I think it is fair to say that this Government has not been found wanting when it has come to helping businesses get through difficult periods. The multi-billion euro financial assistance provided by Government during the pandemic was unprecedented, whether it was help with businesses’ wage bill so they could keep staff on, their overheads, the introduction of a cheaper, easier way to restructure and survive than examinership; the commercial rates waiver, or the reduction in VAT for the hospitality sector.
I am very conscious of how worried businesses are now going into the winter and their concerns around energy costs. Unfortunately Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is having massive consequences for the whole of Europe, not just Ireland. We’ve already put some measures in place and we are looking at how we can help businesses further with these costs.
In June we announced a new €55 million ‘Green Transition’ fund to help businesses move away from fossil fuels and towards more sustainable, cheaper alternatives. There’s a wide range of help available and we are thinking about how to improve take-up and awareness of what is already there.
We are working on a new loan scheme to help businesses affected by the knock-on consequences of the war in Ukraine and a scheme involving grants for those businesses in the manufacturing and exporting sectors.
We will also be looking to raise awareness around energy efficiency, helping businesses reduce the amount of energy they use in the first place. There are around 20 different schemes to which businesses can apply to get help from Government to carry out an energy audit and to get capital grants for the installation of equipment such as solar panels and insulation and for micro-generation. I want businesses to become more aware of what’s already available and also improve the existing schemes.
The Wholesale Price Index for energy products (purchased by the manufacturing industry) rose by almost 78% in the year to July 2022. The impact of rising prices is not unique to Ireland, but an issue facing all major economies around the world. Ireland imports over 70 per cent of our energy use. The Government cannot fully insulate businesses from price developments in international energy markets that are outside of its control, but we have already adopted many measures to help and will do more.
My Department continues to ensure an enterprise perspective is considered in response to price and supply issues in energy markets, and has been involved in the coordination of the response with the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications through the Energy Security Emergency Group and its related sub-groups.
An analysis would suggest 120,000 as being directly employed in gas-intensive manufacturing sectors (where at least 40% of final energy consumption is in the form of gas). Gas-intensive manufacturing sectors include the basic metals and fabricated products sub-sector, chemicals and man-made fibres sub-sector (which includes pharmaceutical plants), food and beverages sub-sector. These sectors represent 41% of total final gas consumption nationally in 2020, and account for the majority of industry’s gas use.
While it is useful to consider the numbers employed and the energy intensity of the economic sectors to gain a broad understanding of sectoral exposure to energy, it would be incorrect to imply that all jobs in energy intense sectors are at risk. It is also difficult to forecast the impact that higher energy costs may have on the staffing of energy intense firms – any potential job losses would depend on decisions taken at the individual firm level and are therefore very difficult to predict given the unique nature of each firm’s cost base.
Currently there are no plans specifically for a furlough scheme and, as such, no costings have been undertaken. The Deputy will be aware that we are considering a number of options to help households and businesses in advance of the budget and will continue to keep the energy situation under close review.
