Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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47. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the extent to which companies suffering from fallout from Brexit are likely to have their case considered and examined in the short term with a view to development of a strategy in the interim; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40078/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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Brexit presents the most significant economic challenge of the past 50 years and long-term, structural and disruptive change will emerge. Following the UK’s vote to leave the EU, the need to accelerate and implement competitiveness, innovation and market diversification strategies at a national and company level cannot be underestimated. My Department and Agencies have been at the forefront of providing information and advice to the business sector and in promoting and devising supports to that sector.

My Department has been working with the Department of Finance, Enterprise Ireland, the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) and the Department of Agriculture to develop potential supports to respond to the needs of businesses impacted by Brexit. In particular, work is progressing on the development of a proposed Brexit related Working Capital Guarantee Scheme and also scoping out the need for a longer term Business Development Loan Scheme which would assist firms in investing for a post-Brexit environment. Development of these proposed responses is subject to resources being agreed as part of the annual budgetary process.

In March 2017, Enterprise Ireland launched a ‘Brexit SME Scorecard’, a new interactive online platform which can be used by all Irish companies to self-assess their exposure to Brexit under six business pillars. Based on answers supplied by the user, the Scorecard generates an immediate report which contains suggested actions and resources, and information on events for companies to attend, to prepare for Brexit. To date approximately 1,500 companies have utilised the Brexit SME Scorecard.

Enterprise Ireland’s “Be Prepared Grant” provides client companies with the cost of preparing a plan to mitigate risks and optimise opportunities arising from Brexit. This grant support, of up to €5,000, can be used to help cover consultancy, travel and out of pocket expenses associated with researching the direction of their Brexit action plan.

Enterprise Ireland’s 2017-2020 Build Scale and Expand ReachStrategy and its new Eurozone Strategy to assist Irish exporters increase exports in Eurozone countries by 50% by 2020 is a medium term strategy particularly aimed at strengthening clients export offer and finding new export opportunities. Enterprise Ireland is proactively engaging with client companies on Brexit issues and is working with its Brexit exposed clients on a one-on-one basis.

At local level, the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) are hosting information events around the country for clients and other businesses impacted by Brexit. The objective of these sessions is to enable companies learn about the potential impacts and opportunities of Brexit, and to engage in a process of planning to ensure their companies have a robust strategy in place.

A key element of the range of LEO Brexit responses is a Lean4Micro programme, which was designed to encourage clients to adopt “Lean” business principles in their organisation to increase performance and competitiveness.

In addition to the LEO priming and business development grants, the LEOs are now offering two new funding programmes to assist micro-enterprises affected by Brexit. The Technical Assistance for Micro-exporters (TAME) grant is designed to help LEO clients to find new markets and exports by part-funding expenditure incurred investigating and researching export markets, e.g. exhibiting at Trade Fairs, preparing marketing material and developing websites specifically targeting export markets. The LEO Innovation and Investment Fund (LIIF) programme is a new scheme to support innovation in micro-enterprises and get them investor ready to scale their businesses.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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48. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the extent to which her Department has redoubled its efforts to establish new markets inside and outside the European Union for Irish products in order to compensate for the consequences of Brexit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40091/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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It is difficult at this early stage of negotiations to predict the full impact of Brexit. Much will depend on the nature of the future trade deal that will be negotiated between the EU and the UK. These negotiations are proving particularly complex and multifaceted.

Promoting diversified export markets in light of the potential impacts of Brexit is a key priority for my Department. With a small domestic market, further expansion in other markets is essential to our continued economic growth. Overall, export growth in Ireland in recent years has been exceptionally strong and exports continue to contribute positively to growth. Since 2009, the value of exports from Ireland has risen by over 60%.

There is a whole-of-Government approach in place focusing on Brexit issues and my Department and its agencies are to the forefront of this effort. In March of this year, the Government published a new Trade Strategy, Ireland Connected: Trading and Investing in a Dynamic World which supports an extensive programme of Ministerial-led trade missions, as part of a major drive towards market diversification. Promoting diversified export markets in light of the potential impacts of Brexit is a key priority for my Department. This includes markets that are growing and have scale as well as markets where we are already well established but with potential for further growth. The programme of trade missions and trade events for 2017 includes a substantive focus on the EU and third country markets. In 2017, we have 42 Minister led trade missions to existing and emerging markets. These have been orientated to reflect an increased focus on EU markets. Enterprise Ireland is also consistently working with client companies focussing on enhancing their competitiveness, capability and levels of innovation to assist them to diversify into new markets.

Later this month I will be leading a Trade and Investment Mission to Japan which will intensify Ireland’s efforts in further developing the economic and trade links between Ireland and Japan, at this time of enhanced economic partnership. This mission will reinforce the potential for Irish companies in the Japanese market and provide a platform for accelerated export growth and investment opportunities.

The EU’s suite of Free Trade Agreements with third Countries help to open new markets, break down barriers and provide new opportunities for Irish firms. These existing EU Agreements and new trade deals will continue to be very important for Ireland. With a small domestic market, further expansion in other markets is essential to our continued economic growth. In this regard Ireland will continue to support the EU’s ambitious programme of negotiating new Free Trade Agreements giving Irish Firms expanded market access and a predictable trading environment in third countries.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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49. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the extent to which new trading links for Ireland continue to be established globally; the extent to which it is expected that Ireland can benefit from such developments in the future; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40093/17]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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With a small domestic market, further expansion in other markets is essential to Ireland’s continued economic growth. Overall, export growth in Ireland in recent years has been exceptionally strong and exports continue to contribute positively to growth.

The EU’s suite of Free Trade Agreements with third Countries help to open new markets, break down barriers and provide new opportunities for Irish firms. The EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) which will be provisionally applied on the 21st September covers virtually every aspect of economic activity. It will remove over 99% of tariffs and will create sizeable new market access opportunities in services and investment in many sectors for Irish firms.

Irish firms will be able to bid for Canadian public contracts at the federal and sub-federal level. They will benefit from the recognition of product standards and certification, thus saving on ‘double testing’ on both sides of the Atlantic. CETA provides significant opportunities for the Irish dairy industry and has strong protections for our beef industry through restricted quotas for Canadian beef entering the EU. There are a wide range of sectorial opportunities for Irish firms in Canada, including financial software, telecoms, digital media, agricultural machinery and life-sciences and medical devices. The provisional application of CETA will ensure that Irish firms can immediately benefit from the Agreement and in turn generate jobs and growth for Ireland.

On the 6th July 2017 the EU and Japan announced that they had reached political agreement on the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement. The agreement between the European Union and Japan will be the most important bilateral trade agreement concluded by the European Union. This trade deal has the potential to generate significant benefits for Ireland. Later this month I will be leading a Trade and Investment Mission to Japan which will intensify Ireland’s efforts in further developing the economic and trade links between Ireland and Japan, at this time of enhanced economic partnership. This mission will reinforce the potential for Irish companies in the Japanese market and provide a platform for accelerated export growth and investment opportunities.

On 13th September 2017, following the State of the Union address by President Juncker, the Commission punished its proposals for mandates seeking authorisation to open negotiations for Free Trade Agreements with both Australia and New Zealand.

However, the global trading environment is uncertain, particularly in light of Brexit and an increase in protectionist sentiment. The EU’s suite of Free Trade Agreements coupled with our programme of trade and investment missions have provided a key foundation on which to further build our strong economic and trading links in export markets and these will continue into the future.

Ireland will continue to support the EU’s ambitious programme of negotiating new Free Trade Agreements giving Irish Firms expanded market access and a predictable trading environment in third countries. To this end, I have also commissioned a major examination of the economic opportunities and impacts for Ireland arising from EU Free Trade Agreements including CETA. This study is expected to commence in October 2017.