Minister Donohoe gains Cabinet approval to put Credit Review Office on a legislative footing

Scope of Office can be extended to include other regulated financial service providers, State Bodies and State-supported credit schemes

The Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe TD, today (Tuesday) announced Government approval to draft legislation to establish the Credit Review Service as a body corporate, putting it on a legislative footing. This would also position the Credit Reviewer as the Head of the Service, as well as giving the Minister power to extend the scope of the Credit Review Office to include other regulated financial service providers, State Bodies and State-supported credit schemes.

The Credit Reviewer was established in 2010 and its key role is to examine credit decisions for SME or farm borrowers who have had an application for credit of up to €3 million declined or reduced by participating banks (currently AIB, BOI, PTSB and Ulster Bank), and who feel that they have a viable business proposition. While the Credit Reviewer cannot instruct a participating institution to provide credit, over 90 per cent of the cases Credit Review has supported were successful in securing credit.

Welcoming Government approval to draft the Bill, Minister Donohoe said:

‘The Credit Reviewer has a vital role in ensuring that viable Irish SMEs and farm borrowers have access to appropriate and sustainable credit to facilitate investment, which will be a key element of our economic recovery and longer-term economic growth.”

Ends

Notes to Editors:

Credit Reviewer Performance:

To end 2020, 1,165 formal applications have been made since the establishment of Credit Review Office (CRO). 788 have reached final conclusion.
The Credit Review Office has upheld appeals in favour of 451 borrowers, including those with a commitment to reassess the lending in the future if agreed performance hurdles are met in the short term.
The upheld appeals have resulted in €63.2m credit being made available to SMEs and farms, helping to protect/create 4,372 jobs.
In order to gain feedback from stakeholders and SMEs, the CRO has also partaken in stakeholder meetings, conferences and seminars.
The Credit Reviewer also provides commentary to the Minister for Finance regarding any trends they identify in regard to SME access to bank finance.

Minister Donohoe gains Cabinet approval to put Credit Review Office on a legislative footing

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