Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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246. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the uptake in the number of schemes in support of businesses preparing for Brexit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20615/19]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Brexit represents a significant challenge for businesses in Ireland, which cannot be underestimated. That is why my Department started developing supports for businesses from the time when Brexit first became a possibility. Government’s priority is to ensure that businesses around the country can manage risks and avail of any opportunities. This has informed the range of advisory and financial supports that are in place.

I have allocated an additional €5 million capital funding to the Local Enterprise Offices, an increase of 22% for 2019, and a further €1 million allocated to InterTradeIreland to help SMEs prepare for the challenges associated with Brexit.

The Local Enterprise Offices [LEOs] are the first-stop-shop for anyone seeking guidance and support on starting or growing their business. The LEOs have organised various events to enable companies to learn about the potential impacts and opportunities of Brexit.

In addition, over 590 LEO clients have received one-to-one mentoring solely focused on Brexit. Technical Assistance Grants for Micro Export are offered as an incentive for LEO clients to explore and develop new market opportunities. 651 LEO clients have been approved for the Technical Assistance Grant.

As of February 2019, the LEOs are also offering customs training workshops to support in businesses trading with third countries in advance of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. 199 Participants have attended Customs Training.

InterTradeIreland also plays a major role as part of Ireland’s Brexit response and offers Brexit-related advisory services to eligible businesses. To date, more than 7,000 SMEs have directly engaged with the Brexit Advisory Service.

ITI offers a Brexit Start to Plan voucher scheme, which enables businesses to get professional advice on how best to plan and prepare for the UK's withdrawal from the European Union. This support helps businesses obtain advice on specific areas such as tariffs, currency management, regulatory and customs issues and movement of labour, goods and services. ITI vouchers are worth up to €2,250 (inclusive of VAT) each. 1,476 businesses have applied for a Brexit Start to Plan voucher, of which 1,310 have been approved.

The Brexit Loan Scheme, launched in March of 2018, provides relatively short-term working capital, 1 to 3 years, to eligible businesses with up to 499 employees to help them to innovate, change or adapt to mitigate their Brexit challenges. Businesses can confirm their eligibility with the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) and, if deemed eligible, can apply to one of the participating finance providers for a loan under the scheme.

As at 10th May, there have been 614 applications for eligibility under the scheme, of which 557 have been approved to date by SBCI. 124 of those applications have progressed to sanction at bank value, to a total value of €27.77m.

The Future Growth Loan Scheme was launched on the 17 April, and provides 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. The Scheme is currently accepting eligibility applications. Since the 17 of April 115 applications have been received, 108 of which have so far been deemed eligible.

Enterprise Ireland has established a Prepare for Brexit online portal and communications campaign, as well as an online “Brexit SME Scorecard” to help Irish businesses self-assess their exposure to Brexit and a “Be Prepared Grant” to support SME clients in planning to mitigate risks arising from Brexit. It has also launched a new Eurozone Strategy to help SMEs broaden their export footprint beyond the UK.

Over 5,100 business have used Enterprise Ireland’s Brexit Scorecard to date and 85% of EI client firms are now taking actions, while 194 applications for the Be Prepared grant have been approved. 233 EI clients have received funding under its “Act On” programme, which supports the engagement of a consultant to help clients identify weaknesses and improve resilience. EI has also hosted 16 Brexit Advisory Clinics.

EI also launched a Customs Insights Online course at the beginning of the year. This is a new online training support to help all businesses understand how customs work including the documentation and process required to operate and succeed post Brexit. The Customs Insights course explains in clear and simple terms the main customs rules and included the key actions companies can take to prepare for customs after Brexit and the options from Revenue that are available to make the customs process more efficient. This will be available for any company to use whether they are importers or exporters and also whether they are agency clients or not. There have been over 1,200 Customs Insights Course participants.

While I have seen a very positive uptake of the supports available, I am conscious that the delays to Brexit may have led businesses to defer their immediate planning. However, the UK’s exit from the EU will mean changes for Irish businesses. I want businesses to know that my Department and its agencies are here to help. The existing supports, schemes and advice are in place to ensure that businesses are prepared for any Brexit scenario.

Brexit preparedness supports - uptake of available schemes

^[1]The Market Discovery Fund figure listed at 140 is lower than that of the end of February document figure of 251. The 133 figure refers to the number of businesses approved, while the earlier number of 251 referred to the number of projects approved. This is now how it is reported to the Board, where projects was used previously.

^[2]Please note, since the last update, a project under the Strategic Consultancy Grant has been cancelled.