Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Effectively, the postponement towards October has had an impact in making people less anxious to get ready by availing of the various schemes. Recently, InterTradeIreland did a survey of companies in Belfast and there were some dismal reports about investment plans being postponed. People were very worried about what would happen at the Border, regarding employment, etc.

The Minister gave me a very thorough list a number of months ago of the various supports, including the Brexit loan scheme for which 479 applications have been received, of which 430 have been approved; the Enterprise Ireland Brexit Scorecard, of which 4,500 have been completed; the Be Prepared grant for which 168 applications have been received; the Market Discovery Fund in respect of which there are 251 projects; and 13 Brexit advisory clinics, one of which was attended by 1,000 people. I noticed the LEOs, in which Deputies have a strong interest in their constituencies and throughout the regions, had 419 clients for the micro schemes. I mention the InterTradeIreland Brexit advisory service.

What kind of take-up do the figures the Minister gave represent in terms of all the companies which could have applied for each of those schemes?

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