The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has welcomed the launch of the new Brexit Impact Loan Scheme (BILS), however, it would like to see repayment terms extended.
The scheme is open to both farmers and SMEs affected by Brexit. IFA Farm Business Committee chair Rose Mary McDonagh said all farmers were impacted by Brexit and continue to be affected by the uncertainty.
“They must all be eligible to apply for this new low-interest loan facility,” she said.
The loan terms are between one to six years, with McDonagh stating she’d like to see this term “extended to at least 10 years to allow for a more practical repayment timeframe for capital investment on farms”.
At present, “the only financial institution offering the BILS loans is Bank of Ireland”, the IFA added.
McDonagh called on the “remaining financial institutions to follow Bank of Ireland’s lead and offer this BILS loan to their customers as soon as possible”.
Under the Brexit Impact Loan Scheme, loan amounts up to €500,000 can be “borrowed unsecured at a competitive low-interest rate”.
This BILS loan feature “will be very attractive to farmers, particularly for the many young farmers starting their career in agriculture, who may not have significant assets to use as security”.
The IFA said it has met with Bank of Ireland to go through the BILS “in detail”.
McDonagh said she will request a meeting with the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) to “ensure the application process is as simple as possible and that the maximum possible amount of low-interest finance is directed to farmers”.