Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 24 May 2018
106. Deputy Billy Kelleher asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the number of applicants that received funding under Enterprise Ireland’s market discovery fund in each of the years 2014 to 2017 and to date in 2018 by county; the number that received funding by firm size of less than ten, 11 to 49, 50 to 249 and more than 250 employees; and the amount paid out by county and by firm size in tabular form. [22979/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe best way for Irish companies to withstand current global economic challenges is by diversifying their export footprint. One of the new supports that Enterprise Ireland has introduced to encourage companies to enter new markets is the Market Discovery Fund.
Launched in January 2018, the Market Discovery Fund aims to encourage companies to expand into new markets by helping with the costs of researching viable and sustainable market entry strategies.
The Fund provides support towards both internal and external costs incurred by companies when researching new markets for products and services. Eligible companies can receive support when they are looking at a new geographic market for an existing product/service, or when looking at exporting a new product/service to a market that they already do business in.
The Market Discovery Fund is available across three levels:
- Level 1: Grant up to €35K
- Level 2: Grant greater than €35K but less than €75K
- Level 3: Grant greater than €75K but less than €150K
The maximum funding is 50% of eligible expenditure up to a maximum grant of €150,000. Eligible expenditure includes, but is not limited to, salary support, consultancy costs, trade fair costs and foreign travel.
The Market Discovery Fund was launched in 2018, and has only been open for applications for a number of weeks. It is not possible, therefore, to provide data prior to this year. To date, fifteen Market Discovery Grants have been approved. As the fund is at such a nascent stage it is not yet possible to report on the geographic spread or take-up among different sized companies.
