Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department and its Agencies provide extensive supports to ensure that businesses are prepared for Brexit.

These supports aim to assist businesses in identifying key risk areas and the practical preparatory actions to be taken over the coming months.

The level of uptake of these supports shows that businesses are aware of the assistance on offer and are engaging with various initiatives and schemes that have been made available. A September 2017 survey reported that 38% of Enterprise Ireland clients surveyed had taken Brexit Actions. In May 2018, this figure increased to 85% of EI client companies surveyed.

The survey reported that client companies are taking action in areas such as market diversification; developing strategic partnerships; improving operational competitiveness, improving financial management, and strengthening business in the UK. This is a positive indication that companies are undertaking Brexit preparedness actions.

For instance, the ‘Brexit SME Scorecard’ is a new interactive online platform launched by Enterprise Ireland (EI) which can be used by all Irish companies to self-assess their exposure to Brexit. As of early October nearly 3,000 Brexit Scorecards have been completed.

It is important to note that companies are choosing from the full suite of supports that are available from the agencies. So while uptake on the specific Brexit supports, e.g. the Scorecard, may be low this is not to say that companies are not availing of other supports that suit their requirements.

The Be Prepared grant, also available through EI, offers SME clients a grant of up to €5,000 to assist them in preparing an action plan for economic shocks such as Brexit. The grant can be used to help cover consultancy, travel and travel expenses associated with researching the direction of their action plan. 137 Be Prepared Grants have so far been approved.

Enterprise Ireland has run 8 Brexit advisory clinics throughout the country to date. Approximately 590 people have attended these events to date and three more Clinics are due to take place before the end of the year in Dundalk, Waterford and Limerick.

The Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) have organised various events to enable companies to learn about the potential impacts and opportunities of Brexit. 3,925participants have taken part in these events. In addition, 263LEO clients have received one-to-one mentoringsolely focused on Brexit.

The LEOs engage in a number of other schemes to help companies prepare for Brexit. Technical Assistance Grants for Micro Export are offered as an incentive for LEO clients to explore and develop new market opportunities. 293 clients have been approved so far for this scheme. An additional €5 million is being provided to the LEOs for 2019 to assist firms deal with the challenges of Brexit. This will include the roll-out of a new customs awareness and training programme.

204 Brexit SME Scorecards have been completed in this period by clients that identified themselves as LEO clients.

The Brexit Loan Scheme, launched in March this year, makes a fund of up to €300 million available to eligible businesses to help them innovate, change or adapt to mitigate their Brexit challenge. So far, there have been 262 applications to the Scheme, with 224 approved by the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland.

InterTradeIreland’s Brexit Advisory Service was established in May 2017 to provide a focal point for SMEs, working to navigate the changes in cross-border trading relationships brought about by Brexit negotiations. As of early October, the Brexit Advisory Service has engaged directly with some 2,350 SMEs.

These are just some of the supports on offer through my Department to assist in preparing businesses for Brexit. I am encouraged by the fact that businesses are engaging in high numbers with these supports. It shows that many businesses are taking the first important steps of gathering information and preparing Brexit contingency plans.