Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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269. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the uptake of all Brexit supports under the remit of her Department; the number who have applied for support to date; the number sanctioned for support; the expenditure on same to date in tabular form; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [9099/19]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department and its agencies are working to provide extensive supports, schemes and advice to ensure that businesses are prepared for Brexit. These measures aim to assist businesses in identifying key risk areas and the practical preparatory actions to be taken over the coming weeks.

In addition to the direct supports outlined in the table, my Department and I have been very active in the 'Getting Ireland Brexit Ready' public information campaign. This campaign includes workshop events throughout the country aimed primarily at business and people most impacted by Brexit. Officials from my Department and agencies also participated in the Getting Ireland Brexit Ready events, which included Enterprise Ireland, IDA, the LEOs, NSAI and the HSA.

Further to what is set out below, increased funding has been allocated to Brexit-related support from my Department and its agencies as part of Budget 2019. An additional €5 million capital funding has been allocated to the Local Enterprise Offices, an increase of 22%, and a further €1 million allocated to InterTrade Ireland to help SMEs prepare for the particular North-South challenges associated with Brexit. Additional resources have also been distributed across Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, Science Foundation Ireland and the Health and Safety Authority.

Work continues on the development of the Future Growth Loan Scheme, which will provide a longer-term facility, 8 to 10 years, of up to €300m to support strategic capital investment for a post-Brexit environment by business at competitive rates. SBCI's open call to financial institution for the designation as lending partner has closed on 11 February and it is expected that the Scheme will become available in early 2019.

The Irish Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), managed and controlled by the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), is a sovereign development fund with a mandate to invest on a commercial basis to support economic activity and employment in Ireland.

ISIF commercial investments will seek to support businesses’ long-term plans to invest in market and product diversification through innovation as well as financing for businesses that are constrained from growing due to market exposures to the UK.

While many businesses have taken preparedness actions, a number have yet to do so. It is vital that businesses prepare themselves for Brexit impacts and take actions to mitigate. Firms that do business with the UK, whether buying goods or exporting products, should examine their supply chains to determine their vulnerabilities and take appropriate action.