Written answers

Tuesday, 27 June 2017

Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Brexit Issues

Photo of Maurice QuinlivanMaurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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143. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation her plans to provide additional funding for Brexit-related posts in her Department or in agencies under her remit. [30107/17]

Photo of Frances FitzgeraldFrances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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An additional €3 million was secured in respect of Pay in Budget 2017 and is being targeted specifically to assist in our response to the evolving Brexit scenario. It is enabling the Department and, primarily, our Agencies recruit some 40 to 50 additional staff to supplement existing staffing numbers.  These numbers may grow as Agencies allocate additional Own Resource Income, by agreement with the Department, to recruit further staff to work on "Brexit-related" activity. 

The additional €3m has been allocated across:

- Enterprise Ireland (€1,700,000)

- IDA Ireland (€750,000)

- Science Foundation Ireland (€150,000)

- The Health and Safety Authority (€150,000), and

- The Department itself (€250,000)

It must also be borne in mind that my Department and the Agencies will have prioritised the Brexit implications arising for them in their individual work plans for 2017 and beyond which serving staff will contribute to as part of their day-to-day work.

Finally, as we enter the 2018 "estimates" process, and on an ongoing basis, my Department will keep under review the adequacy of resources available for Brexit-related work having regard to the other demands on my Department and family of Agencies given our wide remit.

Photo of Niall CollinsNiall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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144. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of companies that have completed the Brexit scorecard to date in 2017, by company size (details supplied), in tabular form. [30160/17]

Photo of Frances FitzgeraldFrances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The “Brexit SME Scorecard” launched by Enterprise Ireland (EI) in March 2017, is a new interactive online platform which can be used by Irish companies to self-assess their exposure to Brexit. By completing the online questionnaire, the Brexit SME Scorecard will provide companies with an assessment of their preparedness under six key pillars - Business Strategy, Operations, Innovation, Sales and Marketing, Finance and People Management. The Scorecard then generates an immediate report which contains suggested actions, resources and information on events in order to prepare for Brexit.

The SME Scorecard is available to all companies looking to develop an action plan to help mitigate risks and leverage opportunities which may arise from Brexit. 

To date, 1,100 companies have used the EI Brexit Scorecard to help assess their level of preparedness for Brexit.  Of these, 350 companies have voluntarily indicated their company size.

Table 1gives details of these companies.

Version 2 of the Brexit Scorecard was launched on 30 May and this incorporates company size into the Scorecard.  

Table 1:

Size of company based on Employees NumbersNo. of companies
Micro Sized Companies (Less than 10 employees)135
Small Sized Companies (Between 10-49 employees)126
Medium Sized Companies (Between 50-249 employees)78
Large Sized Companies (Over 250 employees)11

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