Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
THE GOVERNMENT HAS announced a new low-cost loan scheme to help small businesses recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The loans are available for small and medium businesses (SMEs), including farmers, fishers and other food businesses, going from €25,000 and €1.5 million for terms of one to six years.
The scheme, known as the Covid-19 Loan Scheme, was announced by Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe and Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue this morning.
Under the scheme, loans will be made available to businesses whose turnover or profit was impacted by more than 15% due to Covid-19.
The loans will be able to be used for investment, working capital and 30% of funds can be used to refinance existing short-term loans.
The Department of Enterprise has said that the loans will be available without security for funds less than €500,000 and that they will feature a lower interest rate than comparable small business loans.
Launching the scheme, Varadkar said that businesses are now getting back on their feet after several difficult years.
“There are currently more people employed in Ireland than ever before in the history of the state. That would have been unimaginable a few months ago even,” said Varadkar.
“However, many businesses are still getting back on their feet after what has been an incredibly challenging period. I know Putin’s war on Ukraine has caused more uncertainty.
This successor scheme will give SMEs, including farmers, fishers and food businesses, the option to access really competitively priced loans, should they need to avail of that option, in addition to the other help that is available. It’s about giving SMEs as many options as possible.
McConalogue said that the scheme would help alleviate the impact of the pandemic on the agri-food sector.
“The resilience shown by the agri-food sector during the pandemic was remarkable as it continued to produce high quality produce for consumers at home and abroad,” said McConalogue
“This State-backed source of finance will complement other measures introduced by my Department to alleviate the considerable impact of the pandemic on the agri-food sector.”
ISME, the Irish Small and Medium Enterprise Association, said that the new scheme was interesting on a number of fronts, including the higher unsecured loan cap compared to a previous scheme.
“The unsecured amount has doubled from €250k to €500k, likely to increase attractiveness to both borrowers and lenders,” said a spokesperson for ISME.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Not sure if it’s a great idea to be prolonging the life of a lot of zombie businesses out there to be honest. If they haven’t managed to sort themselves out by now then loading up on more taxpayers debt just to keep on barely surviving is a bad move.
Even more so when one considers that we are facing into an economic contraction.
@Lee King Buckett: SMEs are a vital component of this economy accounting for about 98% of all businesses and 68% of the Labour force so I’d support any assistance they get during challenging times.
@Lee King Buckett: it strikes me you have never run a business and have no idea how they work
@Nuala Mc Namara: It’s fine to support the viable ones, the problem is that there are a lot of unviable businesses at the moment that are only surviving due to being propped up by public money.
Many can’t afford to repay the VAT that was shelved in 2020, many were totally reliant on the EWSS payments, a very large number let all their staff go immediately with no financial support and are now saying that they can’t afford to pay the proposed minimum wage increase, sick pay scheme, pension auto enrollment etc etc.
If you have a business that is reliant on state support and cheap loans and can’t afford to pay its staff well and given them a reasonable living and even short term job security then you should not be propped up by public finances.
@BadBob: It strikes me as though you are making (incorrect) suppositions.
Need a few of them loans to fill the oil tank and pay electric bill this winter I reckon: but there again I’m not a business so guess ‘low cost’ anything doesn’t apply
Whats the interest rate on these loans?
@Eddie O’Neill: It will depend on the nature of the facility sought and whether its a secured or unsecured facility.
Time for a new Toyota landcruiser
have your say