Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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515. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of businesses that have applied for loans from the Brexit loan scheme; the number of applications that have been refused; the number of businesses by county that have been approved funding; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1211/19]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Brexit Loan Scheme provides affordable working capital to eligible businesses with up to 499 employees that are or will be impacted by Brexit and meet the scheme criteria. The €23 million exchequer funding (€14 million from my Department and €9 million from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine) has been leveraged to provide a fund of up to €300 million.

It has been designed to assist eligible Irish businesses in the short-term to deal with the challenges of Brexit, which include the pressures of increased market instability and currency volatility. The scheme is open to both State Agency clients and businesses that do not have any relationship with State Agencies. Sole traders may also apply.

The scheme features a two-stage application process. First, businesses must apply to the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) to confirm their eligibility for the scheme. The SBCI assess the applications and successful applicants receive an eligibility reference number.

Successful applicants can then apply for a loan under the scheme with one of the participating finance providers. Approval of loans under the Brexit Loan Scheme is subject to the finance providers’ own credit policies and procedures.

The scheme was launched in March 2018, as of 11 January 2019, there have been 369 applications received, of which 325 have been approved, and a further 36 are being processed and 63 loans progressed to sanction at finance provider level to a value of €14.8 million. Six businesses were deemed not eligible. These figures were issued as an interim update, more detailed information is available on a quarterly basis.

Information on the number of businesses approved for funding by county could identify individual enterprises. A more meaningful approach is to look at the activity by industry, economic regional level and innovation criteria. For example, Manufacturing accounts for 38% of approvals, Brexit impacted exporters account for almost 50% of approvals while 20% of approved applications relate to investments in new products or markets.

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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516. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the number of businesses that have availed of the Brexit start planning vouchers to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1212/19]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department and its agencies and bodies are providing a range of supports to help companies to prepare for Brexit.

The “Start to Plan” voucher scheme is offered by InterTradeIreland (ITI) as part of its Brexit Advisory Service. ITI works with SMEs on an all-Ireland basis and is particularly well-placed, given its remit to develop cross-border trade, to help SMEs prepare for the North-South challenges associated with Brexit.

The “Start to Plan” vouchers, valued at €2250, enable companies to access professional advice on specific areas such as tariffs, currency management, regulatory and customs issues and movement of labour, goods and services. There has been strong demand for the voucher scheme, with over 650 vouchers approved to date.

ITI is planning to expand its range of Brexit supports in 2019. The proposed initiatives will include a ‘‘Start to Act’ voucher, valued at €5,000, which will assist companies to implement recommendations and advice received through the initial voucher scheme. The Brexit Advisory Service will also increase its digital learning delivery, making content available in an online training environment that can be conveniently accessed by SMEs.

To support this important work, my Department is providing an additional €1 million in capital funding to ITI in 2019. This funding will enable the body to engage with more of the companies that are seeking its support through the Brexit Advisory Service, as well as meeting demand for existing programmes which are all designed to promote and support cross-border trade.