Róisín Garvey (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Small businesses that are not preparing something for export have often been told that the LEOs are only dealing with startups preparing something that can be potentially exported. I do not know if they go to Enterprise Ireland or where they fit in. Some businesses have come to me looking for supports that have been told they are not preparing something that can be potentially exported. Mind you, I think everything could be potentially exported if they were clever enough. With the circular economy, there are zero grants for second-hand equipment. Some equipment can be very good, and can be inspected and be fit for purpose. However, there are no grants for second-hand equipment, whether it is production, milking machines or packaging machines and any of these things, which cost a lot of money. It would save Enterprise Ireland money, and it would save the client money if there were plans for second-hand equipment deemed to be still fully functional. When a company scales up there is a lot of technical equipment left gathering dust because nobody can afford to buy it as there are no grants for it. That would be important as well.