Written answers

Tuesday, 13 November 2018

Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Brexit Staff

Photo of Micheál MartinMicheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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287. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of staff in her Department that are involved in co-ordinating and ensuring that businesses are prepared for Brexit. [46802/18]

Photo of Heather HumphreysHeather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department is committed to supporting Brexit impacted businesses, and works with our enterprise agencies and regulatory bodies to provide a range of advisory and financial supports, and tool-kits to help businesses in Ireland prepare for Brexit.

In 2016, my Department established a dedicated Brexit Unit. This Unit is led at Assistant Secretary level within the EU Affairs and Trade Policy Division, and its key function is to coordinate and represent the Departmental and Agencies response to Brexit and to support me in my position at the Cabinet Committee dealing with Brexit. The designated official, at Assistant Secretary level, is supported by a staff complement of seven (one Principal Officer, three Assistant Principal Officers, two Higher Executive Officers and one Clerical Officer). The Unit also leads on engagement with a broad range of stakeholders to inform and validate our response to Brexit.

Also within this Division, two officials (Assistant Principal Officer and Administrative Officer) working in the Trade Policy Unit are assigned to Brexit related trade matters as part of their portfolios.

In the Division with responsibility for Indigenous Enterprise, there are two officials (Assistant Principal Officer and Administrative Officer) working solely on Brexit mitigation measures to support business impacted by Brexit. This team also has a strong relationship with the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) and earlier this year launched a new Brexit Loan Scheme for businesses in response to Brexit. Other officials across this Division have Brexit related responsibility attached to their roles, and work closely with the Department’s enterprise agencies to prepare businesses in Ireland for Brexit.

The UK’s decision to leave the European Union continues to impact significantly on all policy fields across my Department as well as our family of agencies. In this regard, staff in the Agency Liaison Units of the Department, work closely with the agencies under its remit to support those agencies in providing specific advice and guidance to businesses in Ireland.

Such supports include the SME Scorecard online tool, which was developed by Enterprise Ireland in conjunction with the staff in the Enterprise Liaison Unit. This scorecard stimulates thinking about the key areas that may be impacted by Brexit and provides a self-assessment tool to ascertain a business level of preparedness. Officials in the Inward Investment area of my Department work directly with IDA Ireland to provide practical assistance and advice on Brexit risks and opportunities, including financial assistance across R&D, training, employment and capital investment. InterTrade Ireland, which provides a Brexit Advisory Service to help businesses with practical advice and support likely tariffs, currency management, regulatory customs issues and movement of labour, goods and services, is also supported by officials in my Department. Staff in the LEO Liaison Unit in my Department work closely with the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs). The LEOs have a presence in every county and provide vital Brexit supports to micro businesses in Ireland and assist in identifying key Brexit exposures and develop robust strategies to address issues and maximise potential.

Given the wide mission of my Department, staff across a number of other Divisions and business units, are involved in a range of business preparedness supports and Brexit related matters, as it relates to their policy area. The staff in the Health and Safety Liaison Unit, work with the Health and Safety Authority to support Irish chemical companies. Support is also provided to the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) by officials in my Department to ensure businesses are certified to appropriate standards to access markets.

My Department is continually prioritising the Brexit challenges and actively keep the staffing requirements under review.

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