Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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257. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the degree to which she continues to encourage start-up enterprises in all regions nationally; the issues to date identified as being likely to impede progress; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20895/19]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department has a strong focus of developing indigenous businesses. I am consistently engaging and listening to the needs of start-ups and established small businesses. I am aware of their importance as SMEs account for 99.8% of all enterprises in the State and are predominantly indigenous. We provide, principally through our Agencies, a range of tailored supports for start-up enterprises throughout every region in Ireland. Supports include access to finance, management development, mentoring supports, business development programmes, market supports and trade promotion.

The 31 Local Enterprise Offices located nationwide offer a range of financial supports to assist with the establishment and growth of micro-enterprises. The LEOs also offer soft supports in the form of training (e.g. a Start Your Own Business course); provide a mentor to work with the business proposer; support micro enterprises in their loan applications to Micro Finance Ireland; and promote the Trading Online Voucher Scheme. The Local Enterprise Offices are present in every single county in Ireland and provide crucial supports for SMEs and startups throughout the country. This year I allocated an additional €5m which is an increase of 22% on 2018. This extra funding will help deliver supports to more SMEs, particularly in the current changing landscape.

My Department has also published an information guide to raise awareness of supports and finance related to Brexit issues among SMEs. It provides information on the practical steps you can take to deal with issues including: Customs, tariffs and duties, currency, imports, certification, working capital, and financing. This Quick Brexit Guide for Business is available on the department website .

In addition, my Department is currently updating the Supportingsmes.gov.ie website, directing small businesses to their most relevant out of a possible 170 Government supports. It has a latest news page and events calendar for SME related events.

The National Policy Statement on Entrepreneurship was launched in 2014, was a five-year plan developed to foster and promote an entrepreneurial spirit in the SME and Entrepreneurship ecosystem. The 96 actions laid out within, were reviewed for progress in late 2018, my Department has confirmed all actions are either completed or ongoing in nature. A final report of overall findings will begin being compiled later this year. These actions have been central to making Ireland a very attractive country in which to start a business.

To further underpin my commitment to our SME and Entrepreneurship sector, my Department in conjunction with the OECD early last year, commenced a Review of SME and Entrepreneurship issues and policies in Ireland. This is an 18-month project and it aims to provide in-depth analysis and recommendations to DBEI and the Irish government on how to improve the design and implementation of national SME and entrepreneurship policies and programmes, based on an assessment of the country’s current SME and entrepreneurship performance, framework conditions and policies based on international comparisons.

The first draft report received in October 2018, identified the need for an SME and Entrepreneurship policy working group. As part of my Department’s commitment to progressive and sustainable dialogue with key stakeholders, my colleague Minister of State for Trade, Employment, Business and EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection, Pat Breen TD convened the inaugural meeting of the SME and Entrepreneurship Consultation Group on March 27^ththis year.

Subsuming the previous Advisory Group on Small Business, the membership is made up from sectors of strategic importance to Ireland’s small business ecosystem and will provide regular, high-level advice to the Minister.

The final report and the SME and Entrepreneurship Strategy Roadmap are due for publication in late 2019. Through my Department, the ensuing SME Strategy will inform Government’s Future Jobs Initiative on how best to support and foster our business ecosystem into the future.

I am keenly aware that access to finance is a major issue for start-ups and established SMEs. As part of Budget 2019, I announced a longer-term loan facility; the Future Growth Scheme, for loans of up to 10 years, as a means of addressing a lack of availability of long term loans in the marketplace with terms of over 7 years. Loans will range from €100,000 to a maximum of €3m, with unsecured loans of up to €500,000 with terms of 8-10 years. The initial maximum interest rate is capped at 4.5% for loans up to €249,999 and 3.5% for loans more than or equal to €250,000 for the first six months. On April 17th, the Scheme opened for eligibility applications through the SBCI website.

This Brexit Loan Scheme, which was launched in March 2018, provides affordable working capital finance to eligible businesses that are either currently impacted by Brexit or which will be in the future. The loans are available through AIB, Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank. Approval of loans are subject to the banks own credit policies and procedures.

The scheme makes a fund of up to €300m available to eligible businesses with up to 499 employees to help them innovate, change or adapt to overcome their Brexit challenge. The maximum interest rate is 4%. Loans range from €25,000 to €1.5m, with unsecured loans of up to €500,000 and terms ranging from 1-3 years. I have provided details below of the uptake to date in 2019.

I have put indigenous start-ups and established businesses at the centre of our support systems. My Department will continue to work across Government to ensure the needs of start-ups and SMEs are considered in the execution of national policy.