Conference: "SME Financing: Recent Trends and Policy Options"
Venue: ESRI, Whitaker Square, Sir John Rogerson's Quay, Dublin 2
This ESRI and Department of Finance Conference will be held on Friday 19 April 2013 at the ESRI.
The financial crisis in Ireland has brought to the fore concerns regarding access by SMEs to both bank and non-bank finance. Of critical importance to economic recovery is ensuring that firms have the means to invest and grow. This ESRI/Department of Finance conference brings together policymakers, researchers and wider stakeholder groups to explore the recent trends in relation to SME finance, evaluate the effect of SME credit access on the wider economy and review the policy response.
PROGRAMME
08.30 Registration and Coffee
09.10 Welcome: Frances Ruane, Director, Economic and Social Research Institute
Session 1: Macroeconomic Effects of Credit Constraints
Chair: Niall O’Donnellan, Enterprise Ireland
09.20 SME Credit Constraints and Macroeconomic Effects, Conor O’Toole, ESRI
Presentation
09.40 Policy Respondent, Peter Breuer, International Monetary Fund
Session 2: SME Financing in the Euro Area
Chair: John Hogan, Department of Finance
10.00 Factors Affecting Euro Area SME’s Financing Conditions: Identifying the Cause of Heterogeneity Across Countries, Sarah Holton, Central Bank of Ireland
Presentation
10.30 Policy Respondent, John FitzGerald, ESRI
10.40 Coffee Break
Session 3: Equity Finance
Chair: Clare Dunne, Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation
11.10 Review of the Equity Investment Landscape in Ireland, Adrian Devitt, Forfás
Presentation
11.30 Policy Respondent, Nick Ashmore, National Pensions Reserve Fund.
Session 4: Panel and Audience Discussion
Chair: Alan Barrett, ESRI
11.50 Panellists: John Irwin, Allied Irish Banks, Avine McNally, Small Firms Association,
John O’Sullivan, Act Venture Capital and John Trethowan, Credit Review Office
12.30 Closing Words: Petra Gerlach, ESRI