Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 21 September 2017
47. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the extent to which companies suffering from fallout from Brexit are likely to have their case considered and examined in the short term with a view to development of a strategy in the interim; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40078/17]
View answerBrexit presents the most significant economic challenge of the past 50 years and long-term, structural and disruptive change will emerge. Following the UK’s vote to leave the EU, the need to accelerate and implement competitiveness, innovation and market diversification strategies at a national and company level cannot be underestimated. My Department and Agencies have been at the forefront of providing information and advice to the business sector and in promoting and devising supports to that sector.
My Department has been working with the Department of Finance, Enterprise Ireland, the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) and the Department of Agriculture to develop potential supports to respond to the needs of businesses impacted by Brexit. In particular, work is progressing on the development of a proposed Brexit related Working Capital Guarantee Scheme and also scoping out the need for a longer term Business Development Loan Scheme which would assist firms in investing for a post-Brexit environment. Development of these proposed responses is subject to resources being agreed as part of the annual budgetary process.
In March 2017, Enterprise Ireland launched a ‘Brexit SME Scorecard’, a new interactive online platform which can be used by all Irish companies to self-assess their exposure to Brexit under six business pillars. Based on answers supplied by the user, the Scorecard generates an immediate report which contains suggested actions and resources, and information on events for companies to attend, to prepare for Brexit. To date approximately 1,500 companies have utilised the Brexit SME Scorecard.
Enterprise Ireland’s “Be Prepared Grant” provides client companies with the cost of preparing a plan to mitigate risks and optimise opportunities arising from Brexit. This grant support, of up to €5,000, can be used to help cover consultancy, travel and out of pocket expenses associated with researching the direction of their Brexit action plan.
Enterprise Ireland’s 2017-2020 Build Scale and Expand Reach Strategy and its new Eurozone Strategy to assist Irish exporters increase exports in Eurozone countries by 50% by 2020 is a medium term strategy particularly aimed at strengthening clients export offer and finding new export opportunities. Enterprise Ireland is proactively engaging with client companies on Brexit issues and is working with its Brexit exposed clients on a one-on-one basis.
At local level, the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) are hosting information events around the country for clients and other businesses impacted by Brexit. The objective of these sessions is to enable companies learn about the potential impacts and opportunities of Brexit, and to engage in a process of planning to ensure their companies have a robust strategy in place.
A key element of the range of LEO Brexit responses is a Lean4Micro programme, which was designed to encourage clients to adopt “Lean” business principles in their organisation to increase performance and competitiveness.
In addition to the LEO priming and business development grants, the LEOs are now offering two new funding programmes to assist micro-enterprises affected by Brexit. The Technical Assistance for Micro-exporters (TAME) grant is designed to help LEO clients to find new markets and exports by part-funding expenditure incurred investigating and researching export markets, e.g. exhibiting at Trade Fairs, preparing marketing material and developing websites specifically targeting export markets. The LEO Innovation and Investment Fund (LIIF) programme is a new scheme to support innovation in micro-enterprises and get them investor ready to scale their businesses.
