Speaking at the joint Oireachtas agriculture committee on Tuesday, Bank of Ireland said that if the Government wanted to pursue a low-interest loan policy then the banks would be interested.

“If the Government wants to bring forward a scheme I think all the banks have indicated they are interested,” said Mark Cunningham, director of business banking with Bank of Ireland. “It’s not a blueprint for schemes in the years ahead, but if it is something the Government wished to pursue we will do that.”

He added that Bank of Ireland is managing the lending of €65m to farmers as part of the low-interest SBCI scheme.

“To date, the bank has issued €39.1m of the funding available, which represents 60% of its allocation. Another €12.7m has been approved and is available to be drawn, with a further €13.2m to be processed to approval stage to fulfil our commitment under the scheme.”

Other banks

Tim Lombard asked the banking representatives whether these low-interest loans are the appropriate model. AIB and Ulster bank both said that they are.

“My view is we will see more of these schemes. It opens up credit in areas where banks couldn’t open it up at a cheaper price point,” said Ailish Byrne from Ulster Bank. “Over 50% of our loans have gone out over a four-year period. We have given loans of up to six years to farmers who had used their own working capital to invest in the farm in the last few years.”

Meanwhile, Anne Finnegan said that “AIB is very happy to work with the SBCI to see how we can continue to be innovative and provide new products on the market”.

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