Minister Burke welcomes doubling of lending limit from Microfinance Ireland to microenterprises

Permissible loan value increases from €25,000 to €50,000

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Peter Burke TD has welcomed the publication of legislation which will allow for Microfinance Ireland (MFI) to increase its lending limit to microenterprises from €25,000 to €50,000.

Minister Burke said:

“This development is one of a range of measures I announced earlier in the Summer to assist our small businesses who are the backbone of our economy. The measure doubles the value of loans available to our microenterprises from MFI. The increase is substantial with microenterprises now able to apply for loans up to the value of €50,000.

“Microfinance Ireland provides vital support to microenterprises across Ireland by lending to businesses that may not be able to obtain loans from other commercial lenders. This increase will help established businesses to secure appropriate finance to sustain and grow their business and will also offer another avenue of financial support to assist start-up enterprises”.

78% of loans approved by MFI in 2023 were to microenterprises outside Dublin. The dominant sectors availing of loans from MFI have been the wholesale and retail sector (20%), manufacturing (11%), other services (10%) and professional, scientific and tech activities (9%).

MFI also provides post approval mentoring services to its borrowers through the Department’s Local Enterprise Office Network. Since their establishment in 2012 MFI have approved over 5,000 loans to the value of €85.4 million, supporting 10,703 jobs.

Visit https://microfinanceireland.ie/