Social Finance Foundation was established in 2007 by the Government to address the needs of community organisations and social enterprises for loan funding which was difficult to obtain from mainstream financial institutions. The Foundation has been funded by the Irish banks by way of a non-repayable grant in 2007 and very low interest loans for the period 2009 to 2025. This enables the social finance infrastructure in Ireland to operate. Without such support, many of the projects and initiatives which bring significant economic and social benefit to local communities throughout the country simply would not happen. The Bank funding has enabled the Foundation to lend €100m to nearly 1,000 organisations throughout Ireland since it was set up via our two partners Clann Credo and Community Finance Ireland.