Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 9 March 2022
27. Deputy Paul Kehoe asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he is considering additional supports for businesses in sectors that are struggling to recover in line with the economy following the impact of Covid-19 such as an industry (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13152/22]
View answerThere have been a wide range of measures taken by government to provide support for business during the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic.
These supports include access to appropriate and affordable finance for business, whereby the Government along with enterprise agencies, the banking sector and alternative finance providers offers additional targeted supports where there are market failures. Further information can be found on my Department’s website at: enterprise.gov.ie/en/what-we-do/supports-for-smes/access-to-finance/.
I would encourage businesses to contact their Local Enterprise Office as they provide a ‘first stop shop’ for all available Government business supports. Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) can offer direct grant aid to microenterprises (10 employees or fewer) in the manufacturing and internationally traded services sectors which, over time, have the potential to develop into strong export entities.
In particular, the LEOs offer Feasibility Grants, which help start-up companies or individual entrepreneurs with the cost of researching their proposed business or new business idea to see if it could be viable and sustainable; and Priming Grants, which aim to help with the associated costs of start-ups.
However, it should be noted that the LEOs do not provide direct grant-aid to areas such as retail, personal services, local professional services, or local building services, as it may give rise to the displacement of existing businesses.
The LEOs provide a wide range of high-quality business and management development programmes that are tailored to meet certain specific business requirements. I would also suggest seeking the advice of a LEO Business Mentor; the Mentor programme is open to both new and existing businesses located within the LEO region and is designed to match up the knowledge, skills, insights and entrepreneurial capability of experienced business practitioners with small business owner/managers who need practical and strategic one to one advice and guidance. The mentor contributes independent, informed observation and advice to aid decision making.
Mentors can also advise on finance options available to entrepreneurs and can assist with applications and referrals to Micro-Finance Ireland (MFI), which provides vital support to eligible microenterprises by lending to businesses that cannot obtain loans from other commercial lenders and who do not meet the conventional risk criteria applied by commercial lenders. MFI offers loan funding, including Start-up Loans, from €5,000 to €25,000.
A full suite of Government supports for business, including those outlined above, can be found on the supportingsmes.gov.ie website. This is a cross-governmental guide to increase awareness of the range of Government supports for start-ups and SMEs in Ireland.
Here, businesses can:
- find out which of the over 170 Government business supports from 27 different Government Departments, Agencies and Initiatives are available.
- get information on the range of Government supports for accessing credit.
- find contact details for their nearest Local Enterprise Office.
- download filtered results into a document for their further use.
Finally, I wish to assure the Deputy that Government continues to consider any additional measures required to addresses key priorities for business recovery such as continued business continuity and employee supports.
