Eoin Hayes (Dublin Bay South, Social Democrats)
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61. To ask the Minister for Finance to provide the most recent analysis on domestic credit availability in Ireland, in particular for indigenous businesses; how this compares to other countries; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17855/25]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Government recognises that the SME sector is hugely important to the Irish economy. As Minister for Finance, a major concern of mine is that SMEs have sufficient liquidity and that access to credit for SMEs is maintained. Their importance to the economy is the reason why my Department conducts the Credit Demand Survey annually.

The SME Credit Demand survey conducted by my Department since 2012 is an independent and statistically significant report that provides insights into the availability of and demand for credit, and related issues, amongst SMEs. Since 2023, in light of Retail Banking Review recommendations, the survey has been conducted and published on a calendar year basis (instead of every six months) and remains an important research tool on the availability of domestic credit.

As the Deputy may be aware, the most recent report was published in April 2024 and the full report is available on the Department's website.

In terms of the most recent analysis, new business lending is collected under the Monetary Financial Institutions Interest Rates regulation which covers lending to Irish and Euro Area lending by Irish resident Credit institutions and is published by the Central Bank of Ireland monthly as part of the Retail Interest Rates publication.

Euro Area commentary for the same dataset is available on the ECB website.

New business lending loan agreements decreased to €988m in January 2025, a monthly decrease of 61% from December 2024 and an annual increase of 18% compared to January 2024.

The Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland also plays an important role in the provision of credit to Irish business. The SBCI was established in September 2014, under the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland Act, as a National Promotional Bank. The strategic mission of the SBCI is to deliver effective financial supports to Irish SMEs that address failures in the Irish credit market, while driving competition and innovation and ensuring the efficient use of available EU resources.

The current loan guarantee scheme in the market is the Growth and Sustainability Loan Scheme. This scheme for SMEs, including primary producers and small mid-caps, makes €500 million in loan funding available to enable investment in growth and sustainability.

Of the lending volume under the scheme, 30% is reserved for investment in sustainability and energy efficiency. These green loans also attract a special discount interest rate.

By the 10 March 2025, 1,588 applications were approved to the value of €347.3 million. Following approval, 1,387 approvals to the value of €264.7 million were drawn down to that date.

In Q3 2024 the SBCI also extended its liquidity facility with Fexco Asset Finance from €40 million to €70 million, to enable Irish SMEs to borrow at a lower cost for specialist equipment and vehicles. Under this facility SMEs can avail of a 1.5% discount, available up to September 2027.

In relation to the availability of wider domestic credit, the Home Energy Upgrade Loan Scheme was launched on 24 April 2024. This scheme makes available up to €500 million to homeowners and small landlords in order to stimulate the delivery of up to 25,000 additional deep home energy retrofits over three years.

By the 18 March 2025, 335 loans were drawn down, totaling €16.27 million, with an average value of €48,564.

In terms of credit availability in Europe, the ECB publishes harmonised data on euro area lending to households and non-financial corporates every month, to the Statistical Data Warehouse (SDW), found at .

Central Bank of Ireland commentary on developments in euro area credit can be found in the Central Bank’s Financial Stability Review (FSR), which is published bi-annually www.centralbank.ie/publication/financial-stability-review.