This is an opportunity for the select committee to consider the performance information on the outputs and inputs of programme expenditure. I welcome the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, and her officials from the Department. The Minister of State, Deputy Breen, is taking a Topical Issues debate in the Dáil and will join us shortly. I thank the officials for the briefing material provided which has been circulated to members. As they are aware, Vote 32 covers three primary areas of expenditure. Programme A covers jobs and enterprise development; programme B covers innovation, while programme C covers regulation. I propose that we examine the Revised Estimates programme by programme. We will start with programme A which deals with jobs and enterprise development; agency legacy pensions; InterTradeIreland; IDA Ireland; the National Standards Authority of Ireland; Enterprise Ireland; local enterprise development; the credit guarantee scheme; the INTERREG programme; subscriptions to international organisations; commissions, committees and special inquiries; legal costs and other services; the future growth loan scheme; and the humanitarian relief scheme.
Vote 32 - Business, Enterprise and Innovation (Revised)
I very much welcome the opportunity to discuss the details of my Department's Estimate for 2019 with members of the select committee. My colleague, the Minister of State with responsibility for trade, employment, business, the EU digital Single Market and data protection, Deputy Breen, will be with us shortly. My other departmental colleague, the Minister of State with responsibility for training, skills, innovation, research and development, Deputy Halligan, has asked me to offer his apologies as he is unable to be here owing to another commitment.
With the committee's indulgence, I propose to make some overall introductory remarks about the capital and current moneys being provided by my Department in 2019. The Minister of State, Deputy Breen, hopes to make some brief remarks about the Department's regulation programme and his specific areas of responsibility. I understand my officials have provided a briefing for members of the committee on the details of the Department's 2019 Estimate which I hope has been of assistance.
As regards the financials, the 2019 Revised Estimates published by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform provided my Department with a gross allocation of €950.2 million for use in 2019. This represents an increase of more than €79.2 million or 9.1% on the 2018 Estimate of €870.96 million. In addition, approval was secured to carry over €27.6 million in unspent capital moneys from 2018 to 2019. In essence, the total gross funding available for use by my Department and its statutory agencies and offices in 2019 is €977.8 million.
As regards capital funding, the 2019 allocation of €620 million is the highest capital allocation ever received by my Department and represents an increase of €65 million, or almost 12%, on the 2018 capital allocation which was also a record allocation. On current funding, the €330.2 million being provided by my Department in 2019 represents an increase of more than €14.27 million on last year's allocation.
Before dealing with the specifics of some of the 2019 allocations, I will say a word about what my Department achieved with the moneys it received in 2018. Last year was another very successful year in job creation by the clients of the Department's enterprise agencies. In 2018 these clients delivered 26,815 net new jobs. Of this total, 9,119 net new jobs were created by clients of Enterprise Ireland, 14,040 by clients of IDA Ireland and 3,656 by clients of the local enterprise offices. Our agencies now directly support more than 480,000 jobs, which represents more than 21% of all jobs in the economy. These jobs are in all sectors of the economy and all regions of the country. Regional development continued to be a particular focus of our enterprise agencies in 2018, with the result that over 58% of jobs supported by IDA Ireland and 64% of Enterprise Ireland-supported jobs are located outside Dublin.
A very significant amount of resources and effort was devoted by my Department and its agencies and offices in 2018 to the challenge of Brexit and preparing businesses for that challenge. Some of the specific initiative supports my Department and its enterprise agencies have undertaken to help businesses to compete include the Brexit loan scheme, the Enterprise Ireland Brexit SME scorecard, Enterprise Ireland's "Be Prepared" grant, the Enterprise Ireland Act On programme and the roll-out of the regional enterprise development fund. Enterprise Ireland's Brexit advisory clinics have provided assistance and advice on matters such as financial and currency management. The local enterprise offices technical assistance for microenterprises grant has been designed to support qualifying businesses to diversify into new markets. The local enterprise offices' "Lean for Micro" programme is available nationwide to help small businesses to become more efficient and competitive.
Turning to 2019, Brexit will undoubtedly continue to be the primary focus of my Department and its agencies and offices. The additional funding being provided for the Department's Vote in the 2019 Revised Estimates will enable us to step up our response to Brexit and introduce a further suite of measures to enable businesses to prepare for the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union. The measures build on the specific initiatives undertaken in budget 2017 and budget 2018 and have been designed to support the pillars of my Department's strategic response to Brexit.
In terms of specifics, 2019 will see the roll-out of the initial phase of the new future growth loan scheme. The scheme which I had the pleasure of launching this morning will provide up to €300 million to support eligible businesses to invest strategically in a post-Brexit environment. It will bring much needed long-term lending to the marketplace by offering loan terms of eight to ten years. It will be competitively priced with better terms and conditions than those available in the marketplace. The scheme will be delivered by the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland through participating finance providers.
The year 2019 will also see the roll-out of Enterprise Ireland's revised seed and venture scheme. The revised scheme with funding of €175 million is being oriented towards seed and early stage investments where an evaluation has shown that there is a clear market failure. It will actively direct investment to key sectors that have been identified for development as part of overall enterprise strategy and will be closely aligned with other key enterprise support programmes.
The 2019 Revised Estimates also provide an additional €8 million in funding to enable the Department, its regulatory bodies and enterprise agencies to increase their staffing resources and fund additional promotional and regulatory activities to assist in the response to Brexit and in preparing business for this challenge. Of the additional funding, €3 million is being provided for Enterprise Ireland and €2 million for IDA Ireland. This builds on the increased Brexit-related resources given to the Department's enterprise agencies in 2017 and 2018. An additional €1 million in funding is being provided for InterTradeIreland this year in recognition of the unique role it plays in promoting cross-Border trade and the significantly increased demand for its services arising from Brexit.
The importance of attracting greater foreign direct investment into regional locations has also been given greater impetus by Brexit. To this end, an extra €10 million in capital moneys has been provided for IDA Ireland in 2019 to enable it to augment its regional property programme by providing additional property solutions in a further number of regional locations, including Sligo, Dundalk, Athlone, Waterford, Monaghan, Longford, Galway, Limerick and Maynooth, thereby enhancing the offering of these regions to companies interested in foreign direct investment. It is important to point out that all properties completed under the regional property programme to date are now occupied and creating jobs in regional locations.
Another major regional funding initiative in 2019 is the additional €5 million in capital funding being provided for local enterprise offices. The increase of more than 22% in funding will allow the local enterprise offices to build on their specific strengths in furthering enterprise development and job creating in their local areas. The Minister of State, Deputy Breen, will provide further details of the LEOs' plans for 2019 in his presentation.
With regard to helping enterprises to innovate in the face of the challenge of Brexit, the 2019 Estimates increased the funding for my Department's innovation programme by more than €42 million, an increase of almost 12% on the 2018 allocation. The additional funding will allow us to roll out the first phase of the disruptive technologies innovation fund, DTIF. The fund is one of four headline funds announced in Project 2040. The €500 million DTIF is a challenge-based fund and represents a significant investment in developing Ireland's innovation ecosystem and responsiveness. It will be implemented through the Department and its agencies, working with other research funding bodies. In December I was delighted to announce that 27 projects had been approved in principle for funding in the first call of the DTIF. The projects will receive more than €70 million in Government funding between now and 2021. The additional funding being provided for the innovation programme in 2019 will also ensure Science Foundation Ireland can continue to invest in research centres and other established programmes.
As the committee will appreciate, Brexit is an unprecedented challenge which involves all Departments and many of the agencies.
The Government published its contingency action plan in December 2018, setting out the comprehensive cross-Government preparations that have been in place since even before the Brexit vote. The Government has already taken actions to get Ireland Brexit ready, with dedicated measures announced in budgets 2017, 2018 and 2019. Budget 2019 included an allocation of more than €110 million for Brexit measures across a number of Departments. Nevertheless, the uncertainty and difficulties with negotiations on the UK's departure from the European Union have required that preparations be made for all eventualities. Contingency planning has moved to taking actions to mitigate the risks of a no-deal Brexit. The Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Consequential Provisions) Act 2019, which has passed through the Houses, is designed to protect our citizens and support the economy and jobs, particularly in key economic sectors that are most exposed, to mitigate the worst effects of a no-deal Brexit.
Aside from Brexit, there are a number of other challenges facing us which I would like to mention briefly. A particular challenge is to prepare our citizens and enterprises for the economy of tomorrow. To that end, I recently launched Future Jobs Ireland 2019, a new whole-of-Government initiative organised around five pillars. These are innovation and technological change; improving productivity, particularly in Irish small and medium sized enterprises; enhancing skills and developing and attracting talent; increasing participation in the labour force; and transitioning to a low carbon economy. Future Jobs Ireland 2019 has set targets for each pillar and measurable performance indicators. Through the Department of the Taoiseach and my Department, we will ensure every Government Department and agency steps up to the plate in delivering this ambitious new plan for our country.
The additional capital provision being provided to my Department in 2019 will enable us to progress further some of my Department's priority investment projects identified in Project Ireland 2040. Among the specific projects that we will progress further in 2019 are the disruptive technologies fund, IDA Ireland's regional property fund, the future growth loan scheme, the new seed and venture programme, further supports to local enterprise offices and a refresh of Science Foundation Ireland, SFI, research centres. I will be happy to take any questions members might have.
I thank the Minister for her comprehensive statement.
I welcome the Minister and thank her for presentation on the Estimates. We have to acknowledge that the Government's focus in recent times has been on Brexit. We have Westminster debating various options ad nauseam but we are still unsure as to what our relationship with the UK will be hours, days or weeks from now. There is grave uncertainty and uncertainty is the enemy of investment because it undermines confidence, particularly in business. Our role is to challenge the Government on its ability to react to that. From that perspective, we need to accept that significant resources have been allocated to dealing with Brexit. Fianna Fáil will always argue that the Government should do more to assist companies, business advocacy groups, trade unions and other organisations that have a stake in ensuring the State is able to withstand the potential damage Brexit could cause. Whether we see an abrupt exit or a phased winding down of the UK's involvement in the European Union, either way we need to make sure we are Brexit ready. From that perspective, I urge companies to engage on an ongoing basis with the Department and the programmes it has established.
Fianna Fáil criticises and compliments the Government in equal measure when it is warranted. From the perspective of IDA Ireland and regional development, I have consistently tabled parliamentary questions on this issue and I always get very prompt replies from the Minister. One of the great difficulties facing the State is that a huge swathe of the economy is located inside the M50. No other country in the European Union or western world has such a dependency on economic growth from its capital city. That is evident if one looks at figures on GDP, employment, economic activity and industrial output. Dublin has been powering ahead of the regions for some time, which is bad on a number of fronts. It is bad because of the pressure this places on the capital city as it seeks to meet challenges in transport, infrastructural development, housing and other issues. In that context, IDA Ireland has a critical role to play in ensuring the policies it is enhancing and advancing attract and encourage companies out of Dublin and into the regions.
Deputies will obviously highlight the reasons they want companies to move to their areas. The Border region has had very little growth in investment from multinational companies. The midlands and south east are two other regions in a similar position. Cork and Galway are doing reasonably well, whereas other areas are not. Why are we consistently failing to encourage and develop policies that will attract multinationals out of the capital and into the regions? The pay rates companies are required to offer in Dublin place them at a competitive disadvantage vis-à-vis rents and the cost of living in general versus living in one of the regions. We should further explore this area in seeking to encourage more companies to consider the option of relocating to a region. It would be easier for them in terms of pay pressures and international competitiveness if their employees were residing in areas outside of Dublin. That would be good for Dublin and the regions. The figures do not lie. There is a difficulty in this regard and IDA Ireland has to be more proactive in underpinning Government policy on regional development.
Regional development is not just a matter for IDA Ireland. We must also ensure investment is made in infrastructure, broadband, educational facilities and other areas that are required to attract multinational companies. While I welcome the increase in expenditure for capital investment by IDA Ireland, much more work needs to be done in that area.
Science Foundation Ireland is a dynamic organisation but it seems to have fallen off the radar in recent times. I wonder why that is the case. Is it overlapping with or becoming intertwined with Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland? The agency no longer seems to have its own identity. Why is that the case? Is it the result of its close co-operation with Enterprise Ireland or is it because it is not being proactive in promoting itself? Either way, I would like the Minister to comment on why Science Foundation Ireland does not feature as much in public discussion as it should in light of its critical importance.
The Estimates do not necessarily reflect the need for regional balance and investment. The local enterprise offices, LEOs, take a bottom up approach. We still have a difficulty with credit and access to credit. I know this is not an issue for the Estimates but it is critically important for the development of the economy and the SME sector. We have a large cost built into our credit facilities. Interest rates here are more than twice the EU average. That is a serious inhibitor to competitiveness in the economy. The problem is not only the cost of credit but also access to credit.
In assessing the competitiveness of Ireland vis-à-vis the UK and the rest of the European Union, there is still much work to be done. When we look at the role of the local enterprise offices in trying to establish and support companies to expand to the point where they achieve critical mass and make the leap from the LEO to Enterprise Ireland and internationalising, the issue of credit is bound to be a great challenge. It is not just access to markets and assessing the types of markets that are out there but how such expansion would be funded. I ask the Minister to comment.
From the point of view of capital expenditure, I welcome the Estimates. I am not being critical but we need to do an audit of IDA Ireland's lands.
I know that it does this continually. We have IDA Ireland centres that effectively do nothing, including, for instance, the one in Kilbarry in my constituency of Cork North-Central. Barley has been sown at the centre for 25 years. There are no factories there. If IDA Ireland is not going to use it, surely it should be used for something other than the growing of barley, with a yield of about three tonnes to the acre. That is not really what IDA Ireland is about. We are beginning to lose focus at of some centres that have not been prioritised in the past 20 years. They seem to have fallen off the cliff completely. Perhaps it is time to carry out a full strategic audit of what is required for IDA Ireland in the years ahead to see what its needs will be. If the land is not deemed to be suitable for industrial development, it should be disposed of for housing or to some other entity in accordance with local development plans. The Minister might comment on that issue also.
I thank the Deputy for his questions. I will try to address all of them.
On regional development, 58% of IDA Ireland supported jobs are now outside Dublin. IDA Ireland has been very proactive in working in the different regions to identify opportunities. I have launched nine regional enterprise plans across the country and can assure the Deputy that one of my priorities is to put the focus on the regions. The nine regional enterprise plans have been very successful in encouraging collaboration and a ground-up approach. We have enterprise and use all of the agencies, including IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, the local enterprise offices and the local authorities which, as we all know, play an important role in the economic development of their counties. They are all coming together with the education providers and the future skills fora in the nine regional enterprise plans. Together they are looking at the strengths of the regions and how to capitalise on them. They are examining clustering, where possible; identifying suitable initiatives or plans and what they need to do to build on the strengths of a region, as well as identifying weaknesses and addressing them. We have launched nine plans, each of which has its own strategic objectives tailor-made for the region. The regional Action Plan for Jobs has been very successful, but we need to refocus it. That is what the regional enterprise plans are about. They are about highlighting the benefits of investing in the regions and putting forward the different strengths of each region. It is about taking a bottom-up approach and seeing how we can create more jobs in the regions.
The Deputy mentioned the Border region and the midlands. That is why I have specifically focused in on the regions in the regional property programme. A new IDA Ireland factory will go up in Athlone and there is one identified for Sligo. The Deputy mentioned the south east. There is also one identified for Waterford. As the two already in Waterford are now full, IDA Ireland is building a third. There is certainly a focus on the areas where we need to increase employment, particularly in the Border region, where we need property.
The Deputy mentioned a particular site in Cork. I think he is right that there are some sites at which perhaps IDA Ireland needs to look to see what their future is. However, he should try to sell a local IDA Ireland site. For example, there was one in Monaghan where nothing had happened for 30 years. Now it is recognised and there are plans to build an advance facility. We do need to review the matter, but at the same time, when I was a representative on the local authority, we certainly did not want to see any IDA Ireland lands being disposed of. We always saw them as presenting an opportunity and exerted pressure on IDA Ireland to attract a facility. However, I take the Deputy's point. IDA Ireland does actively manage its property programme. It is more difficult in some areas, but it is important that it have sites available for potential investors. It has no interest in holding on to sites where there is no prospect of attracting foreign direct investment. As the Deputy said, it also needs sites to which to bring people because, more and more, its existing facilities are being filled. It needs a supply of new sites it can show investors.
The pipeline of new investments into the country continues to be very strong. I am just back from a trade mission to Australia and Singapore where there is great interest. We all know that IDA Ireland does a wonderful job internationally. Other countries ask us how we manage to attract so many top quality global companies to Ireland and the great job IDA Ireland does in that regard is recognised globally. There is certainly strong interest among companies that are looking to locate their European headquarters in Ireland. Of course, it is ultimately their decision where they go, but certainly the offer of locating in the regions was very much put to them, for example, that they have an office in Dublin and a second site in one of the regions. The advantages of locating in the regions were put to them. The Deputy knows that when we go on trade missions, we realise the wonderful job IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland do on our behalf in promoting Irish businesses abroad and attracting investment into Ireland.
Science Foundation Ireland, SFI, is certainly playing a key role in implementing the strategy Innovation 2020. It was given an additional €16 million in budget 2019, bringing its total budget up to €172 million. There has been a lot of investment in research centres. For example, another €10 million will go towards a new SFI centre for research training to address the need for skilled PhD and research master's holders. The programme will address a key action in Innovation 2020 to increase the enrolment and output of postgraduate researchers. A sum of €5 million will go towards the renewal of six world-class research centres. SFI research centres have generated over 600 research contracts between academic researchers, NMCs and SMEs, with committed industry co-funding of over €150 million and competitively won EU Horizon 2020 funding of over €170 million. Some €1 million will go towards SFI's strategic industry partnerships which fund compelling research opportunities on a flexible basis that are not otherwise served by other national funding programmes. SFI is doing a really good job in that space. We have also just allocated the first round of funding from the disruptive technologies fund, in which SFI has a huge interest and on which it is working very closely with industry. There was an SME involved in every single project funded under the programme, under which there is €500 million available. Just one third of successful projects have consortium partners located in Dublin alone; 18 of the successful projects involve enterprise partners based outside the capital. They are located countrywide in Limerick, Cork, Galway, Kildare, Monaghan, Waterford, Louth and Tipperary. The largest consortium involves 13 partners stretching from Dublin to Cork to Wicklow. We are learning from call one.
We are going to have a second call and we expect to make some changes. For example, these could be to the application form and the process. We can say with some certainty that projects will still need to focus on the themes identified in the research priority areas. We anticipate the second call will happen before the summer.
I take the Deputy's point on business access to funding. My Department supports ongoing key small and medium enterprise, SME, access to finance initiatives, including the credit guarantee scheme, the Brexit loan scheme, the future growth loan scheme I launched, and the micro-enterprise loan fund scheme. These are a range of schemes developed to provide finance to SMEs at low cost levels and at better terms and conditions than what was available on the market. A number of new initiatives have been progressed recently, as I noted. The future growth loan scheme launched today will make a fund of up to €300 million available for loans of between eight and ten years, and that is something for which the market is not currently catering, particularly for companies that want to invest in capital expenditure. This may be long-term funding for specific or bespoke plant and it can sometimes be difficult to access finance for that. I am satisfied the new scheme we launched today should cater for it.
There is also the Enterprise Ireland seed and venture capital scheme that will operate from 2019 to 2024, and there are new economic indicators included in this scheme. We conducted a review of microfinance in Ireland and we continue to support the work of Microfinance Ireland in helping Irish micro-enterprises to access the funds they need. We are working with our colleagues across the Government to secure alternative means of finance for SMEs, including in the areas of crowdfunding. As I mentioned, we have launched the future growth loan scheme and we are also finalising the development of a business finance advisory hub for SMEs in the second half of 2019. There are a number of different schemes where businesses can access funding, and if they do not get funding from banks or there is a reluctance to offer funding, those businesses can go to the Credit Review Office.
I met the heads of the pillar banks a number of weeks ago and I will meet them again next week. I raise with them continually the need to support businesses, especially in the face of Brexit. There may be working capital facilities or cashflow problems, and I have impressed upon those banks the need to be willing to take that walk with businesses as they may face into more challenging times.
If the Minister spoke to people running businesses, they would say the banks do not walk with them that often.
They need to do so.
They let them down more often than not. They are "no show" dates.
Yes. I have raised the matter with the heads of the banks, whom I met a number of weeks ago. I have raised these matters with them. If anybody has specific issues that they wish to relay to me afterwards, I would be happy to raise them with the heads of the banks when I meet them. I have no problem doing that.
There is a vote in the committee being held next door. If Deputy Lisa Chambers represents me at that vote, the meeting here could continue.
That is no problem. I will go now.
I can go instead of Deputy Chambers as my questions are finished.
Of course. The Deputy can tell the clerk he will substitute for me at the Committee on Climate Action. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Pat Breen, to the meeting. I said earlier that he was in the Dáil Chamber taking a Topical Issue matter. We could see him on the screen.
I start by wishing the clerk to the committee the best of luck in her new role. I believe she is moving to the Committee on Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, but it has been a pleasure working with her for the past number of years. It is approximately two and a half years now that we have been working together, and from what I have seen and experienced with her, she has been an outstanding public servant. I was not here at the start but I assume the others had some nice words for her.
We did.
I thank the Minister for her presentation and I have three questions relating to programme A. The first relates to Brexit business supports and the Minister would not be surprised at that as I have raised this with her a number of times. I am still concerned about the low uptake of Brexit business supports. I have said a number of times that the figure I have now is 81 loans with a value of €17.3 million being given from the €300 million Brexit support loan scheme, amounting to 6% of the total pot. There have been 241 market discovery grants approved and just 156 Be Prepared grants sanctioned. Does the Minister believe these initiatives have not been successful? If they have not been successful, what do we need to do to ensure better uptake of them?
I understand there is uncertainty around Brexit and the crazy position in which we find ourselves. People are transfixed by their televisions and watching what is going on in Westminster. It is difficult and Deputy Kelleher indicated that uncertainty is causing much stress in companies. What more can we do to ensure the loans that are supposedly available are more easily accessible? There is clearly a problem when only 6% of the pot has been given out.
The next question relates to Enterprise Ireland and specifically equity stakes. We spoke about this before. The most recent information I have is that of the 709 companies in which Enterprise Ireland holds shares, only two are investments over 30% and the vast majority of holdings are less than 10%. What is the Government policy on this and has the Government a preferred policy regarding the percentage of holdings in companies supported by Enterprise Ireland?
The third question relates to the concern of many business groups I have met about diversifying markets. Will the Minister outline the actions she is taking specifically to diversify our markets? Figures from IDA Ireland-supported companies indicate a huge 54% of 753 such companies are from the United States. That level of concentration would leave our economy vulnerable to external political or economic changes in any country of origin. It is a particular concern. Additionally, Enterprise Ireland's exports performance in the global market for 2017 indicated that just 1% of our exports went to Latin America, with just 9% of exports going to southern Europe, the Middle East and all of Africa and India. Meanwhile, 34% still went to Britain. We very much need to diversify our markets further. Will the Minister update us on Enterprise Ireland's plans to increase its presence in those areas?
I went through some of the elements of Brexit related business supports, and there are a wide range of supports, whether through InterTradeIreland, Enterprise Ireland, local enterprise offices or the Brexit working capital loan facility and future growth loan scheme, which is a long-term Brexit loan scheme. There are many supports and there has been a major national awareness campaign for these supports, taking in events, clinics and seminars throughout the country. I have been getting very positive feedback on the various schemes that are available, including the start to plan vouchers from InterTradeIreland, the lean programmes from Enterprise Ireland, the local enterprise office mentoring programmes, the market diversification fund etc. Companies are using supports like these to make their businesses leaner and more efficient, which is very positive for businesses, irrespective of the final Brexit outcome. Of course I want to see as many businesses as possible availing of these supports and I have had no feedback from companies telling me that schemes are cumbersome or hard to access. Likewise, I have not had representations from Deputies telling me the programmes are hard to use and nobody has told me a company has indicated the supports cannot be used because they are hard to get at.
If committee members have specific examples of companies that have not been able to access supports, I want to hear about them. They can send those examples directly to me and I am willing to hear about specific problems. I have not received such feedback. There are many supports and a recent article in The Sunday Times had the headline that Brexit was bringing out the best in Ireland's SMEs.
It outlines some of the supports available and how they have used them to the benefit of their companies. They have made them leaner and more competitive.
On the global footprint and what we are doing to look for other markets, Enterprise Ireland will target the €3 million in additional resources I allocated to it in the budget towards its global footprint plans. It will get more boots on the ground and have more people working on behalf of Irish companies to identify new markets. It will also use some of the funding to provide for promotional training activities such as the Irish advantage and online customs training. As part of the global footprint initiative, it has identified a targeted expansion of its overseas offices representing our global ambitions to grow international markets, both emerging and established. There will be new offices in Manchester, Germany, León, Seattle and Melbourne. The new office in Melbourne, to which I did not get, was opened a week ago. There will also be new offices in Copenhagen and Vietnam. The offices in Milan, Budapest, São Paulo, Boston in the United States, Auckland, Shenzhen and Glasgow are expanding. There is a lot of work ongoing to increase numbers of boots on the ground.
IDA Ireland is working to diversify inward investment, both in the countries from which investment comes and the sectors involved. It is also working hard to avail of new opportunities in non-traditional markets. They include countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and South Africa. I am very encouraged by our progress in China, South Korea and India last year. I travelled to China last November and was in Singapore last week. There are significant opportunities for us in the Asian market. I know that IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland are working extremely hard to maximise opportunities, increase our presence and get more Irish companies into that area to sell product. I had the pleasure of launching a new restaurant in Singapore called Duckland. It sources as many of its products as it can from Irish companies. It uses Guinness, Irish pork, whiskey and duck. There is one company in my constituency with which I am very familiar, right on the Border, Silver Hill Farm, which exports 20,000 ducks a week to Singapore. It is about increasing these markets.
Of course, the United Kingdom will still be one of our closest trading partner. We will continue to increase our business there wherever we can, but our reliance on the United Kingdom for our overall exports is reducing and we are increasing our market share in other countries. Much work is ongoing in that space and we are supporting companies to diversify and it is working.
The Deputy talked about Enterprise Ireland's equity stakes. We have the seed and venture programme with funding of €175 million which was launched last year. Enterprise Ireland is one of the biggest seed capital investors in the country, if not globally. We have increased its powers in the Brexit omnibus Bill in order that it will be able to lend to Irish companies that will be impacted on by Brexit, not just take equity shares in them. Its equity stakes will be sufficient to fulfil its development role, no more and no less.
Let us go back to the Brexit business supports. I raised this issue with the Minister during Priority Questions. We both agree that there was significant awareness of them. Some 90% of businesses stated they were aware of the available supports, but we still seem to have a problem with a low uptake. The last figures I have show that just 81 loans were taken out. Does the Minister know if there has been a greater uptake of the Brexit loan scheme?
I think the figure has gone up to €19 million.
It was €17.3 million the last time.
I am sorry, but it has increased again. It has gone up to €20.6 million. There is I believe also a reluctance among businesses to take on additional debt. This is a loan and they will still have to pay it back. The uncertainty Brexit will bring probably means that companies are not taking out loans because they are concerned which the Deputy can understand. When there is more certainty with regard to Brexit, we will probably find that is more demand for the loan schemes.
I thank the Minister for her contribution. To focus on the Brexit supports available, will she outline to the committee the take-up of all Brexit support schemes under the control of her Department?
Some 540 applications have been received under the Brexit loan scheme, of which 485 have been approved by the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland. Some 93 loan applications progressed to sanction at bank level, to a value of €20.64 million.
Enterprise Ireland has the Brexit scorecard. Some 4,943 cards have been completed. A total of 956 local enterprise office, LEO, clients have completed the scorecard. Enterprise Ireland has approved 174 Be Prepared grants, while 133 projects have been approved under the Enterprise Ireland market discovery fund. A total of 2,805 of Enterprise Ireland's Prepare to Export scorecards have been completed. Its customs insights online course has had 1,112 participants. A total of 47 agile innovation projects have been approved from Enterprise Ireland's agile innovation fund which gives rapid, fast-track access to innovation funding. Enterprise Ireland has run 16 Brexit advisory clinics, with more than 1,200 in attendance. Its Brexit: Act On initiative is a support which funds the engagement of a consultant to devise reports with recommendations to help clients. A total of 210 Act On plans have been completed. Enterprise Ireland's strategic consultancy grant is available to assist its clients to hire a strategic consultant for a set period. A total of 1,060 consultancy grants have been approved.
A total of 476 clients have been approved for assistance under the local enterprise offices technical assistance for micro exporters grant and incentive to explore and develop new market opportunities. The LEO Lean for Micro offer was developed in collaboration between Enterprise Ireland's lean department and the local enterprise offices. A total of 227 LEO clients have participated in the programme. The local enterprise offices mentoring programme has had 551 participants solely focused on Brexit. The local enterprise offices' Brexit seminar events had 4,100 participants at the information events, as of the end of February. Some 1,620 small and medium enterprises have engaged directly with InterTrade Ireland's Brexit advisory service in 2019. That is in addition to the 4,175 engagements in 2018.
There have been 1,352 applications for InterTradeIreland Brexit start to plan vouchers, with 1,170 approved and 34 pending. In the pilot online retail scheme administered by Enterprise Ireland 11 retailers were awarded funding in February 2019 and there will be a second call this year. We can provide the Deputy with a list of these supports later if she wishes. There is lot happening in terms of engagement by companies and €74 million has been paid in funding to Enterprise Ireland support companies to help them prepare for Brexit.
I thank the Minister. I agree the take-up of the loan schemes is quite low. Something that has come to my attention, particularly in recent months, is the chilling effect Brexit is having on business in terms of both drawing down loan moneys available and in making decisions to hire new staff, invest in the business, expand or sign new contracts. Is the Department carrying out analysis of these impacts of Brexit? Even if a deal is done, Brexit has already had a damaging impact on business.
Another complaint I hear is that contracts for businesses looking to sign deals with companies in the UK contain Brexit clauses that are quite onerous on Irish businesses. Is the Minister engaging with the UK Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on this? Some companies here that need a particular product because of the supply chain or that export heavily to the UK find themselves in a position whereby they must accept these Brexit clauses.
Companies that find themselves in this situation should get in touch with Enterprise Ireland, which has a lot of contact with companies exporting to Britain. The Department's focus is on supporting companies through the Brexit process. A lot of work is going into giving them the supports they need. I engage a lot with businesses through IBEC and the retail consultation forum. I meet them and hear what they have to say. If there are any issues I encourage them to come forward and we will deal with them.
The Copenhagen economic study sets out the economic impacts of Brexit on Ireland. This points to lower levels of employment growth and GDP growth but not to job losses. It speaks about depressed growth. It will not be as good as we thought it would be but there will certainly be growth in the economy. I know there are challenges for businesses, which is why we have this wide range of supports to help them. For those companies that have not engaged I encourage them to do so. Generally, the first port of call is the local enterprise office, LEO, which will give good advice. If the LEOs cannot help they will point companies to the right place to go to get the supports they need. Other studies that inform us have been carried out. An ESRI study commissioned by the Department was published last week. The findings of all of these studies are generally the same. They point to us having increased growth but it will be dampened and not as good as if there were no Brexit.
The Copenhagen economic report from the Department of Finance is probably a little out of date. The ESRI report was published just two days ago. It is more up to date and takes into account more recent research on the impacts of Brexit. That is more of a macroeconomic look at the impact on the economy and jobs but my question was more specifically on the chilling impact on business, particularly the SME sector, that Brexit is already having. The supports are tailored towards buffering companies that may be exporting to the UK and may have to make changes to their supply chains. There has not been analysis done on companies and businesses, particularly in the SME sector, dealing with a loss of consumer confidence and people holding back by not making purchases or signing new contracts. The two reports referred to by the Minister have not touched on this. It is not really their focus. Perhaps it is something for the Department to take a look at when Brexit stabilises. Brexit will be with us for quite some time and when it stabilises we should look at the chill factor it has had. I spoke to a manufacturing company based in Mayo and there are not too many of these types of jobs in rural constituency.
I accept that.
It produces parts for agricultural machines. It stated its business has dropped considerably in the past two months. It has noticed a dramatic drop in recent months. Its view is it will never recoup those losses or make up that lost business. It hopes for some certainly when Brexit stabilises and that it will be able to get back on track. It has been able to take the hit because it is successful and has built up sufficient buffers. I imagine there are many other small and medium sized enterprises in a similar boat. This particular company was very positive about the supports it had been given in terms of training for customs and revenue but felt there was not any support to deal with the loss of consumer confidence, the lack of purchasing and the normal trajectory for sales in recent months. This is something for the Department to look at in future when Brexit stabilises.
I have some questions on the Revised Estimates. Subhead A8 on local enterprise development has an increase of €5 million, or 15%, to allow LEOs meet increasing demand for their services. Will the Minister give a breakdown of these increasing demands? Have the LEOs requested specific additional funds for specific services? Are they related to Brexit or expansion? What is the money being used for?
The LEOs will roll out customs training. They will provide more supports to businesses in terms of advice and programmes. The LEOs play an important role as the first port of call for many businesses that want to find out what supports are available to them. They have been increasing the services they roll out to local enterprises. I felt it was important that we support them further. They deal with businesses across the board. In 2019, the LEOs have targeted the approval of 1,360 projects for grant support with protected associated job commitments. They have created more than 8,000 jobs in the past year through their work with local businesses. A total of 200 are participating in the newly expanded Lean for Micro programme being rolled out through the local enterprise offices. The LEOs have delivered training to more than 34,500 participants and mentoring to just over 9,000. They have a programme for preparing business for customs and are organising workshops to help businesses get to know and understand the requirements for customs because of Brexit.
An additional resource at business adviser grade, to focus on key clients with growth potential or in need of a plan to counteract the impacts of Brexit, will be recruited for the LEO network. The LEOs have experienced an increase in the demand for their services in the areas of mentoring, training and developmental programmes. The extra funding will be channelled towards supporting startups and developing businesses.
Each county LEO area has specific strengths, opportunities and weaknesses with regard to enterprise development and job creation. For example, local natural resources, sectoral strengths and demographics, including commuters, could lead to business development opportunities and international connections through the diaspora or town twinning could provide opportunities. It is important that all players, including the local authorities, LEADER companies and chambers of commerce, combine their efforts to maximise those opportunities. They play a very important role and the additional funding is to help them do their job better, with a particular focus on Brexit because they will be rolling out those training programmes.
I thank the Minister for her very comprehensive answer. I agree the LEOs play a very important role and have been a key support for businesses in the Brexit process. My next question is on subhead B5 on the programme for research in third level institutions.
We are just dealing with subhead A at the moment.
My apologies.
I understand the Minister of State, Deputy Breen, will deal with that when he gives his reply.
I can deal with it now, if the committee prefers.
In that case, Deputy Chambers should proceed.
Subhead B5 deals with the programme for research in third level institutions and there has been a significant increase of 70%. What is that being used for and what types of research masters or PhDs would be eligible for funding under that heading?
There is a new PhD programme which will fund a number of areas of research. There are 700 PhD and research masters students as a result of the Government investment of €100 million over nine years. The six areas where research will be focused are machine learning, digitally enhanced reality, advanced networks for sustainable societies, the foundations of data science, artificial intelligence and genomics data science. Research has served us well in this country and we need to continue to invest in it. It is a question of how we can use research to our advantage to keep us at the cutting edge of what is happening in the new technology revolution we are undergoing at present.
I have three questions. The Minister was very welcome when she came to Waterford on Friday last for the launch of the ninth Future Jobs Ireland programme. It was a very positive launch with a lot of energy in the room.
First, on an issue I raise with the Minister continuously and as she herself said on Friday, at 7.7% the south east remains stubbornly above the average unemployment level in the rest of the country, although I know there are issues in other regions. I ask the Minister to expand on what specific areas she might target so we might come into line with the rest.
My second question concerns retail. I was recently asked to meet the British head of a retail consortium. Again, my question focuses on Brexit, from which, unfortunately, we cannot get away. There are many jobs in retail in Ireland and I refer specifically to chain stores like Next, H&M, Marks and Spencer and Debenhams, which are England-based English companies but have a lot of stores and workers in Ireland. Has the Department had any interaction with these companies? The word "uncertainty" is raised every day in regard to Brexit. We do not know exactly what is going to happen and, as Deputy Lisa Chambers said, it changes on a hourly basis, never mind a daily basis. Has there been interaction in regard to taking away the chilling effect and safeguarding these chain stores that have become such a part of retail in Ireland? Although there is not a lot we can do about it, one of my concerns is that by the year 2020, apparently, 80% of all clothing will be purchased online, so retailers are facing huge challenges in any case. The Minister might expand on that.
Moving completely away from that issue, my third question relates to subhead A15, which deals with the humanitarian relief scheme. There was no allocation under this heading and the Minister might explain the reason for this. Is there a carryover from last year?
I will answer the last question first. The humanitarian relief scheme is a flood relief scheme for businesses. It is a new scheme in my Department and is demand-led. Thank God, we have not had any serious flooding incidents this year but it is for those businesses that run into difficulties and need assistance. The funding will come from my Department and although there is nothing in it yet, it is demand-led and I have a commitment that, should the necessity arise, the funding will be made available.
The Minister has discretion if it is needed.
I have an agreement that the funding will be made available should the need arise.
With regard to the retail stores, I take the Chairman's point that there are many UK retail stores in this country. I liaise with them through the retail forum and I meet them on a regular basis. I have met the retailers and the food importers four times, in particular the big supermarkets, because they obviously have particular challenges in terms of Brexit. Those four meetings have proved very useful because the companies have been able to bring to my attention issues of concern to them. I have had the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine come in to talk about the sanitary and phytosanitary, SPS, checks that will become necessary due to Brexit and I have had Revenue in with me as well. We have had round-table meetings with Revenue, with Dublin Port and with the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. We have met them, along with the haulage sector and the logistics companies. They have all been in and I have met them four times. They have been very good meetings and the companies have had an opportunity to raise issues with me in terms of what we need to do to make sure those supply chains remain open and there is not a bottleneck due to a crash-out Brexit. The retail stores are represented on the retail forum. If there are particular issues regarding the retail stores, I am happy to hear them. We will work with them in whatever way we can to make sure there is not huge disruption to their business. I accept it is a difficult time for them.
It was a very good event in Waterford on Friday and I thank the Chairman for attending. A good deal is happening in Waterford. When I was there, I opened the new 3D manufacturing facility that is funded by my Department's regional enterprise development fund. I launched the new project led by the STEAM research facility, which received €2 million in funding under the disruptive technologies fund. I visited Nutrition Research Centre Ireland, which is supported by the Government through Science Foundation Ireland, and is doing groundbreaking research work in that nutrition space.
There is a lot going on in Waterford. I believe the launch of the regional enterprise plan will help to consolidate and build on the strengths that are there. While I accept the figure for Waterford is higher than we would like, we will work hard to ensure it is reduced. There are some areas which are just not as good as others. However, there has been a lot of work on the ground. I compliment the local committee. This is why it was so important that I went around the country to attend the nine events, eight of which were outside Dublin, to recognise the work that is being done at a local level. Whether it is done through the local enterprise office, the IDA, Enterprise Ireland, the education sector or the providers, they are all crucial in this regard. It is about training the right people for the right jobs and, as the Chairman knows, about showing we have a pool of talented people and about clustering skills. I am confident this plan will refocus on the strengths in that whole region. I have no doubt it will bring benefits.
In the south east there are 76 IDA-supported companies employing 15,580 people, which is up 7% on 2017.
Recent IDA Ireland announcements include DMS Corporate Services' announcement of 50 jobs in Tipperary, INDOS Financial's announcement of 15 jobs in Wexford, Bausch + Lomb's announcement of 100 jobs in Waterford, and MSD's announcement of 170 jobs in Carlow. That gives an idea of the figures. We will certainly work with the committee to improve on them.
Deputy Quinlivan wishes to comment on programme B. I bet it is the same question I was thinking of.
We will see. Subhead B6 refers to subscriptions to international organisations. I raised this previously with the Minister of State, Deputy Halligan. He seems to be on the same page as me but the Government has not got there yet. I refer to the application to join European Organization for Nuclear Research, CERN. Have we done anything about that? Has there been a meeting with CERN?
What are the estimated costs of associate membership and full membership? As the Minister is probably aware, Sinn Féin has been proposing this and has included it in budget submissions for the last several years. Perhaps the Minister will update us on this.
I was going to ask that question as well. Deputy Quinlivan and I are on the same wavelength. Earlier this year representatives of CERN came before our committee. There was unanimous agreement across the floor that membership would be good for us if we could afford it. An update from the Minister would be appreciated.
One of the actions envisaged as part of Innovation 2020 is the initiation of negotiations with CERN on Ireland's membership options. Discussions between my Department and CERN have been ongoing at both official and ministerial level throughout 2016, 2017 and 2018. Associate membership of CERN is available from 10% of the full membership cost, with benefits calculated pro rata. The minimum cost for Ireland based on 2018 figures is €1.3 million per annum. That allows for associate membership. Full membership of CERN at current prices would cost approximately €13.6 million per annum. In addition to the annual cost of full membership a special contribution would be due. Based on a membership cost of €13.6 million, this contribution would amount to €17 million, due on the day the State becomes a full member. This would mean a total cost of €30.7 million for full membership. This is a considerable amount of money. In view of the demands on the capital programme and tight fiscal constraints, it is not possible to progress membership of CERN in 2019. Nevertheless, membership remains on the policy agenda and my Department will keep the issue under active review. My objective is to ensure that we obtain the best overall return on our investment in research and innovation.
Is that cost the same for every country that applies?
It is linked to gross domestic product, GDP.
It is very expensive.
It is. The better we do, the more expensive it gets.
May I query that? It was €1.3 million-----
That is the cost of associate membership.
My understanding was that associate membership would cost 10% of the cost of full membership.
Therefore full membership would be €13 million. Where does the figure of €30.7 come from?
It is a joining fee.
We would have to pay an extra €17 million as a once-off fee. It is due on the-----
It is due on the membership form.
Based on today's figures, annual membership would cost €13.6 million. We would have to pay €17 million to join, so that brings it up to €30 million. It is expensive.
We will have to revise that budget proposition.
I invite the Minister of State, Deputy Pat Breen, to make a brief statement on programme C.
I am delighted to have an opportunity to say a few words on the Department's 2019 Estimates, particularly the allocations to the Department's regulation programme and my immediate areas of responsibility. As the Minister has said, Brexit is an all-encompassing challenge for Departments and their agencies, including the agencies and regulatory bodies of our Department. The Brexit challenge heightens the importance of ensuring that our business regulation environment facilitates business investment and development, competition in the marketplace, high standards of consumer protection and corporate governance. It must also provide Ireland with a competitive advantage in the global market.
The 2019 Revised Estimates have increased the funding of the Department's regulation programme to €85.8 million, which represents an increase of 5% on the 2018 allocation. Much of the increase is to assist our regulatory bodies and agencies in meeting the challenges posed by Brexit. For example, in the area of my direct responsibility, funding provided to the Health and Safety Authority, HSA, in the 2019 Revised Estimates has been increased by €500,000 to enable it to respond to the increased demand for services arising from Brexit. This follows the additional €400,000 provided to the HSA in 2018. This has been allocated to augment the HSA's staffing resources, especially in its chemicals, market surveillance and accreditation business units, which are the business areas most likely to be impacted by Brexit. In 2018, the HSA increased its staffing complement by almost 6%. These numbers will increase again as a result of the additional funding provided in 2019.
The other area of responsibility in my Department's regulation programme which I would like to mention is the workplace relations programme. As the committee will be aware, legislation is before the Oireachtas to expand the remit of the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, to include the Garda and Civil Service. To this end, the funding provided to the WRC in 2019 is being increased by €1 million to enable it to respond to the additional demand for its services arising from its expanded remit. The increase in funding will increase the WRC's conciliation, facilitation and mediation services and will maintain its overall service provision, including to new Garda and Civil Service clients. It will also enable the WRC's adjudication services to continue to advance the progress made in processing and scheduling times over the course of 2019 with a view to achieving the ultimate strategic goal of processing most cases within six months by 2022.
With the Chair's indulgence I would like to say a few words about the local enterprise offices, LEOs, for which I have direct responsibility. Having worked closely with and visited many of the local enterprise offices throughout the country, I pay tribute to their achievements and that of their clients in creating 3,656 net new jobs in 2018. That employment in LEO client enterprises is now in excess of 36,000 is a tribute to the efforts of all local enterprise offices in supporting local indigenous businesses to start up, grow and thrive in every region in the country. Indeed during the recent local enterprise week held earlier this month, our 31 LEOs jointly ran more than 300 events, clearly illustrating the panoply of supports they can provide to startups, aspiring entrepreneurs and small businesses in their respective areas. I recently had the pleasure of attending the Clare county enterprise awards and witnessing the success of enterprises that have been created as a direct result of the support of the local enterprise offices in my county.
I am delighted therefore that additional capital funding of €5 million has been provided to local enterprise offices in 2019. This significant increase of 22% in the LEO funding will enable them to meet the growing demand for their services, particularly in light of Brexit. The additional funding provided to the LEOs will be targeted to ensure that they can continue to roll out the Brexit customs training workshops and EU workshops, facilitate clients' access to the Enterprise Ireland Brexit SME scorecard, assist clients through the technical assistance for micro-exporters grant process, respond to the increased demand for the Lean for Micro programme, roll out the second iteration of the LEO innovation investment fund programme, provide tailored mentoring, targeting and training on specific Brexit challenges, promote the very important trading online voucher scheme, assist clients in accessing credit through Microfinance Ireland, MFI, facilitate clients in accessing the €300 million Brexit loan scheme, and of course facilitate clients in accessing the Enterprise Ireland agile innovation fund. While Brexit presents a challenge for all businesses, the challenge will undoubtedly be greater for indigenous small businesses. I therefore welcome the fact that each local enterprise office has appointed a dedicated Brexit adviser to assist companies in preparing for Brexit in their respective areas.
I would also like to say a few words about the challenge of digitalisation and the digital Single Market.
The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, referred to the importance of preparing for tomorrow's economy and the targets identified under the recently published future jobs initiative to shift our enterprise and jobs focus to create quality jobs that will be resilient in the future. There is no doubt that the enterprise and jobs of tomorrow will be significantly shaped by the increasing impact of digitalisation. Digitalisation and digital transformation will have far-reaching impacts for our economy and society. It is imperative that Ireland is well positioned to maximise the economic and social benefits from digitalisation and ensure that we are in a position to enjoy these benefits.
It is my privilege as Minister of State with responsibility for the EU digital Single Market, DSM, to chair the interdepartmental committee on DSM. The committee was established to ensure a whole-of-Government approach and cross-Government co-ordination of the DSM agenda at national and EU level. The committee is a co-ordinated team of representatives of relevant Departments who collectively implement the comprehensive DSM agenda. From a national perspective, a new national digital strategy is being prepared. It is co-ordinated by the Department of the Taoiseach and other Departments, including my own, are feeding into the process, which will include extensive stakeholder consultation that was completed last year. The mission of the strategy is to deliver a number of important recommendations around connectivity and security, Government services, addressing the digital divide for citizens and businesses and innovation and skills in order to advance Ireland's digital process. Work on the development of a national strategy on artificial intelligence is to begin very shortly and will be completed by September 2019. The strategy will be aligned with and contribute to the broader EU strategy and will present a cross-Government framework as well as setting out how Ireland will engage with the dynamic and challenging developments in areas such as artificial intelligence technologies with a focus on nationally significant areas of opportunity.
I welcome the establishment of the small and medium enterprise and entrepreneurship, SMEE, consultation group which held its inaugural meeting today at the Royal College of Physicians. The group was established arising from the OECD review commissioned by the Department of our SME and entrepreneurship policies. The meeting, which I chaired, was attended by almost 50 people. The role of the consultation group is to provide a platform for structured engagement between Government, agencies, representative bodies and small businesses. Its establishment is a concrete demonstration of the Government's recognition of the importance of ensuring that appropriate structures are being put in place to enable the voice of small business to be heard in policymaking and reflects the reality that there are 219,818 micro-enterprises operating in all regions, accounting for 92% of active enterprises in the State.
I hope that the foregoing flavour of my areas of responsibility within the Department and the funding being provided by the 2019 Revised Estimates in those areas will be of assistance to the committee. I am happy to take questions from the one committee member who is present.
I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive report. I pass on the apologies of Deputy Neville for his absence. In fairness to him, he is next door at a meeting of the Committee on Climate Action, which may be holding votes. It began its meeting at 2 p.m. today. I am also a member of that committee, but arranged for another Deputy to attend in my place. Deputy Neville is an avid member of this committee and attends almost all meetings. For those watching the proceedings who may think that very few members are in attendance, members are coming and going.
I thank the Minister of State for his presentation. Under subhead C8, an extra €350,000 has been allocated to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC. For what specific purpose is that allocation? My understanding - I could be wrong - is that an EU directive to tackle unfair trading practices has been agreed and a competent authority in Ireland will be needed to enforce it. Is it the plan of the Government to make the CCPC the competent authority for that directive? Does the Minister of State accept that that would severely constrain the CCPC in its current work as it would burden it with substantially more responsibility and possibly create a conflict of interest between consumers and farmers? What is the current situation in that regard? Has it been discussed with the CCPC? What is its position on the matter?
I thank the Deputy for his questions. Consumer protection is of significant importance, given what is happening in today's environment. As the Deputy is aware, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission was established in 2014 as a result of the merger of the Competition Authority and the National Consumer Agency. It is important to point out that it is a statutory body with responsibility for enforcing consumer protection and competition law in Ireland. As the Deputy rightly pointed out, it has been allocated an additional €350,000 in the Revised Estimates. As I stated, a new directive establishes a minimum list of prohibited unfair trading practices between buyers and suppliers in the agricultural and food supply chain and lays down minimum rules concerning enforcement and arrangements for co-ordination between enforcement authorities. The measure seeks to protect suppliers who sell agricultural and food products to buyers with a turnover of €350 million, with differentiated levels of protection provided below that threshold. The text identifies nine unfair trading practices which are completely prohibited between suppliers and buyers and a further six practices which are prohibited unless they have been previously agreed in clear and unambiguous terms in the supply agreement. As the Deputy is aware, the Commission issued a draft report in April 2018 dealing with unfair practices in the food supply chain. Agreement on a compromise text was reached by the Council of Ministers, the European Parliament and the Commission in December 2018 following six sets of negotiating trilogues led by the Austrian Presidency. As the scope of the directive aims to contribute to a fair standard of living for the agricultural community, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine held lead responsibility for the file during EU negotiations. The measures will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union as soon as the Council of Agriculture Ministers formally approves the text proposed in December 2018.
The additional funding of €350,000 for 2019 is to help the CCPC inform consumers on the impact of Brexit. It is another part of the Government's response to Brexit and aims to ensure that consumers are aware of the potential impacts. The money is allocated to the CCPC for that reason.
As the Minister knows, the committee is carrying out pre-legislative scrutiny of the companies (corporate enforcement authority) Bill. In layman's terms, it looks at making the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, ODCE, a statutory body. I note that an additional €1 million has been allocated to the ODCE to help prepare for its establishment as an agency. That represents a 20% increase on the 2018 allocation. Will that amount be sufficient? Is it envisaged that additional funding may be needed once the ODCE is established as an agency?
I am satisfied that the €1 million will be sufficient to help the agency set up as an independent body. As the Chair stated, the legislation is before the committee. In fairness to the ODCE, it has been doing great work. It has increased its staff, built on its expertise and strengthened its capability to investigate increasingly complex breaches of company law.
It is building on the organisational and procedural reforms that have been implemented. It is doing good work and has had quite a lot of successful investigations and I am satisfied that the €1 million will be sufficient so that it can be set up as an independent agency.
I thank the Minister. We will be continuing our pre-legislative scrutiny next Tuesday. I have one final question relating to sub-head C3. I am not sure is it-----
I see it here.
Has sufficient funding been made available to allow the WRC continue inspections in respect of the atypical workers permission scheme, especially for meat deboners and chefs? This committee did a body of work on the atypical, non-EU fishing scheme and touched on a lot of things, especially inspections. I noticed there is an extra allocation of 6%, or just over €1 million. The Minister of State might be able to expand on that.
It is important that we continue to resource the WRC when it comes to these matters. Given that proceedings relating to some of the issues to which the Chairman referred are pending before the High Court, it would be inappropriate for me to talk about some of them. We have been able to ensure that we can continue to resource the WRC and give it additional resources particularly for the personnel necessary for these inspections. The Chairman mentioned chefs and those in other sectors. The fisheries sector is important. The WRC has had a great deal of success in the past number of years particularly in the context of inspections relating to fisheries, an issue that has been raised on many previous occasions. There were a number of security operations in 2018 about which the Chairman might know because Waterford has a big fishing industry and operation. Operation Neptune took place in March 2018 and there was another operation in June. Operation Egg Shell took place in 2016. Those have had many effects and surveillance is also important.
To the end of 2018, the WRC can report that there were 227 contraventions of employment rights and employment permit legislation detected by the WRC across 169 vessels. Many of those were to do with failure to keep records, failure to comply with inspection requirements etc., payslips, failure to comply with the conditions of the atypical scheme and failure to give pay entitlements. The additional resources we have given these bodies are important but we must continue to do so because we are up against many challenges at the moment.
There is a good news story from the HSA about work-related deaths in 2018. This is a matter on which the HSA has been focusing in recent of years. There were 37 people killed in 2018, which is 37 too many and 37 families which lost loved ones, but that represents a fall of 23% from the 2017 figures. Our policies are going in the right direction and that is to do with extra inspections that we are putting in place.
There is also good news from the farming sector which affects many people and is constantly seen as one of the most dangerous sectors in which to work. There were 15 deaths related to farming last year compared to 25 in 2017 which is a fall of 40% and the work being done by the HSA and ourselves should be acknowledged. I have worked with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Creed, in this area. It is a good news story - not that any death is a good news story but at least fewer people are dying and we want to continue our focus in that area. I pay tribute to everybody working in that area within the HSA.
As the Chairman knows, we are also working with the WRC in other areas and that is why we have given them additional funding for inspections. We will also be giving additional funding to the WRC amounting to €15 million, an increase of €1.2 million on the previous year and it is important to look at its additional responsibilities with An Garda Síochána and civil servants as outlined in my initial contribution. That legislation will be coming through the House very shortly.
I thank the Minister, the Minister of State and their officials for attending and for their constructive engagement with the committee.