Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 April 2018
47. Deputy Tom Neville asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the supports available to SMEs in County Limerick to help them prepare for Brexit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16192/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraMy Department is continuing to work hard to help Irish businesses across the country to withstand the challenges and avail of the opportunities posed by Brexit. The long-term response to Brexit is for companies to become more competitive, more innovative, and to diversify their export footprint into more markets.
In 2017, 8,269 people were employed across 94 Enterprise Ireland (EI) supported plants in Limerick representing a 9% increase on 2016’s employment figures.
In the period 2015 - 2017 EI paid €9 million to client companies in Limerick to support them innovate, improve competitiveness and to diversify their global footprint.
In response to Brexit, EI has introduced a range of new supports, streamlined others, and launched a Global Ambition communications campaign.
For client companies in Limerick, being prepared is crucial to ensuring resilience to emerging challenges. To promote awareness, and supported by a national Prepare For Brexit campaign, EI has:
- Developed and launched the Brexit SME Scorecard, an interactive online platform which can be used by all Irish companies to self-assess their exposure to Brexit under six business pillars. To date over 2,000 companies have utilised this Scorecard.
- Designed and launched a €5,000 Be Prepared Grant that helps to support the costs of SME clients to prepare a plan to mitigate risks and optimise opportunities arising from Brexit.
- Held a number of Brexit Advisory Clinics to encourage companies to examine their potential exposure to Brexit.
In 2018 EI is:
- Continuing to run regional Brexit Advisory Clinics to support companies to take immediate action to address their potential exposure.
- Providing an independent consultant to companies through “the Act On” Initiative. This consultant will assist companies to identify specific actions they can take over a short period to address some of the risks and opportunities caused by Brexit.
The second round of the €60 million Regional Enterprise Development Fund was launched this week. The Fund will support collaborative projects that will boost the regions by supporting enterprise and creating jobs.
In addition, the Mid-West Action Plan for Jobs was launched in October 2015, and covers Clare, Limerick and North Tipperary. Implementation of the Plan is overseen by a Regional Implementation Committee made up of representatives from the public and private sector. From Q1 2015 (baseline year) to Q2 2017, 16,600 more people are in employment in the Mid-West. This represents good progress towards the target of 23,000 by 2020.
