Microfinance Ireland have granted over 1.1million in loans to businesses – Clune

Fine Gael Spokesperson for Jobs, Innovation and Research in the Seanad Deirdre Clune is emphasising the important role which Microfinance Ireland has played in helping small enterprises access funding. It has given €1,103,299 value of loans to 68 viable enterprises and supported 170 jobs. The approval rate is 44% of all applications to date.

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The fund was established to help support small businesses with less than 10 employees to access funding to kick start or grow a business if they fail to satisfy the traditional risk assessment applied by banks, for example collateral or poor accounts and records.

“Access to credit as we all know is particularly difficult at the moment however many companies have the ability to develop and provide jobs in their communities provided they are given the right back up.

“This scheme is just one of a suite of measures the government has put in place to support small enterprise. They are playing a vital role in our recovery and are the heart of local enterprise and innovation.

“Minister Richard Bruton has secured 10 million euro for the fund and a further 15 million can be accessed if required.

“Loans from 2,000 up to 25,000 could be provided by the initiative as long as the business meets the necessary criteria. For example the company must have ten or less staff and its turnover must not exceed 2 million.

“Crucially, the scheme is open to all types of businesses in any sector, this is a real opportunity to grow enterprises and encourage job creation.”