Written Answers - Jobs Initiative Thursday, 23 June 2011

Dáil Éireann Debate Vol. 736 No. 3 Page of 140

  94.  Deputy Michael McGrath      asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation      his plans to introduce a partial loan guarantee scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16946/11]

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation (Deputy Richard Bruton):    As part of the Jobs Initiative announced in this House on, 10 May, both the Minister for Finance and I confirmed the Government commitment to initiating a tendering process for the development of a temporary partial credit guarantee scheme. A call for competition for the design of a scheme was published on e-tenders on 15 June.

The design of the scheme will draw from international experience to support new lending that would not otherwise have been extended by the banks. In this way, the scheme will be limited in its scope and will complement, rather than be a substitute for, existing lending activities by the main financial institutions. It will be designed to encourage banks to lend to these new or expanding commercially viable SMEs so that they can grow their company, develop new products or expand into new markets.

The Government’s commitment will be for an initial period of one year. Specific performance criteria will be set down that allow for review and revision of the scheme at the end of that initial period before committing to a roll-over of the scheme for subsequent years. It is intended that the Scheme will be in place in the autumn.

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Last Updated: 08/03/2013 20:39:04

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