Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Act 2020

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR No. 5/2020
• Year: 2020

Number 5 of 2020
CREDIT GUARANTEE (AMENDMENT) ACT 2020
CONTENTS
Section
1. Definition
2. Amendment of section 1 of Act of 2012
3. Amendment of section 3 of Act of 2012
4. Amendment of section 4 of Act of 2012
5. Power of Minister to give guarantees in accordance with Covid-19 credit guarantee scheme
6. Amendment of section 12 of Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Act 2016
7. Short title, commencement and collective citation
Acts Referred to
Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Act 2016 (No. 1)
Credit Guarantee Act 2012 (No. 26)
Number 5 of 2020
CREDIT GUARANTEE (AMENDMENT) ACT 2020
An Act to make provision in relation to the giving of guarantees by the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation under the Credit Guarantee Act 2012 in accordance with a credit guarantee scheme made under that Act by that Minister of Government in response to the economic difficulties caused by the disease known as Covid-19; to place a monetary limit on the potential liability of that Minister of the Government in respect of such a credit guarantee scheme; to extend the classes of enterprise to which such a credit guarantee scheme may apply; and, for those purposes, to amend the Credit Guarantee Act 2012 and the Credit Guarantee (Amendment) Act 2016 ; and to provide for related matters.
[24th July, 2020]
Be it enacted by the Oireachtas as follows:
		Definition
1. In this Act, “Act of 2012” means the Credit Guarantee Act 2012 .
		Amendment of section 1 of Act of 2012
2. Section 1 of the Act of 2012 is amended by the insertion of the following definition:
	“ ‘Covid-19 credit guarantee scheme’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 4A(1);”.
		Amendment of section 3 of Act of 2012
3. Section 3 of the Act of 2012 is amended by—
	(a) the substitution, in subsection (1), of “Subject to subsection (1A), for the purposes” for “For the purposes”, and
	(b) the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (1):
	“(1A) For the purposes of this Act, insofar as it applies to a Covid-19 credit guarantee scheme, a person is a qualifying enterprise if—
	(a) the person is a qualifying enterprise within the meaning of subsection (1), or
	(b) in the case of a person who is not a qualifying enterprise within the meaning of subsection (1), the person is established in the State and employs not more than 499 persons (calculated in accordance with the Commission Recommendation) whether or not in the State.”.
		Amendment of section 4 of Act of 2012
4. Section 4 of the Act of 2012 is amended by—
	(a) the substitution, in subsection (1), of “this section, section 4A” for “this section”,
	(b) the substitution, in subsection (2), of “subsection (3), section 4A” for “subsection (3) ”,
	(c) the substitution, in subsection (3), of “Subject to subsection (4A), the Minister” for “The Minister”,
	(d) the substitution, in subsection (4), of “Subject to subsection (4A), the Minister” for “The Minister”, and
	(e) the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (4):
	“(4A) Subsections (3) and (4) shall not apply to—
	(a) guarantees given under this section in accordance with a Covid-19 credit guarantee scheme, or
	(b) qualifying finance agreements to which those guarantees apply.”.
		Power of Minister to give guarantees in accordance with Covid-19 credit guarantee scheme
5. The Act of 2012 is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 4:
	“4A. (1) In the case of a credit guarantee scheme made to facilitate the provision of financial products to participating enterprises in response to the economic difficulties caused by...