Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 October 2018
6. Deputy Jan O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation the extra support available to Irish businesses to trade online; her plans to ensure this support is available to small, as well as larger, retail businesses; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42697/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraWe have had a number of debates about the huge increase in online shopping by Irish consumers. My question is about the extra supports available to Irish businesses to trade online. I would like some more detail on the announcement made and to make the case that there is a need for more support.
All businesses, regardless of size or sector, in today’s competitive environment must ensure they build their digital online capacity. That is very important. The agencies of the Department offer a range of supports to assist businesses to trade online. Take, for example, the local enterprise offices, LEOs, which are the first-stop-shop for anyone who wishes to start or expand a business in terms of advice, training, signposting to other support providers and, in certain circumstances, grant support.
We have spoken about the trading online voucher scheme, TOVs, which is supported by the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment and delivered through the LEOs. The offers matched financial assistance of up to €2,500 and were aimed at getting micro businesses, those employing ten people or fewer, to trade online. The voucher scheme is supported with training and advice. Since the start of the scheme in July 2014 to 30 June this year, over 4,100 micro enterprises had availed of TOVs. The LEOs also offer a wide range of short training programmes to support their clients in building their online presence to compete in the online marketplace. The programmes focus on different elements, including marketing which is so important, social media, e-commerce sales, strategy and search engine optimisation.
The Minister, as chairperson of the retail consultation forum, has prioritised supporting the retail sector to develop its online capability and enhance its competitiveness. In 2017 interesting data from the Central Statistics Office showed that 66% of Irish enterprises in the wholesale and retail sector had reported having a website or homepage. However, of these, only 28% are able to facilitate online ordering. To support the new project, a new pilot online retail scheme was recently launched, with a fund of €625,000. It will be administered by Enterprise Ireland. The fund was later doubled to €1.25 million as part of the Department’s 2019 budget. The scheme will support retail businesses with 20 employees or more that have already decided strategically to grow online in the areas of research, strategy development, implementation and training. I look forward to seeing the first call being opened later this month.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House
Enterprise Ireland works with 5,000 manufacturing and internationally traded services companies. Building an online presence is part of the range of supports offered to these clients. Enterprise Ireland has supported projects focused on developing innovative products on new product platforms for international markets. Working closely with the Irish Internet Association, Enterprise Ireland delivers a range of funded and advisory e-commerce supports for its clients to develop their online marketing capabilities. In addition, it regularly organises events which can connect clients with leading experts and inform them on best practice. An additional €1.8 million has been earmarked for the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland in the next three years. The proposed investment, again via Enterprise Ireland, is to assist the sector to develop and generate additional export sales and online revenue opportunities, increasing market diversification by client companies and underpinning sustainable growth.
There are about 282,000 people in Ireland working in the retail sector in all villages, towns and cities. It is a hugely important sector in the creation of employment. As the Minister of State said, only 28% of those who have a web page can actually sell online. The figures I have are that €850,000 is spent online by Irish consumers every hour, of which €600,000 is lost to businesses outside Ireland. That presents a huge challenge to Irish businesses. While I welcome the increase in support to which the Minister of State has referred - €1.25 million - it is only for businesses with more than 20 employees. Everybody in this Chamber knows of smaller businesses in his or her area that really need to compete online because Irish consumers have changed their ways. This is crucial to maintain the viability of Irish businesses.
I very much agree with the Deputy that smal retail businesses must trade online because of the transformation that is under way. She has rightly pointed to the figures for the numbers of people who trade online, particularly young people who use smartphones and other services to buy online many of their goods. It is important that we look after the indigenous sector. Let us look at a company such as McElhinneys in the Leas-Cheann Comhairle's county of Donegal. It now does 12% or 13% of its business online. I was there a few years ago. Many of the people who shop online with it still live locally, not in other counties. We need to be conscious of this. People are beginning to adapt to the technological changes. To be fair to the Minister, Deputy Heather Humphreys, she has prioritised her work at the retail consultation forum and launched the new online retail scheme. We regard it as being so important that we doubled the funding for the scheme to €1.25 million. Companies with more than 20 employees were mentioned. I hope the trading online voucher scheme will be of help to those enterprises with a smaller number of employees.
The trading online voucher scheme involves a small amount of money. I know that it involves a different Department, but would the Minister of State consider increasing the amount available for smaller companies? Would he also consider including smaller companies in the funding announced recently by the Minister, Deputy Heather Humphreys? It is a real challenge for them and there is a need for as much flexibility as possible to include as many of them as possible.
The local enterprise offices play an important role with micro-enterprises. I am conscious of what the Deputy said about increasing the amount of money available for the trading online voucher scheme. That is something the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, in conjunction with the LEOs, will monitor. It has to be acknowledged that over 4,100 micro-enterprises have availed of the scheme. We need to ensure people know that it is available. It is amazing - both the Minister and I travel around the country all of the time - to realise some people do not know about it. We, therefore, need to continue the awareness programme. There are 31 LEOs and their role is to ensure they administer the scheme through the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment. I am conscious that it costs much more than €2,500 to set up a good website. That is something the Department monitors all of the time. Within budgetary constraints, it is something at which we will look in the future.
