Of the €117m drawn down so far from the €150m low-interest rate loans, just 2% has gone to sheep farmers.

Figures released by the Department of Agriculture show that 3,627 farmers have drawn down the €117m so far, with just 127 of those being sheep farmers.

The average loan drawn down by sheep farmers was €20,449. Overall, the average amount drawn down by all farmers was €31,947.

Some 1,358 dairy farmers have drawn down 43% of the loans thus far, worth a total of €49.8m. The average loan to dairy farmers was €36,740.

There were 1,788 beef farmers who drew a total of €48.6m, with the average loan being €27,211. Just 168 tillage farmers have drawn down €7m in loans, with the average loan being €46,068.

Background

The low-interest loan scheme was launched as part of last year’s budget. Loans of up to €150,000, for up to six years at an interest rate of 2.95%, were made available by the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) through the three main banks in Ireland. These are Ulster Bank, Bank of Ireland and AIB. The scheme was fully subscribed.

Locations

Almost a quarter (22%) of the loans drawn down were by farmers in the southwest, 17% by farmers in the southeast, 16% in the mid-west, 14% in the border area, with 11% each in the west and midlands.

In total, 63% of loans were outside of the border, midlands and west (BMW) region with the remaining 37% in the BMW region.

Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed welcomed the drawdown of the money so far and committed to having the remainder of the money delivered to farmers by the end of September.

“The banks advise that… in line with the time limits imposed by the regulation governing the EU contribution, it is expected that all of these loans will be drawn down by the end of September.”