Eurofound's EU PolicyWatch collates information on the responses of government and social partners to the COVID-19 crisis, the war in Ukraine, rising inflation, as well as gathering examples of company practices aimed at mitigating the social and economic impacts.
Factsheet for measure IE-2020-31/1049 – measures in Ireland
Country | Ireland , applies nationwide |
Time period | Open ended, started on 30 July 2020 |
Context | COVID-19 |
Type | Other initiatives or policies |
Category |
Supporting businesses to stay afloat
– Access to finance |
Author | Roisin Farelly (IRN Publishing) and Eurofound |
Measure added | 28 August 2020 (updated 15 November 2021) |
An existing fund of €300 million for financing SMEs for long-term purposes is being expanded by an additional €500 million in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The fund had been established in June 2019 and offers loans for seven to ten years with the support of the following national government Departments - Business, Enterprise and Innovation; Agriculture, Food and the Marine - as well as the European Investment Bank and the European Investment Fund.
The Future Growth Loan Scheme (FGLS) benefits from a guarantee from the European Union under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI).
It provides funds through the commercial banks at national level.
FGLS provides loans from €25,000 to a maximum of €3,000,000 per applicant.
Loan terms vary from 7-10 years and unsecured loans are available for up to €500,000. The initial maximum interest rate is 4.5% for loans below €250,000 and 3.5% for loans greater than or equal to €250,000.
Loans can be used for long-term investment. Applicants must choose one of the below loan purposes: Investment in machinery or equipment; Investment in research and development; Investment in business expansion; Investment in premises improvement; Investment in process innovation; Investment in people and/or systems.
Excluded activities are:
According to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment: 7,812 applications were deemed eligible. As of 31 December 2020, 2,742 loans were sanctioned with a total value of €554.6 million.
According to the COVID-19 and Brexit Business Supports Tracker 2021, 3,440 loans were sanctioned to a value of €725.29 million as at 24 September 2021.
Workers | Businesses | Citizens |
---|---|---|
Does not apply to workers |
SMEs
|
Does not apply to citizens |
Actors | Funding |
---|---|
National government
Company / Companies EU (Council, EC, EP) |
European Funds
National funds |
Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:
Trade unions | Employers' organisations | |
---|---|---|
Role | No involvement | No involvement |
Form | Not applicable | Not applicable |
Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:
No social partner role - funding made available from EU and national government sources.
Not known.
Citation
Eurofound (2020), Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) issue new loan scheme, measure IE-2020-31/1049 (measures in Ireland), EU PolicyWatch, Dublin, https://static.eurofound.europa.eu/covid19db/cases/IE-2020-31_1049.html
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