Minister English Opens New Green Vehicle Loan for Small Public Service Vehicles

Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail, Damien English TD has announced owners of Small Public Service Vehicles (SPSV) such as taxis, hackneys, and limousines will be able to avail of a new Green Vehicle Loan (eSPSV) to help replace their vehicle with an electric or hybrid model.

To make public transport more sustainable, earlier this year the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications and Transport allocated €15m to assist the SPSV industry in transitioning to fully electric and zero-emission capable wheelchair accessible vehicles.

Microfinance Ireland (MFI) can now assist many owner-operators in this sector, which has been badly affected by the pandemic, in using the existing Electric Vehicle part grant scheme announced this April by providing access to loans not otherwise available to them through mainstream banking.

Loans from €5,000 to €25,000 are available to micro-enterprises that meet the specific eligibility criteria for the eSPSV Loan.

For the size of these loans, they have favourable interest rates of 4.5% Annual Percentage Rate (APR) if submitted through the Local Enterprise Office (LEO) network or other referral partners or 5.5% APR if applied directly to MFI.

Loan terms up to a maximum of five years. There are no fees or charges or any hidden costs and there is no penalty for early repayment. As per MFI’s remit, this loan will be available to micro-businesses, i.e. businesses with less than 10 employees and €2 million turnover.

“It is very positive to see the development of this new eSPSV Business Loan by Microfinance Ireland for qualifying taxi, hackney, limousine and other SPSV businesses in Ireland. We want the future to be green and this is a strong signal that our micro businesses involved in transport can lead on this move into the future,” said Minister English.

Microfinance Ireland’s CEO, Des McCarthy, said: “We are very pleased to support this important government initiative and to provide further help to small businesses in this sector. We are providing loan finance to those that are having difficulty in securing funding from banks and commercial lending providers due to the impact of the pandemic on their business but who now wish to replace their vehicle with a more sustainable model.”

The new Green Vehicle Loan is now open for applications. To apply for the loan, please visit Microfinance Ireland.