Over the past week the Irish Farmers Journal has been inundated with queries relating to the low-cost loan scheme. While the high demand for these loans clearly shows the requirement for competitively priced working capital for farmers, it must be remembered this is borrowed money and must be repaid.

These loans were designed to be a simple and cheap solution to assist farm credit. While this fund brings Irish lending rates in line with its European counterparts, if it proves to be more complex and unattainable for certain purposes, it won’t deliver for farmers.

Eion Lowry takes a comprehensive look at the scheme here.