Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Yes, and I was not suggesting tax is the only reason, but it is less of an incentive. We can all agree on that. I am interested to explore where the potential for the growth is and whether we are pivoting to ensure we are maximising what we get back from the investment.

I return to increasing exports among Irish companies and diversifying our trading relationships. We have a very open economy and a significant trade surplus relative to our size, but that is not always the case within the SME sector. Our export levels are very low in the SME sector by international comparisons. Only 6% of our SMEs directly trade across borders and the share of SMEs in total domestic value added exports is also relatively low by comparison with other states.

Most SMEs do not export. A significant percentage of existing SME exporters only trade with the British market. There is a significant opportunity for both growth and jobs in this area. Given the unique challenges faced by SMEs, such as current low levels of cross-border trading and the fact that they export at an earlier stage in their life cycle than other European countries, we obviously need Government policy and funding to suit the need for that growth. Some 6% is a low figure. There is scope to expand it. Does the Minister of State believe if a bespoke policy of planning and strategic funding streams is now needed for our SMEs to capitalise on exporting, specifically to Canada but more generally to other countries? Does he see a need to look at SMEs, particularly at a low level, and to tailor a suite of measures to encourage that figure to grow? It is specifically Canada in this instance but also more broadly in general.