Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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79. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the additional supports that have been put in place to date to assist businesses that are heavily or totally dependent on Northern Ireland or Britain for an export market, in view of the uncertainty that has arisen due to Brexit and currency fluctuations; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [36267/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The UK is a strategically important market for Irish-owned companies and some sectors – for example Food, Timber, Construction and Engineering, are particularly dependent on that market.

In 2016, 35%, or €7.55bn of Enterprise Ireland client exports went to the UK.  By contrast, 10 years ago, 45% of EI client exports went to the UK. So, while we are now less dependent on the UK market a key part of EI’s strategy is to further reduce the share of exports going to the UK.

The objective however is not to reduce our exports to the UK market, which will always be a key market. The aim is to grow our exports to other markets. A particular focus will be the Eurozone market. EI recently launched a Strategy to increase client exports to the Eurozone by 50%, from €4bn currently to €6bn, by 2020.

On the critical issue of finance, following significant analysis and stakeholder consultation, my Department is currently working to develop appropriate, tailored and targeted responses to meet the needs of companies across the economy around working capital and business development schemes. While these measures are being considered in the context of existing State aid rules, this work, along with market developments as a result of Brexit, and ongoing engagement with the business community, will inform further discussions with the Commission and the development of any further initiatives to business.

Since the UK referendum result, my Department and its agencies - Enterprise Ireland, the Local Enterprise Offices and Inter Trade Ireland - have been actively engaged in supporting companies to assess and address their exposure to Brexit.

In terms of information and advice, EI initially produced an updated guide to exporting to the UK as well as a series of papers and webinars on key issues including currency. EI’s current “#Prepare for Brexit” campaign includes a Brexit Scorecard, available to all companies, to self-assess their preparedness across all aspects of operations and strategy and which generates a report suggesting appropriate responses.  These supports are available to all companies, on EI’s website: www.enterprise-ireland.com.

Each of the 31 Local Enterprise Offices can offer advice, training and mentoring to address Brexit challenges. Each LEO can now offer financial assistance to clients to examine export options, to improve product innovation and improve the competitiveness of their business in the face of Brexit.

InterTrade Ireland has established a new Brexit Advisory Service to assist SMEs, particularly dependent on cross border trade.

In terms of export assistance, my Department secured additional resources in Budget 2017 to enable EI and the LEOs to support exporting companies.  An extra 39 staff are being recruited by EI to support companies with market research and new market penetration. EI will organise some 145 trade promotion events in 2017.

The strategic response to Brexit is to strengthen the innovation and market diversification of Irish companies. On an ongoing basis, Enterprise Ireland is engaged directly with clients that are most dependant on the UK to offer a package of supports in terms of marketing, innovation, key skills and competitiveness in order to secure existing business and to source new opportunities.