Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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294. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the Brexit-related supports under the remit of her Department; the date each support was open to applicants; the number of applicants to date that have applied; the number of applicants that have been successful; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31414/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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In March, I launched a new €300m Brexit Loan Scheme to enable companies to fund their Brexit response strategy.  There has been a steady stream of applications to date.  The Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) have received 151 applications under the Brexit Loan Scheme.  132 of those applications have been deemed eligible for a loan under the scheme, and of those, 10 have been progressed to sanction at finance provider level to a total value of €2.49 million.  

Enterprise Ireland’s focus for 2018 is to help client companies build on the strength of their 2017 performance by putting an increased emphasis on market diversification, driving innovation and competitiveness. In delivering on this, new supports have been introduced and others streamlined:

- Be Prepared Grant –Launched in June 2017, Enterprise Ireland’s Be Prepared Grant supports the costs of clients in 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. To date 113 companies have been approved for support under this initiative with strong demand shown in the number of applications received.

- The Agile Innovation Fund –Launched in November 2017, the Agile Innovation Fund gives companies rapid fast-track access to innovation funding, and up to 50% in support for product, process or service development projects with a total cost of up to €300,000. The new measure has been introduced by Enterprise Ireland for companies to respond more quickly to market opportunities and challenges, including those posed by Brexit. 18 innovation projects have been approved under this initiative and a strong pipeline of applications is being processed.

- Market Discovery Fund– Launched in January 2018, the Market Discovery Fund supports Enterprise Ireland clients research new markets for products and services.  The fund is designed to help companies of all sizes to meet the key challenges of market research.  There are three levels of funding available to companies: up to €35,000, up to €75,000 and up to €150,000. To date, 42 projects have been approved under this initiative.

- The Act On Programmewas launched in January 2018. This programme provides an independent consultant to companies for a course of two half day to assist them decide on specific actions over a short period to address some of the risks and opportunities from Brexit.  To date, 41 Strategic Consultancy Brexit Plans have been completed and a strong pipeline of applications is in place.

It is important to highlight that these are new or adapted supports, in light of Brexit, and are complementary to the range of existing supports for innovation, competitiveness and market diversification that constitute the longer-term response to Brexit and other global challenges. 

The Local Enterprise Offices (LEO) offer the Technical Assistance for Micro Enterprise Grant which was open to applicants from 21 March 2017.  Since the grant was launched to the 30 June 2018, 475 Technical Assistance for Micro Enterprise Grants have been approved by the LEOs. 

The LEO Lean4Micro offer was developed in collaboration between Enterprise Ireland and the LEOs to strengthen the competitiveness of micro-enterprises. Since 2017, all LEOs have received a budget allocation to fund a Lean4Micro programme in their area. In the period, 2017 to 30th June 2018, 324 LEO clients have completed Lean4Micro projects.

Part of InterTrade Ireland’s Brexit work is the provision for SMEs of a Brexit ‘Start to Plan’ readiness voucher scheme, which enables companies to purchase specialist advice in areas such as customs, tax, tariff and non-tariff barriers, legal and labour mobility issues.  These are worth €2,000 to each of the companies. Details of the take up of these vouchers is as follows:

InterTrade Ireland has initiated a range of advice services for companies providing helpful information on this issue.  InterTrade Ireland are also advertising the voucher supports through national and local media.  In the last quarter there were over 200 enquiries to this service.

Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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295. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of companies that have attended the Brexit advisory clinics since they commenced; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31415/18]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Enterprise Ireland (EI) supports companies in regional and rural areas to start, innovate and remain competitive in international markets, now and into the future. EI provide a range of financial and non-financial supports for companies to assist them scale and succeed in international markets; these supports are tailored to a company’s stage of growth and level of ambition.  

To be resilient to economic shocks, such as Brexit, Irish exporting companies need to be innovative, competitive and have a diversified global footprint. Enterprise Ireland’s focus for 2018 is to help client companies build on the strength of their 2017 performance by putting an increased emphasis on market diversification, driving innovation and competitiveness.

In addition to the agency’s increased focus on market diversification, innovation and competitiveness, Enterprise Ireland is undertaking a programme to promote companies’ awareness of, and level of preparedness to Brexit. This activity has included running a national series of Brexit Advisory Clinics.

The purpose of these Clinics is to encourage companies to examine their potential exposure to Brexit, to complete the Brexit SME Scorecard and use the Be Prepared Grant to plan their strategic response to Brexit. To date Enterprise Ireland has run 7 Brexit advisory clinics throughout the country. Approximately 530 people have attend these events to date and four more Clinics are due to take place before the end of the year.