Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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54. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of businesses in each of Cavan, Monaghan, Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo, Roscommon, Galway and Mayo that registered for the increased cost of business grant before 1 May 2024; how many more in each county have registered since the application process reopened last week; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23086/24]

Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail)
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58. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of businesses in counties Tipperary, Limerick and Clare, respectively, that registered for the increased cost of business grant before 1 May 2024; how many more in each county have registered since the application process reopened recently; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23064/24]

Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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63. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of businesses in counties Longford, Westmeath, Laois and Offaly registered for the increased cost of business grant before 1 May 2024; how many more in each county have registered since the application process reopened recently; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23101/24]

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I congratulate the Minister, Deputy Burke, and the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, on their appointments and wish them, along with the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, every success in their work in the Department.

I welcome the Government’s decision to reopen the increased cost of business scheme. I heard the Minister and the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, in different forums encouraging companies to apply. There is a rather simple application process. I sincerely hope that message can be got out and that eligible companies will apply and gain this much-needed assistance towards the increased costs facing the small-scale manufacturing, hospitality and retail sectors in particular.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Smith for his kind wishes. I propose to take questions Nos 54, 58 and 63 together. The Government is very aware that SMEs have faced a number of economic shocks in recent years which have resulted in cost increases. On 15 May, I, along with my Government colleagues, announced a substantial range of measures to reduce costs for small and medium sized businesses. Included in these measures was the reopening of the increased cost of business, ICOB, portal from 15 May to 29 May in order to allow rate-paying business owners who have not registered to do so.

We have also received feedback that the process of registering is simple and quick. As part of the reopening of the ICOB scheme and given the greater impact the increased costs are having on the hospitality and retail sector, as Deputy Brendan Smith has quite rightly pointed out, there was an impact assessment report by my Department and the Department of Social Protection. The Government has agreed that businesses that operate in these sectors will receive a second payment from approved businesses or a double payment for new registrations under the scheme.

The up-to-date figures the Deputy requested, as at 3 p.m. on 22 May, are as follows. In Cavan, 1,118 were registered before 1 May and there were 12 additional registrations in the past week. In Monaghan, 1,198 were registered before 1 May and eight were registered since the scheme reopened. I call on everyone to push those figures up because this money is here to support them. In Donegal, 2,300 registered before 1 May and 67 were registered since the scheme reopened. In Leitrim, 468 were registered before 1 May, with three registered since the scheme reopened. In Sligo, 997 were registered before 1 May and three since the scheme reopened. In Roscommon, 952 were registered and 21 since it reopened. In Galway city, 1,878 registered before 1 May and 23 since the scheme reopened. In Galway county, 1,832 were registered before 1 May and 36 since the scheme reopened. In Mayo, 2,456 registered before 1 May and 42 since the scheme reopened. In Tipperary, 2,361 registered before 1 May and 35 since the scheme reopened. In Limerick, 2,727 were registered before 1 May and 82 since the scheme reopened. In Clare, 1,837 were registered before 1 May and 44 since the scheme reopened. In Longford, 753 were registered before 1 May and 14 since the scheme reopened. In Westmeath, 1,367 were registered before 1 May and 60 since the scheme reopened. In Laois, 909 were registered before 1 May and eight since it reopened. In Offaly, 949 were registered before 1 May and 21 since it reopened.

I call on everyone to work together to highlight the importance of the scheme. It is there and it is simple to use. I point out that there is a double payment for vulnerable sectors, such as the hospitality sector, as Deputy Smith referenced, and also the retail sector. I also call on all the local authorities to get this money paid, which is important. There is a huge disparity within the local authority network in respect of payments. Some of the local authorities are well over 70% or 80% in approvals for payments. We are at approximately 63% or 64% that have registered and we will try to increase that percentage in the two weeks. A very strong advertising campaign is now under way that is trying to penetrate down to local businesses and local shops, because this grant is really substantial and will help them. Many of them will get an average payment of €3,000 or €4,000 under each round. This could mean €6,000 or €7,000 for some businesses, which will help them with cash flow.

I point out that this is part of the wider package. We need to be sustainable. It is important that we have the capital grant funding in place to help them with their energy efficiency grants and trying to transform their methodology by upgrading LED lighting or refrigeration. This can help with their bills by €1,000 per month. There is also the PRSI change, which will take effect from 1 October. It is important that we keep our economy competitive and make it as easy as possible for employers to employ in a growing market that is very competitive. Members will have heard the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, speaking about how we are trying to respond to many challenges in the permit system.

The bottom line is that registration is open. It can be done in two minutes. You can do it on your mobile phone. You are only asked to populate the letter received from the local authority, which will include a personal identification number. You are asked to put in your tax clearance certificate details and press send. That will ensure that the local authority is able to give authorisation and the payments will follow right into the bank account of the business. That is very important to ensure that we are listening to businesses. I have met with representatives of a number of business sectors, such as the Restaurants Association of Ireland, IBEC and the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association, ISME. Many of the representatives are trying to get the message out to businesses that this is here to support them and it is important that they draw it down.

We have €250 million in place. As we go forward to the next budget, it is important for that money to be utilised by our SME sector. If it is not used, that will weaken my hand going into budget negotiations this year. It is very easy to say that €250 million was available but was not drawn down. I appeal to people to get the message out that this money is there for businesses and it should be used. It is there to help them. I am doing everything I can, working with Deputies in the House, to articulate that to them and get the message out. I spoke to the chairperson of the finance committee in the County and City Management Association, CCMA, last night to get the word out to local authorities. I wrote to all the chief executives in the local authority network this morning to outline where their local authority features in the report in terms of what is registered, what is approved and, critically, what is paid out and in their bank accounts. I will be following up on that with the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, and the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, over the next few days. We are all working well together to get this money in as quickly as possible.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for his detailed reply. I again acknowledge the efforts he and his ministerial colleagues have made in getting the message out that this money is available and there is a simple and speedy application process. Quite rightly, the areas of retail and hospitality were identified for particular assistance. I have recently been engaging considerably with small-scale manufacturing, which is facing particular challenges as well. I am sure the Minister will engage with industry, particularly the smaller-scale enterprises. I spoke to the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, about this and he is very conscious of the need to ensure that it gets adequate support as well. I recently spoke to an employer who has approximately 30 employees. The biggest problems facing her at the moment are the cost of sick pay and pensions, and access to finance and credit. She says that access to credit is a real problem for small-scale manufacturing. I refer to businesses that are showing little or no annual profit and have been struggling in recent years through no fault of their own, but because of the various challenges that arose with the increased cost of business, market disruption, the Covid pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the increased energy costs. I would like particular emphasis to be placed on small-scale manufacturing, as the Minister has quite rightly done in respect of small-scale hospitality and retail. Even with the assistance that the Government is giving, many of those firms still face particular challenges in trying to survive and make their businesses viable.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I again thank the Deputy for outlining his concerns on the sectors. As it happens, the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, and I were discussing the issue of manufacturing yesterday at one of our meetings. The Deputy is quite right. There is a varied number of issues that we are trying to respond to in that area. I have travelled around the country a lot since my appointment and I have found that one of the key areas is space. Many manufacturing or engineering companies throughout the country and the local authority network need quality units where they can do their work. With Enterprise Ireland, we will have a look at what we can achieve in that space.

Deputy Smith pointed out the various issues and costs. Due to the policies he has supported and the Government has implemented, inflation has halved since November 2022. That shows that Government policies are working. They are rapidly reducing the rate at which prices are increasing. In the energy market, the wholesale price of energy has reduced by 40%. We need that to be passed on to businesses and consumers and we have to work hard to achieve that. While those costs are there, we also have a strong package to meet them.

I also point out that the 9% VAT rate on gas and electricity remains in place until the end of the current budget period on 31 October. There are also the energy efficiency grants of up to €10,000, where the employer only has to put up 25%. I have been in shops on the main street in Cashel. I was in the SuperValu and they told me there that by changing their refrigeration and installing LED lighting, they can reduce their energy bill every month by more than €1,000. That improves cash flow. It leaves cash we do not want to see leaving the businesses with the businesses. We will keep working on that trajectory and in the areas that the Deputy rightly identifies as vulnerable. We will never take for granted the 2.8 million people who are employed in this country. Ten times as many new businesses are opening in the wider economy compared with the number of companies and corporations that are going into liquidation.

Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister. I repeat my request that he make a particular appeal to the finance houses to support small and medium sized enterprises, because they are not doing so adequately at the moment. I am very glad that the Minister mentioned workspaces and enterprise centres. For years, I have been tabling parliamentary questions to the Minister’s predecessors in regard to the need to adequately support local authorities or voluntary organisations in developing workspaces. In the two counties I represent, we have seen the growth of firms that went into a small workspace in the enterprise sector. Some of them are multinational firms today. Adequate supports should be provided to local authorities to at least acquire sites, develop them and put the accommodation in place.

There is a great return for the Exchequer on such an investment. Local authorities, like those in Cavan and Monaghan, have a fairly small rates base. They do not have the funding to support all the enterprises that we would wish to support as local authorities and public representatives.

The schemes that are in place at present, supported by Enterprise Ireland and other agencies, are not adequate to ensure that we develop more workspace and enterprise centres in our towns and villages. There is a demand for that workspace. I have received a number of inquiries in my county town of Cavan where there are small enterprises that need larger spaces but cannot afford to develop the space themselves. There is no space available, unfortunately. It is an area that I would like to see addressed.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Smith is right to point out the pressure that small manufacturing and engineering businesses, particularly start-ups, are under with regard to access to finance. It is very important that they get finance at competitive rates.

With regard to helping existing SMEs with their working capital, the new Microfinance Ireland thresholds are increasing from €25,000 to €50,000. The Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, is taking that Bill through the Oireachtas at present and it will be important to try to provide working capital for SMEs in that sector at low, competitive rates. Some 14 credit unions have embarked as agents of that fund, which is very important and has over €1 billion available. These are measures targeted at start-ups, which are the multinationals of the future. The Deputy is right that local authorities do not have the capacity in many instances to deliver high-quality space for them, and that is where agencies like Enterprise Ireland come into play. We will work with those agencies in the future to ensure we are prioritising this.

We can never take our eye off the ball with regard to innovation. High-quality start-ups are businesses that we have to support. I have been at many events and we have just celebrated the tenth anniversary of the local enterprise offices, LEOs, for which the new strategy is being launched today. It will be an exciting time for us to reprioritise in order to ensure we are achieving that fertile ground for innovation to grow and ensure we are creating the multinationals of the future. We could argue that the most important point is access to finance, which is the lifeblood and is critical for them. We will do all we can to improve those conditions in the future.