Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 December 2018
90. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation if she will report on the way in which businesses here are Brexit-ready; if she has concerns about certain sectors or businesses in particular geographical locations; the assistance being offered in the event of a hard Brexit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50387/18]
View answerMy Department and its agencies are providing extensive supports to ensure that businesses are prepared for Brexit. These supports aim to assist businesses in identifying key risk areas and the practical preparatory actions to be taken over the coming months.
As part of its work in assessing where supports are most needed, my Department regularly surveys companies to determine the Brexit issues affecting them and to gauge their level of preparedness. Our most recent SME survey published earlier this year found that 44% of all businesses strongly impacted by Brexit have a plan in place – almost twice as many as a year previously. It is planned to rerun this survey early in the new year.
More recently, a survey of 2,400 Enterprise Ireland clients found that 85% of firms are taking Brexit-related actions. This is up from 38% this time last year. In the first 6 months of this year alone, 43% of the most exposed firms backed by Enterprise Ireland received grant aid.
The Government will continue to focus on our communications with enterprise to ensure that they are as informed as possible about Brexit and can take timely action to prepare.
Furthermore, I regularly meet with businesses to discuss their concerns and issues, as do officials in my Department. On an ongoing basis, I chair an Enterprise Forum on Brexit and Global Challenges which is an effective tool for ensuring open, two-way communication between Government and the enterprise community regarding Brexit issues. This Forum meets regularly and provides a vehicle for discussion of enterprise, trade and investment policy implications arising from wider global challenges, with a specific focus on Brexit.
In terms of sectors and regions of concern, my Department has undertaken a wide range of studies into the possible impacts of Brexit and a number of these have highlighted the potential regional effects associated with the UK’s departure from the EU.
Amongst a range of studies undertaken and funded by my Department, the Copenhagen Economics study “Ireland and the impact of Brexit: Strategic implications for Ireland arising from changing EU-UK Trading Relations”, published earlier this year, identified the most vulnerable sectors in respect of Brexit.
The study found that 5 sectors account for 90% of the possible economic impact. They are agri-food, pharma-chemicals, engineering and machinery, wholesale and retail and air transport. Around 80% of the employment in these sectors is outside the Dublin region. As noted in the study, Brexit will therefore be felt more in rural parts of the country where these sectors dominate, particularly agri-food.
From a regional perspective, the Regional Action Plan for Jobs is central to my Department’s targeted approach to boosting regional employment. While progress has been very good, it is clear that we also have new challenges since the Regional Action Plan for Jobs process started, not least Brexit. In this context, I have asked the Implementation Committees in each region to lead a process to refresh and refocus their Plans to 2020 which will focus on building each region’s own competitive advantage, develop areas that are already strong, examine vulnerabilities and take account of the challenges that Brexit presents.
For 2019, I am allocating an extra €8 million to the enterprise agencies and regulatory bodies under my Department, who work with firms to develop their supports for business. I have also allocated an additional €5m to the Local Enterprise Offices for 2019 to increase their Brexit supports to businesses in every county.
The level of uptake of these supports shows that businesses are aware of the assistance on offer and are engaging with various initiatives and schemes that have been made available. For instance, the EI ‘Brexit SME Scorecard’ is an interactive online platform which can be used by all Irish companies to self-assess their exposure to Brexit. To date, 2,962 Brexit Scorecards have been completed.
Enterprise Ireland has run eight Brexit advisory clinics throughout the country to date. Approximately 590 people have attended these events and three more clinics are due to take place before the end of the year in Dundalk, Waterford and Limerick.
The Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) have organised various events to enable companies to learn about the potential impacts and opportunities of Brexit. 3,925 participants have taken part in these events. In addition, 263 LEO clients have received one-to-one mentoring solely focused on Brexit.
The Brexit Loan Scheme, launched in March this year, makes a fund of up to €300 million available to eligible businesses to help them innovate, change or adapt to mitigate their Brexit challenge.
While I am encouraged by the fact that businesses are engaging in high numbers with these and other supports on offer, not everyone is engaging. With Brexit around the corner, I want businesses to know we are here to help. It is vital that businesses take the required steps of gathering information and preparing Brexit contingency plans.
