Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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87. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will detail the supports available to small and medium enterprises involved in the service industry who wish to develop a website and an online market; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19520/13]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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A key component of the Action Plan for Jobs 2013 is to increase the number of businesses trading online for the first time, particularly small businesses. It aims to help Irish business gain competitiveness and grow by having access to new markets and a wider customer base. The objective is to target 2,000 small businesses with a view to them commencing trading online in 2013 and 2014. The net jobs gain envisaged under this programme will be 3,200.

The programme will be overseen by a Working Group, led by the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and whose membership will include the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Forfás, Enterprise Ireland, the Irish Payment Services Organisation (IPSO) and other key stakeholders from the public and private sectors. The trial initiatives will be evaluated on an on-going basis with a view to any necessary adaptation for a significant scaling up of the programme in 2014.

The vision is to develop, in collaboration with industry partners, a series of actions which will stimulate growth in Irish-based small businesses by supporting them to trade on-line, informed by past interventions and engagement with digital market participants. The actions, as set out in the Action Plan for Jobs 2013, include the following:

- Consult with representatives of the digital industry in Ireland to establish the contribution which those companies can make to the design and implementation of the Trading On-Line initiative;

- Design the detailed operational arrangements for the Business On-Line voucher scheme to be applied to the pilot phase of the initiative;

- Agree an approach, including plans for a promotional campaign, for pilot projects that will maximise the outcomes and learnings from this initial trial phase. Identify suitable projects at regional and/or sectoral level with a target of engaging companies for inclusion in the trial phase of the initiative in 2013;

- Commence the first phase of the pilot(s) and monitor progress with a view to a significant scaling up of the initiative in 2014.

This programme has the capacity to support and transform jobs in Irish-based companies, improve their competitiveness and open their access to a wider customer base, both domestically and internationally. The programme will also support jobs indirectly in businesses supplying expertise, training, hosting and logistics services to companies that are adapting to trading on-line.