Microfinance Ireland Quarterly Report Q4 2021: Microenterprise Loan Fund Scheme (Microfinance Ireland)

Summary

• In 2021 the fund received 1153 applications and approved €8.5M of loans, a 47% approval rate.p.2
• €8.8M of loans were drawn across 547 loans, with an average loan size of €17.2K.p.2
• 86% of approvals went to businesses employing 3 people or fewer and 39% to start-ups.p.2
• 14% of loans went to Dublin and 86% to the rest of Ireland.p.2
• In Q4 2021 the fund received 206 applications, approved €1.5M and had a 49% approval rate.p.3
• There were 57 appeals in 2021 and 12 were approved on appeal.p.15

Key insights

1. The fund provides loans of €2,000 up to €25,000 to micro-enterprises that cannot obtain funding through traditional sources.p.2
2. The 2021 loans supported 798/865 jobs in 545 micro-enterprises.p.2
3. Q4 2021 saw 95 loans drawn worth €1.4M.p.3
4. After a very strong first half, demand was softer in Q3 and Q4, with Covid loan applications falling off.p.4
5. 8 complaints were received in total in 2021.p.15