Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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565. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of farmers and food businesses that have applied to the future growth loan scheme since the Covid-19 crisis measures were introduced in March 2020; the number of farmers and such businesses that have been sanctioned financing to date; and the value of same in tabular form. [5833/20]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Future Growth Loan Scheme (FGLS) makes up to €300 million of loans available with a term of 8-10 years and is operated by the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) though participating lenders. My Department  developed this scheme in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

Finance provided under the scheme is competitively priced and offered at favourable terms, for example no security required for loans up to €500,000. We have seen strong demand for the scheme since its launch in April 2019 across all sectors and regions including in exporting businesses and family businesses.

The FGLS features a two-stage application process. Applicants must first confirm their eligibility under the scheme with the SBCI. The SBCI assesses the applications and successful candidates are issued an eligibility reference number.

Businesses can then use this number to apply for a loan under the scheme with one of the participating finance providers. Approval of loans is subject to the finance providers’ own credit policies and procedures.

Up to 4 May, there has been a total of 3,449 applications for eligibility under the scheme, of which 3,286 have been approved for eligibility under the scheme. To date, 1043 loans have progressed to sanction to a total value of €222m (with further loans in the pipeline for sanctioning at one of the lenders).

The initial €300m funding for the FGLS has been almost fully subscribed, supporting a significant level of strategic investment by businesses. On 8 April, I announced a further expansion of this scheme and my Department is now working through the details of a significant expansion to bring this funding to market as soon as possible.

The table below provides details of eligibility applications and loans progressed to sanction under this scheme by farmers and food businesses up to 4 May 2020. It also provides the details of eligibility applications by farmers and food businesses since March 23rd 2020.

While there is some remaining capacity in the scheme through one of the financial providers, this lender does not lend to farmers. However, those farmers and food businesses that have applied for, and received approval for an eligibility code for the FGLS since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis will be in a position to proceed directly to the financial providers to seek loan approval when the new tranche of lending which I have announced becomes available under this scheme.