Schemes to address small business credit imminent -- Perry

Speaking at the SME Employment Day in Dublin’s Convention Centre he said the issue of access to credit is a matter of priority if we are to encourage self-employment and entrepreneurship.

The Micro-enterprise Loan Fund and the Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme and the range of actions listed to encourage and measure new bank lending are outlined in the recently announced Action Plan.

“If we are to spread a culture of entrepreneurship across the whole country, we need to empower people to strike out on their own and to shape their own future. A priority for my department and one that has a significant entrepreneurship focus is the introduction of a microfinance fund,” Perry said.

“We will soon be rolling out a Micro Finance Start-up Fund to help people to fulfill their entrepreneurial potential.  This fund will provide small loans up to €25,000 to all start-up, newly established, or existing small businesses concerns with fewer than 10 employees, across all industry sectors.”

Temporary Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme

Perry said the Government was also currently finalising the establishment of a Temporary Partial Credit Guarantee Scheme to facilitate additional lending to SMEs which are on the margins of commercial lending decisions. 

The scheme will provide a level of guarantee to banks against losses on qualifying loans to SMEs, thereby enabling SMEs to access sufficient credit to maximise growth potential and job creation opportunities.

“It will be closely targeted at commercially viable, well performing companies that have a solid business plan and a defined market for their products or services, thereby demonstrating their ability to repay the loan,” noted Perry.