The Irish government is confident it will secure additional capital from the European Investment Bank to fund infrastructural projects and financing businesses.
Speaking in Brussels after meeting senior EIB officials, Finance Minister Michael Noonan said €250 million could be made available both to AIB and Bank of Ireland for funding small and medium sized enterprises - if the demand was there.
He said the EIB was also "quite enthusiastic" about Minister Bruton's micro-financing fund, which would see sums of between 15 and 25 thousand euro being made available to small businesses.
Public Expenditure and Reform Minister, Brendan Howlin, who also attended the meeting, stressed that the EIB was just one part of the Government's approach to boost shovel-ready projects which would have an immediate impact on employment.
He said the EIB funding would assist the Government's €17 billion capital project announced last November, in which priority is being given to health centres, primary care centres and resolving deficiencies in schools.
Minister Howlin declined to say whether flag-ship projects, like Metro North, could become a reality but he said an announcement on projects outside the current capital plans would be made in due course.
Mr Noonan said it was generally felt that the EIB would receive additional capital even though it "had not been nailed down yet" and Ireland wanted to ensure it ear-marked additional projects when that happened.
He said if the EIB received 10 billion in additional capital from EU member states in order to boost growth, then the bill for Ireland would be €57 million.
In 2011, the EIB signed contracts to lend a total of €475 million to Irish projects, including the upgrade of our electricity network and a science centre and accommodation at UCD.
As an EU institution, the EIB provides long-term project financing mainly for public-sector investment initiatives in the EU and enlargement countries.
