Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 April 2018
329. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the remit of the State Aid Modernisation Working Group; her plans for the group meeting which takes place here in April 2018; and if draft proposals have been submitted by member states and Ireland with respect to changing state aid thresholds at EU level as a policy response to safeguard exposed business to Brexit. [18073/18]
View answerThe State Aid Modernisation Working Group meeting is being hosted by Ireland for the first time on 27th April 2018. Member States take it in turn to host the meeting. The Working Group, which meets 3 – 4 times a year, is currently chaired by France who develops the Agenda in consultation with DG Competition. Member States may make recommendations for items to be included on the Agenda but these items must be within the remit of the Group. The Working Group mandate is to discuss best practice, share information and knowledge with a view to making recommendations to the High-Level Forum on State Aid.
To this end, the group may:
- discuss the implementation of the new SAM instruments: Evaluation, Transparency and the new Procedural Regulation,
- share MS' experiences under the Best Practices Code, and, if necessary, make recommendations for its review,
- share MS practices on specific topics, e.g. cumulation rules, incentive effect, net extra cost, etc.
- identify best practices on how to ensure effective mechanisms for State aid control in the context of Structural funds (including major projects),
- make suggestions on how to improve the knowledge on state aid rules of granting authorities by providing training (with support of DG COMP), how to disseminate this knowledge, how to improve the communication with the Commission and between MS,
- share best practices on the mechanisms in place to ensure state aid compliance and legal certainty (e.g. under GBER), including processes and cases,
- share experience on the application of the State aid rules, on the basis of MS practices, the Commission's monitoring experience and recently issued guidance, with a view to learning from each other and identifying practical solutions for an effective implementation of SAM.
Commission officials attending the meeting will also have the opportunity to meet stakeholders.
In terms of considerations around State aid, in November 2017, the then Tánaiste met with Commissioner Vestager, the European Commissioner for Competition who has responsibility for EU State aid policy to discuss, amongst other things, the impact of Brexit on Irish businesses. An outcome from this meeting was the establishment of a Technical Working Group on State Aid comprising representatives from DG Competition, the Department of Business, Enterprise & Innovation, Enterprise Ireland and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The objective of the Group is to scope and design schemes to support enterprises impacted by Brexit in line with State Aid rules. To date, the Working Group has met four times and in between these meetings, there has been engagement on specific issues to continue to progress matters.
Should issues arise that require an approach that does not fit within the existing State Aid rules, this will be raised as part of the Working Group discussions.
A notified Rescue and Restructuring (R&R) scheme was approved by the Commission in late November 2017. This scheme has been put in place as it is considered prudent to have contingency measures in place so that we can respond swiftly to changing circumstances as necessary. Under the scheme, which will run until 2020, Enterprise Ireland can provide restructuring support to SMEs in severe financial difficulties.
As part of the deliberations of the Technical Working Group on State Aid, it was agreed that Ireland should extend the R&R scheme to include temporary restructuring support for those SMEs with acute liquidity needs. This extension has been notified to the Commission and approval is expected early in Q2 2018.
My Department is carrying out extensive work to prepare for all Brexit eventualities. Informed by detailed research, my Department is putting in place a package of measures that will allow us to respond to the needs of businesses including the Brexit Loan Scheme which was launched last month and which will provide affordable working capital financing to eligible businesses that are either currently impacted by Brexit or will be in the future.
The recent signing of the counter guarantee from the EIB group (through its InnovFin Guarantee) means that the €24 million exchequer funding announced in the 2018 Budget (€14 million from my Department and €9 million from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine) can be leveraged to provide a fund of €300 million. The Brexit Loan Scheme, which was launched last month, is open to businesses of fewer than 500 employees which can demonstrate that they are significantly exposed to the impact (or potential impact) of Brexit. They must be a viable business, doing business in Ireland, and they must have a business development strategy demonstrating that they plan to innovate or adapt in response to Brexit. This scheme will be operated within De Minimis State Aid Regulation.
My officials are also examining policy proposals for a new longer-term Business Investment Loan Scheme to support businesses to invest strategically for a post-Brexit environment and a new Business Finance Advisory Hub service which would focus on business development.
The Agencies of my Department are at the forefront in working with firms to ensure they are equipped to deal with Brexit and to enhance their performances in an increasingly competitive global trading environment through lean programmes, skills development and reducing business costs.
Enterprise Ireland (EI) has launched the 'Brexit SME Scorecard', an interactive online tool which can be used by all Irish companies to self-assess their exposure to Brexit. EI is also offering a 'Be Prepared Grant' of up to €5,000 to support clients to develop a Brexit Action Plan and it continues to support clients to improve their competitiveness, acquire new markets and enhance management skills.
The Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) are organising workshops, seminars and training to assist companies to better understand the challenges of Brexit and have a range of supports to help clients to respond to those challenges, to become more competitive and to source new markets.
InterTrade Ireland is also working to minimise the impact of Brexit on north-south trade.
