Some €500m of “competitively priced loans” will now be made available to farmers and businesses under an agreement signed by Minister for Enterprise Leo Varadkar and Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue.

The Growth and Sustainability Loan Scheme will make loans of between €25,000 and €3m available to farmers, with the cash being underpinned by the European Investment Bank Group.

Monies will be lent for up to 10 years and loans of up to €500,000 are to be made available to farmers unsecured.

Environment

Lenders will target 30% of the monies to better environmental sustainability.

The loans will be delivered by the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI), which has administrated other State-backed loan options that were made available to farmers in recent years.

Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue stated that the funds available for farmers to borrow will contribute to the farming sector’s movement towards sustainability.

“I am committed to ensuring that the agri-food sector has appropriate access to finance, especially in achieving the objectives of Food Vision 2030, our shared 10-year strategy for the Irish agri-food sector, to ensure that our economic and environmental objectives can be achieved in the time ahead,” he said.

SBCI CEO June Butler also pointed towards the loans' sustainability allocation, commenting that the funds will allow for longer-term spending in businesses.

“The Growth and Sustainability Loan Scheme will enable businesses to invest in sustainability, innovation and further expansion through longer-term investments, using low-cost, longer-term and more accessible funding," Butler said.