Growth and Sustainability Loan Scheme

A long-term low-cost scheme to support eligible businesses, farmers, fishers and foresters, when investing in their growth and resilience or climate action and environmental sustainability.

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The Growth and Sustainability Loan Scheme (GSLS) is established and offered by the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) and benefits from a guarantee that has been provided by the European Investment Fund (EIF) and European Investment Bank (EIB) with support from the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).

A guarantee fee is payable by the borrower and will be incorporated into the overall interest rate collected by the Bank, payable to the SBCI.

It will run until 30 June 2029 or until it is fully subscribed, whichever occurs first.

 

Loan Purpose

The scheme provides SMEs and Small Mid-Caps*, including farmers, fishers and foresters, with long-term financing to improve their performance in terms of growth and resilience or climate action and environmental sustainability.

*Please see Who can Apply tab for full definition of SMEs and Small Mid-Caps. Qualifying loans receive discounted interest rate compared with equivalent loans.

 

Loans for Growth and Resilience

These loans should be used for long-term investment towards the growth and resilience of the enterprise.

Below are some of the purposes that Growth and Resilience loans can be used for:

  • Investments in tangible or intangible assets
  • Machinery or equipment
  • Research and development
  • Business expansion
  • Premises improvement
  • Process innovation

 

Loans for Climate Action and Environmental Sustainability

These loans are long-term investment towards climate action and environment sustainability.

Businesses wishing to invest in climate action and environmental sustainability must be categorised as one of the following:

  • Investment in green/sustainable measures
  • Any investment by SMEs/Small Mid-Caps classified as a Green / Sustainable Enterprise
  • Any investment by farmers classified as a holder of a Green Eco Label

Loan Features

  • Loan amounts from €25,000 to a maximum of €3,000,000 per borrower (loan amounts are dependent on aid intensity and State aid thresholds)
  • Loan terms from 7 years up to a maximum of 10 years
  • Security may be required for loans above €500,000
  • Loans may only be used for long-term investment in growth and resilience or climate action and environmentally sustainable measures
  • Loans are available up to 30 June 2029 or until the scheme has been fully subscribed (whichever is earlier)
  • Variable interest rate loans 1
  • Interest only option 2

 

1Reference Rate and Margin will be determined by the loan size. For loans up to €1,000,000 the reference rate is the Small Business and Agri Rate (SBAR) plus a margin. For loans up to €120,000 the variable rate is made up of SBAR plus a margin of 4.412%. For loans over €120,000 to €499,999 the variable rate is made up of SBAR plus a margin of 2.962%. For loans €500,000 to €999,999 the variable rate is made up of SBAR plus a margin of 2.862%. For loans over €1,000,000 to €3,000,000 the variable rate is made up of Bank Euro Business Rate (BEBR) plus a margin of 2.262%. For up-to-date reference rates please visit Business Banking Reference Rates.
A discount of 0.25% is applied to the margins above for Climate Action/Environmentally Sustainable Loans
2Interest only option available subject to credit approval.

Who can apply?

Viable SME and Small Mid-Cap businesses, including farmers, fishers and foresters, that meet the eligibility criteria. Please see How to Apply section for more detail on eligibility criteria

SMEs are defined as enterprises that:

  • have fewer than 250 employees
  • have an annual turnover not exceeding €50 million and/or an annual balance sheet total not exceeding €43 million
  • are independent and autonomous, and not part of a wider group of enterprises
  • have less than 25% of their capital held by public bodies

A Small Mid-Cap is an enterprise that is not an SME but has fewer than 500 employees.

In addition, in order to be eligible for the scheme, SMEs must be established in an EU Member State and operating in the Republic of Ireland.

 

Excluded Activities

Applicants must not use the loan proceeds for:

  • refinancing of existing term loan debt
  • financing of specific export operations
  • financing current expenditure linked to the export activity
  • financing contingent upon the use of domestic over imported products
  • financing the establishment and operation of a distribution network in other Member States, or
  • pure real estate development activities

For a full list of excluded activities please visit SBCI

Before you apply, make sure that your business qualifies for the scheme. 1

1Bank of Ireland is not responsible for information provided on third party websites.

How to Apply

Step 1 – Applicants must first register (or login) on the SBCI Hub and submit an online Eligibility Application Form to check if they can access the scheme. Once the online form is completed, successful applicants will be issued with an eligibility code.

Step 2 – The applicant must provide this eligibility code to the Bank when submitting their credit application.

If you’re seeking a loan of up to €500,000 you can apply online.

For loans of over €500,000 please contact your Business Relationship Manager or local branch.

Please note that the SBCI eligibility code is not a guarantee of credit approval and does not oblige the on-lender to provide finance.

Approval of loans is subject to each of the participating on-lender’s credit criteria, policies and procedures.

The Growth and Sustainability Loan Scheme will operate until 30 June 2029 or until the scheme has been fully subscribed (whichever is earlier).

 

State Aid

SBCI Schemes many be subject to State Aid, for more information on State Aid measures applicable to the scheme please refer to the relevant regulations on SBCI website here.
 

Representative Examples

Loans < €120,000

A Growth and Sustainability Loan Scheme facility (Climate Action and Sustainability Measures) of €100,000 at a variable rate of 5.532% over a 7 year term will require monthly repayments of €1,437.32. Total cost of credit is €20,734.88.
A Growth and Sustainability Loan Scheme facility (Growth and Resilience) of €100,000 at a variable rate of 5.782% over a year term will require monthly repayments of €1.449.11. Total cost of credit is €21,725.24.

Loans €120,000 to €499,999

A Growth and Sustainability Loan Scheme facility (Climate Action and Sustainability Measures) of €300,000 at a variable rate of 4.082% over a 7 year term will require 84 monthly repayments of €4,110.07. total cost of credit is €45,245.88.
A Growth and Sustainability Loan Scheme facility (Growth and Resilience) of €300,000 at a variable rate of 4.332% over a 7 year term will require 84 monthly repayments of €4,144.49. total cost of credit is €48,137.16.

The examples above are based on rates as at 6 October 2026

Warning: If you do not meet the repayments on your credit facility agreement, your account will go into arrears. This may affect your credit rating, which may limit your ability to access credit in the future.
Warning: The cost of your repayments may increase.
Warning: The entire amount that you have borrowed will still be outstanding at the end of the interest-only period.

Bank of Ireland is not responsible for information provided on third party websites.

Level of security required and rate applicable, will be determined by the amount, purpose & term of facility, in conjunction with the nature and value of the security being offered.

Over 18 years only. Lending criteria, and terms and conditions apply. Maximum credit of €500,000 available for online applications.

The Growth and Sustainability Loan Scheme is a variable rate loan. If you repay early, in full or in part, your Growth and Sustainability loan, additional charges will not be payable to Bank of Ireland