfinance scheme on 1 December 2018 and 1 December 2019; the value of approvals on the same dates; the drawdown and approval by county, in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53309/19]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Microenterprise Loan Fund Scheme, administered by Microfinance Ireland was introduced in 2012.  The purpose of the Fund is to provide unsecured loans of €2,000 up to €25,000 for terms of up to five years to microenterprises that cannot obtain funding through traditional sources. Microenterprises are defined as businesses with less than 10 employees and /or turnover of less than €2m.

The total value of loans approved on 1 December 2018 was €26.7 million and the total value of drawdowns on that date was €23.2 million.  The total value of loans approved on 1 December 2019 was €32.9 million and the total value of drawdowns on that date was €28.3 million.

Table 1 – The Value of Loans Approved and Drawdowns on a County Basis on 1 December 2018

Table 2 – The Value of Loans Approved and Drawdowns on a County Basis on 1 December 2019

Microenterprises play a vital role in the Irish economy. I am committed to ensuring that they have access to appropriate and affordable finance to help them to achieve their business goals.  Supporting these enterprises to access the finance they need has been a cornerstone policy for the Government and for my Department over the past number of years.