Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is recognition that we need to do more to support SMEs to expand and grow and become international. Enterprise Ireland is focused on that in terms of scaling up an internationalisation of companies and has a series of programmes on mentoring, training and financing companies to do that.

The White Paper on enterprise, as the Deputy says, sets out the ambition for 2,000 additional Irish-owned exporters by 2030. Enterprise Ireland supports to exporting SMEs include direct financial assistance through grants, loans and equity investments, as I have said, market research on export development assistance, funding and mentoring for innovation and research, and facilitating international trade missions and market access opportunities.

Irish manufactured products continue to compete well in world markets. The most recent figures illustrate that 2022 was a record year for Irish-owned businesses when it comes to international sales. Companies supported by EI achieved export sales of €32.1 billion, an increase of 19% on the previous year. The growth occurred across all overseas regions and in individual industry sectors. Exports to the UK increased by 3% and those to the eurozone increased by 28%. The eurozone now accounts for 25% of all exports by EI companies, with a value of €7.9 billion. There is a lot of other detail there.

The question the Deputy asked-----