Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

An SME growth task force of entrepreneurs, business leaders and other stakeholders was established in September 2020 by the Tánaiste to fulfil the commitment made in the programme for Government to draw up an ambitious long-term strategic blueprint for SMEs and entrepreneurs beyond Covid-19. Between September and December 2020, the SME task force, which was assisted by four dedicated subgroups, developed a range of recommendations to build a better business and regulatory environment for our SMEs and entrepreneurs. This work was informed by the comprehensive OECD review of SME and entrepreneurship policy in Ireland of 2019, which provided a hugely informative, objective and deeply-researched evidence base on the challenges and opportunities for the SME and entrepreneurship sector in Ireland. The work of the SME task force resulted in the delivery of the SME and entrepreneurship growth plan in December 2020, which was subsequently published in January 2021.

To ensure that the substance and vision of the growth plan continued to move forward, and to facilitate further detailed analysis of its recommendations, an SME and entrepreneurship implementation group was established in early February 2021. I, along with the Minister of State with responsibility for trade promotion, digital and company regulation, Deputy Troy, chaired the implementation group on behalf of the Tánaiste. The implementation group met on six occasions between February and September last year to discuss progress on thematic areas arising from the recommendations in the SME and entrepreneurship growth plan. As part of these sessions, the implementation group invited participation from Departments and Government agencies responsible for delivery of specific actions to talk us through their plans of action.

This engagement resulted in the identification of ten priority areas where the implementation group felt that significant progress can be made in the shorter term. This list of priorities was discussed in further detail at a specially convened meeting of the SME task force last autumn. These priority areas relate to the following: access to finance; digital transformation; increasing first-time exporters; enhanced assistance for high-potential businesses; clustering and networks; SME management skills; reducing the regulatory burden on SMEs; delivery of a single portal for business information and assistance; ensuring comprehensive enterprise agency coverage for SMEs; and increased SME participation in public procurement.

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