Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 10 November 2020
32. Deputy Niamh Smyth asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the status of Brexit preparations by his Department particularly for businesses in the Border region; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35153/20]
View answerI ask the Minister of State to outline the plans in regard to Brexit preparations. As a Border region Deputy, this is of huge concern to me. Businesses on the ground feel the political agenda has been somewhat taken over by the pandemic, naturally enough, but it is a very worrying time for small and medium businesses, the agrifood sector and local authorities.
I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. While Covid might have focused the attention of many minds and businesses in recent months, as a Department and a Government, we have been very much focused on Brexit for the last number of years, certainly as we get closer to it. The Tánaiste and other colleagues have repeatedly tried to drive home the message over the last few months about the importance of focusing on Brexit and keeping an eye to business as well. We want to make sure businesses engage with us, not just those in the Border region that the Deputy represents, but also throughout the country, given Brexit will have an impact on business generally. We know that and we have been working with companies to prepare for that as well.
The Department and its agencies have put in place a wide range of Brexit enterprise measures covering potential Brexit impacts. The Brexit readiness checklist highlights some of the key actions businesses can take to prepare for the changes Brexit will bring from 1 January 2021. The Border enterprise development fund, administered by Enterprise Ireland, provides for collaborative enterprise capability-building projects advancing entrepreneurship, productivity and innovation in the Border region. The fund is part of a €28 million economic stimulus package announced for the six Border counties of Louth, Monaghan, Cavan, Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal earlier this year, with some success in both Cavan and Monaghan, which the Deputy represents.
Enterprise Ireland’s “ready for customs” scheme helps businesses prepare for the challenges of trading with and through the UK. Its online customs insights course and Brexit readiness checker are also available. These stand alongside grants, mentoring and training to enable businesses to examine their exposure and capability to meet the challenges and opportunities that Brexit presents.
The local enterprise offices offer “prepare your business for customs” workshops. They also provide grants to businesses responding to Brexit challenges, including the technical assistance for micro exporters grant of €2,500, and LEAN for micro grants to assist productivity improvements.
InterTradeIreland’s Brexit advisory service offers a focal point for businesses working to navigate changes in cross-Border trading relationships as a result of Brexit. It has run a series of awareness-raising events to help improve knowledge of customs processes and procedures. These events also identify actions that businesses can take in areas like logistics and supply chain management. Its Brexit planning voucher enables eligible businesses to seek professional advice on how best to plan and prepare for Brexit. This helps businesses get advice on specific areas such as tariffs, currency management and regulatory and customs issues.
Also announced was a new €2 billion credit guarantee scheme and further funding to Microfinance Ireland. The future growth loan scheme was expanded at the beginning of the summer to enable long-term investment, including for a post-Brexit, post-Covid-19 environment.
I thank the Minister of State. I accept his point that very strong measures have been put in place in terms of Brexit readiness. There was always hopefulness in the businesses’ viewpoint as to where Brexit might leave them. We are on the eve of Brexit and we will certainly be doing business very differently than in the past.
Despite the fact the Border region has received significant EU funding since the 1990s, it continues to lag behind national and regional averages in areas such as productivity and household incomes. There are some 87,000 businesses in the Border region, 40% of which are in the agri-sector. I always use Lakeland Dairies as a good example of a business that employs a large number of people, does its business on both sides of the Border and is very reliant on a seamless Border. It needs to be able to continue to do business in a way that is sustainable and that allows it to continue to employ in the way it does and to maintain productivity.
I welcome the Minister of State's comments that there will be a positive bias towards the Border region, which is very important. The Border region is at the coalface of Brexit and has a very particular set of certain of circumstances that is not seen nationally.
The Deputy is correct. I am from the north-east region and I know there will be a greater impact in the Border region. We recognise that, which is why we have the Northern Ireland protocol and the specific committee to oversee the implementation of the agreement in the years ahead. We are very strong in support of that and of working with our colleagues across Europe and in the UK to implement those protocols and arrangements.
Naturally, as a Department supporting jobs, we are very much focused on trying to distribute the jobs to the regions, which includes the Border region. That is why, when we analyse any of the drawdown of the supports, we can see there is a significant drawdown of supports from the regions. The Deputy mentioned there are over 87,000 companies in the region. In the last couple of weeks, the Tánaiste has written to all of those companies that we can account for in order to ask them to engage with our Department and its agencies, whether that is the local employment offices, Enterprise Ireland or the other agencies that are mentioned, including InterTradeIreland.
We want to help these businesses to survive and thrive, not just through Covid but also as we deal with Brexit and the fallout from that. We have acknowledged from the start that trading will be more difficult because of Brexit and that is why we want to support those companies but we ask them to engage with us. We can see, as the Deputy knows, that a number of companies have yet to engage.
The Minister of State is over time.
It is an important message. We ask those businesses to use the remaining 50 days or so to engage with us so we can have them in a strong position to deal with Brexit.
I thank the Minister of State and ask for co-operation so we can get as many Deputies in as possible.
I concur with the Minister of State on the local authorities. Both Cavan and Monaghan county councils have done tremendous work in bringing businesses to the table in facing up to the realities of Brexit, along with our LEOs, which have organised round-table conversations, encouraging and enabling them to access the supports the Government is making available.
I ask the Minister of State to continue that work. We are on the cusp of Brexit. It will have a significant impact, with a very particular set of circumstances for the Border region. We want to not only sustain the businesses we have in those areas but to enable them to grow and to strengthen their capacity for further employment. Covid has added an extra layer of negativity on businesses in the Border area. For that reason, I ask that positive bias be shown towards Border counties such as Cavan and Monaghan.
We certainly are in a position to do that because the Department has secured additional resources to work with industry and support it in the area of job creation, as well as sustaining jobs through the period of Brexit and Covid. I stress again, and the Deputy is in a good position to get this message out there, that we need the companies that will be impacted by Brexit to come forward now. Many have but we know from all the research that a number of companies in every category are not fully prepared for Brexit. There is still time to get fully prepared and we urge them to come forward and avail of the supports we and other Departments can give. We are in a strong financial position to work with and help them. The Deputy is correct that it is not just to sustain the jobs that are there today, but to create extra jobs. We need those companies. They are the employers and the ones we want to work with, to reach out to and to help create more employment. They are well capable of that and we look forward to working with them in the months ahead.
