Vol. 497 No. 7
21 Mr. Ferris asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the new initiatives she has taken to protect and develop Irish trade in the United Kingdom and United States of America and other non-euro currency areas following the introduction of the euro on 1 January 1999. [26118/98]
I replied to a similar question from Deputy Broughan on 3 November last. There is no change in the position as outlined to the House on that date. Enterprise Ireland continues its activities in raising awareness among its clients regarding the need for planning and preparation for the introduction of the euro on 1 January 1999.
Currency fluctuations are a constant feature of international trade and Enterprise Ireland works with individual companies engaged in international trade to ensure that they have taken the necessary steps to cover themselves against possible losses.
A report prepared by Forfás in April 1998 outlines specifically the actions businesses can take to cope with sterling fluctuations outside of the euro and an abbreviated version has been distributed as part of the Euro Awareness campaign.
Enterprise Ireland is a member of the EMU Inter-Agency Committee which agrees the initiatives to be taken and co-ordinates the approach and the activities of the development agencies in their dealings with client companies and business sectors on EMU. Given that ongoing survey results indicate that small companies are under prepared, the focus of this group is regionally-based small business.
A number of specific initiatives have been introduced by Enterprise Ireland to help companies with their EMU preparations. These include the provision of a euromentor through which a trained mentor is allocated to a company to work through the issues and advise on strategic and operational problems, the development of a software tool to ascertain companies sensitivity to sterling-other currency fluctuations and the former Irish Trade Board publication on EMU for exporters has been widely circulated. A review of activities to date is currently under way and new initiatives as appropriate will be introduced in 1999.
Enterprise Ireland will continue through its network of overseas offices the process of identifying opportunities in key overseas markets, including the United Kingdom, the United States and other non-euro areas and to help Irish companies to exploit these.
