Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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60. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of loans approved for each State-backed loan scheme by his Department by county in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30213/21]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Since the outbreak of  COVID-19 in Ireland, Government has worked to put in place a range of loan guarantee schemes that offer access to appropriate financing to businesses as they respond to the impacts of the pandemic on their business.

These include the COVID-19 Credit Guarantee Scheme, which makes available up to €2 billion in lending for terms of up to five-and-a-half years. These loans may be used for liquidity as well as for investment purposes, which means that this support may be of assistance to businesses in need of liquidity support post-lockdown. These loans are available at interest rates below market value for similar loans without a State guarantee.

The COVID-19 Working Capital Scheme makes relatively short-term working capital lending available to pandemic-impacted businesses. Loans under this scheme must be used to innovate, change or adapt in response to the impacts of the pandemic. These loans are offered for terms of up to three years, at a maximum interest rate of 4%. Per-county uptake figures for this scheme are made available as part of quarterly reports on the scheme. The most recent report is that to the end of Q4 2020.

The Brexit Loan Scheme offers lending under similar terms to the COVID-19 Working Capital Scheme, however it is made available to Brexit-exposed businesses. Per-county uptake figures for this scheme are made available as part of quarterly reports on the scheme. The most recent report is that to the end of Q4 2020.

The Future Growth Loan Scheme was launched in 2019 and was expanded by €500m in July of 2020. This scheme makes available up to €800m in lending to assist long term, strategic investment by eligible businesses, including in response to Brexit and COVID-19. Loans under this scheme are for terms of 7-10 years. Per-county uptake figures for this scheme are made available as part of quarterly reports on the scheme. The most recent report is that to the end of Q4 2020.

The Microenterprise Loan Fund operated by Microfinance Ireland assists businesses with fewer than ten employees.  It provides much-needed funding to help microenterprises meet payments for stock, working capital requirements and other overhead expenses through the provision of low-cost lending facilities.

Microfinance Ireland provides vital support to microenterprises by filling the lending gap in the market by lending to business that cannot obtain loans from other commercial lenders.  It lends to business that do not meet the conventional risk criteria applied by commercial lenders and applies interest rate charges for its lending which are not reflective of its credit risk.  Loans are available for up to €25,000, with interest rates ranging from 4.5% to 5.5% on the Covid-19 Business Loan and from 6.8% to 7.8% on standard business loans.

The attached table sets out the number of loans under each of these schemes.