Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

42. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the level of awareness raising for Brexit business supports provided by her Department and agencies under her remit. [6010/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

My Department, principally through Enterprise Ireland and the LEOs, has continued to promote the importance of businesses preparing for Brexit, and has developed a range of supports.

Enterprise Ireland (EI) and the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) are the primary providers of supports to assist enterprises within the indigenous sector that are facing challenges arising from Brexit. They are working vigorously to enable companies to consolidate market share within the UK and also to become more resilient by broadening their sales to other international markets. My Department provided for additional capital funding in 2017 to enable EI and the LEOs to ramp up its supports in light of Brexit to drive improvements in:

- productivity,

- innovation,

- management capability and leadership skills,

and really driving the ambition of managers to look to other markets around the world.

EI is driving competitiveness through a suite of supports that helps clients reduce supply-chain costs and increase efficiencies as a means of improving operating margins, building market share and creating new market opportunities.

Specific programmes introduced during 2017 have included;

- An online ‘Brexit SME Scorecard’ to help all Irish businesses self-assess their exposure to Brexit. The Scorecard generates a report on weak areas and suggests initial next steps. Almost 2000 companies have used the Scorecard by mid-December of 2017.

- A ‘Prepare for Brexit’ online portal and communications campaign.

- An enhanced programme of trade and investment missions and other trade promotional events.

- A new Eurozone Strategy to increase exports to Eurozone countries by 50% by 2020. This strategy aims to support companies to broaden their export footprint beyond the UK, and thereby improve economic resilience.

- A new €5k “Be Prepared Grant” that supports the costs of SME clients in preparing a plan to mitigate risks and optimise opportunities arising from Brexit.

- Enterprise Ireland is hosting “Prepare for Brexit” breakfast roadshows nationally to engage with companies.

- Three new strategic communications campaigns launched to target separate elements of Brexit preparedness. ‘Global Ambition’ is aimed at encouraging companies to export; ‘PrepareforBrexit’ highlights actions required by companies to improve resilience; and a new ‘Irish Advantage’ campaign will target Eurozone buyers to buy Irish innovation in key Brexit impacted sectors.

This Brexit focus has continued into the 2018 plan. In recent weeks, EI launched its new Market Discovery Fund to help more Irish companies accelerate their market diversification efforts.

The challenge, and the opportunity, is to prime businesses with potential to become global players, resilient to challenges posed by Brexit and other market regulation, through superior quality products and services, management, innovation and marketing capability.