Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy is absolutely quite right that the SME sector has the challenge. We have set out quite strongly in our White Paper on enterprise the target of 90% digital intensity. We are working now through the €58 million digital transition fund for our SME sector, which is very important to try to bring them up to speed. We also have a new portal that will launch at the end of this month whereby an SME will be able to plug into the portal and it will be able to propagate them advice on what areas they are falling down on with digital transition and what support we can give as a Government. As a twin approach to that, we have a national enterprise hub which will be a one-stop shop for businesses to plug into. They will be able to get support, be it a new business starting out and depending on the sector it is in, and they will be able to pinpoint exactly what grant aid, support, mentorship or advice they need within that context. That work is under way and will be a significant assistance.

With AI we have seen approximately 5% in our SME sector. We have a lot of work to do and that is fast changing. It is the case that almost as soon as reports are brought out in the area of AI they are out of date. We saw three reports-----