Shay Brennan (Dublin Rathdown, Fianna Fail)
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10. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the number of small and medium enterprises, SMEs, that have successfully applied for and received funding through the digital transition fund since its inception; the total amount disbursed to date; the steps his Department is taking to raise awareness about these digital support programmes among SMEs, particularly those that may be less digitally savvy; and given the goal of achieving 90% of SMEs at basic digital intensity by 2030, what additional measures his Department is considering to accelerate digital adoption among Irish businesses. [6682/25]

Shay Brennan (Dublin Rathdown, Fianna Fail)
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How many SMEs have successfully applied for and received funding through the digtital transition fund since its inception? What is the total amount disbursed so far? What steps is the Department taking to raise awareness of these digital support programmes amount SMEs, particularly those that may be less digitally savvy? In light of the goal of achieving 90% of SMEs at basic digital intensity by 2030, what additional measures is the Department considering to accelerate digital adoption among Irish businesses?

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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My Department established the digital transition fund as part of Ireland's national recovery and resilience plan with the objective of driving the digital transformation of enterprise in Ireland. The Minister, Deputy Burke, spoke earlier about the drive that is being made by the Department to ensure all businesses across Ireland reach those targets. The fund was specifically designed to aid the achievement of the high-level workstreams of Ireland’s national digital strategy, Harnessing Digital, and Ireland’s contribution to the EU digital decade targets as they relate to digitalisation of enterprise.

The target set out in the national digital strategy is that at least 800 businesses will be supported by 2026 under the digital transition fund. Good progress has been made towards achieving this target and, as of the end of 2024, a total of 539 companies have been approved for €45.2 million in funding for direct grant supports under the digital transition fund, of which 504 are SMEs. A total of 195 companies, of which 189 are SMEs, have already received funding to the value of €12.9 million.

My Department, together with the enterprise agencies, continues to make concerted efforts to raise awareness amongst businesses of the opportunities arising from digitalisation and the help that is available to them to assist them in digitalising their businesses. This was the rationale for the development of the grow digital portal, which my Department launched last summer. The portal provides businesses with a toolkit to help identify the opportunities that digitalisation offers them and points to the supports available to them. It has a case study catalogue with digital success stories showcasing examples of how traditional and locally trading businesses have embraced digital solutions to boost their operations. This is particularly important to help those less digitally savvy businesses.

Shay Brennan (Dublin Rathdown, Fianna Fail)
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Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit, agus déanaim comhghairdeas léi on her recent appointment. I thank her for the very informative, worthwhile and important debate we had yesterday on this area, particularly around artificial intelligence.

What specific metrics is the Department using to measure the impact of the digital transition fund on SMEs, particularly in respect of their digital competitiveness? As we know, technology is moving very quickly. As we discussed yesterday, a lot of this is due to changes in AI and changes brought about by AI. Clearly, the fund is strategically very important and I hope there are plans to extend it beyond its expiry date in 2026. Will the Minister confirm whether this fund will continue beyond that date?

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy very much for his kind wishes and also for his important question. There is a range of supports to help businesses in digitalisation available under the digital transition fund through Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and Údarás na Gaeltachta. In addition, the LEOs offer digitalisation supports for eligible businesses, including the digital for business initiative and the grow digital voucher. These direct-to-company supports are complemented by Ireland’s four European digital innovation hubs. These hubs serve as one-stop shops for businesses, providing access to technical expertise, innovation services and skills development.

Ireland is one of the most advanced EU member states in terms of digitalisation of enterprise and I am determined to maintain this leadership position. I believe we have the required range of supports in place to help our SME base to digitalise. However, awareness-raising and demystification of digital adoption is an ongoing task that is essential if we are to meet our 2030 target of 90% of SMEs at basic digital intensity.

Shay Brennan (Dublin Rathdown, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister of State and very much welcome her commitment to the digitalisation of SMEs. I note that the fund is linked to the EU recovery and resilience facility and that this facility is not planned to be continued beyond 2026. It is vital that we in some way delink ourselves from that facility and that we continue to fund the vital growth of digitalisation within Irish SMEs. As we discussed yesterday during the very useful debate on AI, Ireland can and very much should be a leader in this space. It can only really achieve that status if we fund it correctly and give it the status it deserves.

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Deputy Brennan for his remarks. I take on board everything he said. As he pointed out, we had a very robust discussion yesterday on AI and how that is impacting businesses globally, not just nationally. I take his point on board. As the Minister, Deputy Burke, stated, there is a drive to bring all businesses into the digitalisation era and a commitment to have 90% of SMEs there by 2030. It is a big task but the Department and the Minister have put so many measures in place that it is hoped we can reach that target.