Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 27 September 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

SME Energy and Carbon Demands, Green Initiatives and Technology: Discussion

Mr. John Magee:

I agree. LEOs speak about this consistently. This is where we see the issue at this time. Small businesses are bombarded by messages, emails and social media. We are finding that the best way to get traction may not necessarily be by way of a cold call, but by making a phone call requesting to call out and stand in the premises of the business. These visits will be to understand clearly what the business is struggling with, for example, time or costs, in order that we can solve the problem for it. That is why our new campaign is important for those key messages. We fully understand that and we are doing it. Our business advisers throughout the country are doing that boots-on-the-ground work on a daily basis to engage with clients and, in many cases, to try to convince them of the merits of this. As the Senator says, we must let them know and understand that we have products that can satisfy their pinch points around energy inputs, time and saving money. We are doing that boots-on-the-ground work and we are focused on that-----