Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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113. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of Be Prepared grants issued by Enterprise Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33308/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Enterprise Ireland’s (EI) #PrepareforBrexit communications campaign includes a “Be Prepared Grant” that supports the costs of EI’s SME clients in preparing a plan to mitigate risks and optimise opportunities.

This grant can be used to help cover consultancy, travel and out of pocket expenses associated with researching the direction of their Brexit action plan. This might involve developing new strategies to maintain and grow existing UK exports, investigating the feasibility of diversifying to new markets and market segments; investment in innovation; improvement in operational competitiveness; or enhancement of strategic financial capability.

There have been a number of applications for the “Be Prepared Grant”. However, EI does not publish grant application information, which is standard practice for all grant approvals' processes. As grant approvals come on stream over the next couple of months, Enterprise Ireland will report them.