The SME Lending Demand Survey has found that 38% of small and medium enterprises had requested bank credit in the six months to March.
The report notes that this is an increase of 2% on the previous survey.
The findings report that, excluding pending applications, 72% of requests were approved or partially approved.
In 71% of cases where formal applications were declined, the bank did not inform the borrower of the right to internal review.
The survey, published by the Minister for Finance, reports that 51% of SMEs are of the view that banks are not lending.
Only one in five (20%) of those companies had experienced that first hand, with 45% forming that opinion from media reports or the view of business representative groups.
35% of SMEs, approached in the survey, were told by peers that the banks were not lending.
The survey is conducted by Ipsos MRBI in conjunction with Mazars. It is paid for by AIB and Bank of Ireland and covers the period October 2011 to March 2011.
Among the 62% of SMEs that did not look for credit, 6% of the SMEs surveyed said that they believed that the banks were not lending, and 78% reported that they had sufficient internal reserves.
41% of SMEs reported a drop in turnover while 27% reported an increase. 79% of SMEs said that employee levels were constant, while 21% said that they had decreased employee numbers.
72% reported a profit or achieved a break even position in the period surveyed.
Michael Noonan welcomed the report for, he said, the further clarity it brings to the pattern of credit demand. The Minister said that it will assist in monitoring the business environment and the availability of credit to the sector.
