Ms Julie Sinnamon:

I thank the committee for inviting me here today to provide an update on Enterprise Ireland's response to the Covid-19 pandemic and how the agency is working with clients and the Government to support the regeneration of Irish enterprise. I am joined by my colleagues, Mr. Kevin Sherry, executive director and Ms Rowena Dwyer, head of policy. I have provided a submission on EI and its activities. In my opening remarks I shall focus on how we have responded to the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Enterprise Ireland's primary remit is the development and growth of Irish enterprises in world markets. We help companies to start, innovate and scale. Our client companies are in the manufacturing and internationally traded services sectors. These companies employ 221,000 people across the country and last year they spent almost €28 billion in the local economy. The agency also funds the local enterprise offices and, on direction from Government, administers certain schemes to non-agency clients such as retail companies.

I will summarise our Covid-19 response under three areas. First, we are actively involved with our clients on a one-to-one level; second, we support business through targeted liquidity schemes and advisory supports; and, third, we are helping companies become ready for recovery at home and abroad through our funding, innovation and diversification supports.

Covid-19 has brought many unseen challenges in terms of the sustainability of businesses. On foot of their strong 2019 performance, some companies, fortunately, came into the crisis in a healthy state but many face challenges. I will list the three most significant challenges starting with liquidity. The pandemic has placed sudden and immediate pressure on the working capital and liquidity of companies. Second, there is customer demand. Covid-19 has reduced customer demand for products and services globally. For some companies this impact has been immediate and for others it will become apparent in quarters 3 and 4. Third, there are people, logistics and supply chain issues. The movement of people and products has placed increased challenges on companies resulting in increased operational costs. In response, one of our first actions was to set up a Covid-19 business response hub that any business - not just EI clients - could contact. As of yesterday, more than 3,600 companies have contacted the hub. We have provided advice and assistance to these companies on the suite of supports available from across government, including the wage subsidy scheme, the Restart grant and the Enterprise Ireland supports.

The immediate demand from many companies has been for business continuity and financial planning and liquidity supports. To assist companies the following additional Covid-19 supports have been introduced by Enterprise Ireland. First, there is the lean business continuity voucher amounting to €2,500 that supports companies to access training or advisory services. Since its launch in early April, 225 applications for funding have been received of which 182 have been approved. Second, there is the Covid-19 financial planning grant of €5,000, 100% of which is for preparing a funding plan. Since its launch in April there have been 510 applications received, 426 of which have been approved. Third, there is the online retail scheme amounting to €2 million that was launched at the end of April to assist retailers to enhance their online capability with funding of up to €40,000. More than 350 applications have been received and we are in discussions to increase the funding allocation in response.

The uptake of the Government's wage subsidy scheme has been critically important in helping many companies to retain their workforce. Enterprise Ireland's liquidity and medium-term financial supports are being delivered under the Sustaining Enterprise Fund that was also launched in April. Support of up to €800,000 can be provided to companies targeting them at their different stages of development and growth, for example, established companies, start-ups and small enterprises. To date, under the Sustaining Enterprise Fund, EI has approved 17 companies for funding; a further 41 applications are currently being processed and we are actively working with more than 100 companies to help them prepare applications for the fund. Our expectation is that the majority of the 500 plus companies that have applied for the business financial planning grant will also apply for the sustaining enterprise funding.

Enterprise Ireland works with companies at all stages of development, including micro enterprises, through our funding of the local enterprise offices.

The local enterprise offices have operated some very successful schemes in recent months. A total of 8,220 business continuity vouchers of up to €2,500 and more than 1,600 training online vouchers have been approved. Yesterday, the training online voucher funding was increased to €19.8 million in response to demand.

The impact of Covid-19 on our clients is unprecedented. In addition, challenges such as Brexit and climate change will continue to impact Irish enterprise in the months ahead. Indigenous Irish companies are the backbone of the economy and we are committed to helping these companies to sustain and grow their businesses. Enterprise Ireland will continue to evolve its offers to meet the changing needs of companies. Our message to all businesses that need support is to contact Enterprise Ireland, the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation or their local enterprise office, to put in place funding plans now and not to wait. I welcome questions and I thank the committee for this opportunity to come before it.