Mr. Niall O'Donnellan:

They are groups of high net worth individuals who come together to invest as individuals in companies. They are not an established fund but are a group of individuals. For example, there is already a group started in the food industry, which comprises people with a background in food who are interested in investing in food start-ups. In the United States, this kind of investment by high net worth individuals is the main support for start-ups. The seed venture industry in the United State is well established and focuses in particular on the technology industry, particularly on the west coast but most start-ups in the US are funded directly by individuals or a collection of individuals. Hence the importance of the employment incentive fund scheme, which is particularly focused on those individuals. There is a gap in this area but it is one on which we, with our parent Department and the Department of Finance, are focusing on over the medium term.

Reference was made to road infrastructure and mobile broadband and access being an inhibitor, in particular outside of the main centres. Broadband provision in approximately one third of populated areas of the country remains a challenge, which is a real problem. As already stated broadband, from a business perspective, is like water. In other words, it is not an option not to have broadband in terms of a modern business. If a small town does not have proper access to broadband the capacity for back-office operations and start-ups is more limited. It certainly is an inhibitor and so on.

Other aspects are possibly challenging in particular areas but as a general point it is not as challenging. Broadband would be the one we would particularly focus on as a general aspect. There are other areas such as access to roads and motorways, like in the north west, but broadband is our particular focus.

We can provide a map showing the distribution of our clients. Half of our clients are in counties without major cities. Employment with those clients ranges across different sized companies. It is not all microenterprises. For example, there is Univet in Tullyvin, north Cavan, a small rural area, which employs between 30 and 40 people. These are the kind of businesses right across the country. We are happy to provide the map with the categories suggested.

On State tendering procurement procedures, we have a unit which focuses on public purchasing. One of the strategic conversations we are having is with the Office of Government Procurement. There is that whole process of trying to balance the needs of public procurement with access to business, particularly innovative businesses. That can be quite challenging at times and one on which it is important to focus. We have developed the strategic business innovation initiative which is around trying to persuade various providers of public services to take on some innovative companies as part of their public purchasing approach. That is part of the solution. It is not the only one and I am sure my colleague in the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association, ISME, will comment further on that.

We set up a Brexit unit and our entire organisation is now focused on the issue. Since 25 June, the senior management team met daily for four to five weeks focusing on what our companies were telling us about Brexit. Within the first three weeks, we identified the companies particularly exposed to the UK market. We surveyed and got data on all the companies we work with intensely. One question we asked them was which markets they were selling into. From that, we were able to identify each company with over 50% of exports or sales into the UK market. We had a conversation with the bulk of those companies over the following weeks and got feedback. There is a considerable amount of sectorial variation. For example, with engineering and food companies, one got sharp concern around margins and exchange rates. In other areas, such as software, they were not as concerned in the short term but were concerned about longer term issues around the slowdown in the UK economy, if it occurs because of Brexit. The ultimate question for all our companies is what exactly will be the nature of Brexit. Will it be a hard or soft Brexit? If it is a hard Brexit, will it involve tariffs, border controls and issues around transporting through the UK? Many of our companies which export to the Continent transport their goods through the UK. Accordingly, there is a range of questions and concerns.

Our response has been to emphasise five points. First, there needs to be awareness of the issue from a company's perspective. Has it looked at the risks involved? The second point is currency. Are companies exposed to currency fluctuations and have they hedged for this? Some have and some have not. The third point is market diversification. We are telling some companies they need to focus more on the UK. For example, in concrete products, it is unlikely those companies will be able to sell to other countries because of the nature of their product. Accordingly, they will need to intensify and get more sales in the UK. Our team is gearing to help them with that. The fourth point is diversification. There are companies which can diversify and balance their UK sales with sales in other countries. Finally, the fifth point is innovation and competitiveness. Interestingly, we have noted those companies which have managed to get price increases are those with innovative products.

Our overall organisation is focused on Brexit. We have a Brexit co-ordination team in place, comprising two people, which is bringing together the whole effort of the organisation. For example, yesterday, I, along with two regional directors and several local enterprise offices, LEOs, in the Border counties, had a conversation about what was involved for Border counties in Brexit. Our chief executive officer is regularly involved with the Minister's liaison meeting on Brexit.