Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 February 2022
206. Deputy Sorca Clarke asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the engagement his Department has had to date with the SME growth task force proposed in the programme for government. [5151/22]
View answerThe SME Growth Taskforce of entrepreneurs, business leaders and other stakeholders was established by the Tánaiste, Leo Varadkar TD, in September 2020 to fulfil the commitment made in the Programme for Government to draw up an ambitious long-term strategic blueprint for SMEs and entrepreneurs beyond COVID-19.
Between September and December 2020, the SME Taskforce, which was assisted by four dedicated subgroups, developed a range of recommendations to build a better business and regulatory environment for our SMEs and entrepreneurs.
This work was informed by the comprehensive OECD Review of SME and Entrepreneurship Policy in Ireland 2019, which provided a hugely informative, objective, and deeply-researched evidence base on the challenges and opportunities for the SME and entrepreneurship sector in Ireland.
The work of the SME Taskforce resulted in its finalisation and adoption of the SME and Entrepreneurship Growth Plan in December 2020, which was subsequently published in January 2021.
To ensure that the substance and vision of the Growth Plan continued to move forward, and to facilitate further detailed analysis of its recommendations, an SME and Entrepreneurship Implementation Group was established in early February 2021.
I chair this Implementation Group along with my colleague, Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation, Robert Troy TD.
The Implementation Group met on six occasions between February and September 2021 to discuss progress on thematic areas arising from the recommendations in the SME and Entrepreneurship Growth Plan . As part of these sessions, the Implementation Group invited participation from Government Departments and Agencies responsible for delivery of specific actions.
This engagement resulted in the identification of ten priority areas where the Implementation Group felt that significant progress can be made in the shorter term. This list of priorities was discussed in further detail at a specially convened meeting of the SME Taskforce on 16 September 2021.
These priority areas relate to the following: access to finance; digital transformation; increasing first time exporters; enhanced assistance for high-potential businesses; clustering and networks; SME management skills; reducing the regulatory burden on SMEs; delivery of a single portal for business information and assistance; ensuring comprehensive enterprise agency coverage for SMEs; and increased SME participation in public procurement.
The Implementation Group will monitor progress on actions relevant to these areas over the course of this year, in consultation with the SME Taskforce, DETE, its enterprise agencies and other State bodies.
A report on progress on the priority areas will be brought to Government in Q4 2022 and published thereafter.
