Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 October 2020
86. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the extent to which he and his Department continue to encourage new, indigenous and foreign direct investment in all regions here, thereby addressing particular economic issues that may arise or have arisen; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30878/20]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment I can assure the Deputy that I have a strong focus on balanced regional development, attracting and sustaining inward investment and protecting the viability of businesses and SMEs throughout the country.
My Department, and our agencies, assists enterprises of all types and sizes in Ireland, including through the ongoing work of Enterprise Ireland, the Local Enterprise Offices and IDA Ireland. For indigenous enterprise, this includes access to finance, management development, mentoring supports, business development programmes, market supports and trade promotion.
In addition to the regional focus of the enterprise agencies and the network of Local Enterprise Offices, nine Regional Enterprise Plans for the period to 2020, developed by regional stakeholders and overseen by my Department, were launched in early 2019 and are currently being implemented.
There is no doubt that Brexit presents challenges to our efforts to support regional development and we have placed a significant focus in Budget 2021 on ensuring that our regions are as prepared as we can be to meet future challenges. In preparing for Brexit, the Government has introduced a range of measures to assist businesses and SMEs which include Brexit checklists and advisory tools, direct grants and funding supports. For example, Enterprise Ireland are running an on-line Customs Insight course and will also launch a new Brexit Readiness Checker, while the new €2 billion Credit Guarantee Scheme is the largest guarantee scheme that has ever been provided for Irish businesses. These measures ensure there is financial assistance and advice available for Irish businesses as they reboot and rebuild both through COVID-19 and Brexit.
The Regional Enterprise Development Fund is funding 68 projects across all regions to a value of €100m and the Border Enterprise Development Fund, is funding 11 projects in the Border region to a value of €17m. In addition, 12 projects to a value of €4.6 million have been approved under the Regional Technology Clustering Fund. These projects will support regions throughout Ireland to build enterprise capability and capacity in a post-Brexit environment.
The Deputy will also be aware of the increase of €254m for my Department announced in the Budget. Together with the July Stimulus that provided a radical and far-reaching package of supports, we will continue to repair the damage that has been done and restore confidence and growth in the SME sector.
I convened the first meeting of the SME Task Force in September to discuss the needs of SMEs of medium-term growth and resilience, with Ministers English and Troy. We will soon be developing an SME Growth Plan to make our SMEs more productive, resilient and agile over the longer term, which will have regard to regional development priorities. This will form part of the National Economic Plan in November.
I can assure the Deputy that I will continue to work with my colleagues across Government and with stakeholders to examine all appropriate business supports to assist our regions to remain competitive and attractive for investment by indigenous businesses and leading corporates from around the world.
