Credit Review Office to be put on statutory footing

Paschal Donohoe

The change would also position the Credit Reviewer as the Head of the Service, as well as giving Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe power to extend the scope of the Credit Review Office to include other regulated 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.

Announcing the approval to draft the bill, Mr 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.”