FINANCE SUPPORTS

The Future Growth Loan Scheme has its second iteration in the form of a €500m expansion. The agri-food focused scheme provides loans of €25,000 to €3m to SMEs, small mid-caps and SMEs involved in agriculture. The loan interest rates are 4.5% for loans of less than €250,000 and 3.5% for loans above €250,000.

To access the scheme, businesses need to apply for eligibility through the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland.

The application form, along with full details of the scheme, is available through the SBCI website. Bank of Ireland, AIB and Ulster Bank accept loan applications for the scheme from businesses meeting the SBCI eligibility, and the number of FGLS on-lenders is expected to increase over the coming weeks.

Microfinance Ireland hopes that fresh government funding will allow it to reopen its Covid-19 Loan Fund, which launched in March and was fully subscribed by July. The €20m loan fund supported almost 700 micro-businesses with loan approval rates close to 80%. Under the MFI loan scheme, businesses that were viable before the pandemic, were negatively impacted by at least 15% of turnover or profit and that could not get bank funding, could apply for financial support.

Loans of up to €50,000 were offered over a term of 36 months, which included a six-month interest-free and repayment-free moratorium at the start of the loan period, with the loan then paid off over the remaining 30 months.

As part of the Sustaining Enterprise Fund, Enterprise Ireland

operates a specific Sustaining Enterprise Fund for Small Enterprise. This fund provides a short-term working capital injection of up to €50,000, to eligible smaller companies, to support business continuity and strengthen their ability to return to growth.