Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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303. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation her views on a social partnership proposal by an organisation (details supplied); and her further views on the joint proposal by employee and employer representatives for a scheme for preservation of viable employment in the context of a disorderly Brexit. [41628/19]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Social Partnership, in various forms, has been a central facet of Irish society for over three decades. Since 2016, the Labour Employer Economic Forum (LEEF) has brought together representatives of employers, trade unions and Government to discuss economic, employment and labour market issues.

The Forum, which is chaired by the Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, Minister Paschal Donohoe TD, meets approximately 4 times a year. The Forum provides a consultative informal structure for an exchange of views and dialogue on economic and social policies insofar as they affect employment and the workplace.

The Government is making €1.2 billion available in Budget 2020 to be spent in the event of a No Deal Brexit. The funding will be used to protect Ireland from the worst effects of a No Deal, so we can help the people and businesses most affected, if they need it. A key priority for Government is to ensure that we can sustain as many viable businesses and the maximum number of jobs during the potential disruption of a disorderly Brexit.

I am satisfied that my Department, with its enterprise agencies, has a full suite of business supports in place to assist businesses through Brexit. I have met with ICTU and Ibec and with Minister Doherty, Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, on the issue of sustaining employment in vulnerable but viable businesses and I understand that Minister Doherty will have further meetings on this with stakeholders over the coming days.

Consideration of any proposals to change the nature of social partnership is beyond the remit of my Department.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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304. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation her views on a proposal by an organisation (details supplied) to mitigate a hard Brexit. [41663/19]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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My Department, through the SBCI, is working to increase the availability and use of the Credit Guarantee Scheme with the main banks. The SBCI is currently working with the banks to increase the availability and use of the Credit Guarantee Scheme in the context of Brexit. Specifically, the banks are promoting the CGS to underpin transit guarantees required for use of the UK Landbridge in a no-deal scenario. My Department has also raised the benefits for businesses of the banks using the CGS for invoice discounting, which is allowable under the current statutory framework.

Following a review by my Department, the Credit Guarantee Scheme was amended in 2017 by S.I. No. 70 of 2017. Changes made by that S.I. allowed for additional products or “finance agreements” to be offered under the Scheme. These include invoice discounting and factoring arrangements.  Participating lenders have not utilised this capacity for invoice discounting to date.  Invoice discounting is a niche credit segment which by its nature has a strong element of self-securitisation. Credit decisions for invoice discount facilities are heavily reliant on the quality of the trade debtors in question.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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305. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation her views on a proposal by an organisation (details supplied) to mitigate a hard Brexit. [41664/19]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Export credit insurance is a complex area that is subject to State Aid constraints. There are existing facilities in the market which may be accessed by exporters immediately to mitigate the impact of Brexit on their businesses. These include the Brexit Loan Scheme and Future Growth Loan Scheme. 

The Brexit Loan Scheme provides affordable financing to businesses that are either currently impacted by Brexit or will be in the future. The Scheme is delivered by the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) through Bank of Ireland, Ulster Bank and AIB and makes €300 million available to eligible businesses with up to 499 employees at an interest rate of 4% or less.

Loans can be used for future working capital requirements, or to fund innovation, change or adaption of a business to mitigate the impact of Brexit.

Brexit Loan features include:

- Loan amount from €25,000 up to a maximum of €1,500,000

- Loan term of up to 3 years

- Loans less than €500,000 will be unsecured

- Interest rate of 4% or less.

The Future Growth Loan Scheme provides affordable financing to Irish businesses and the primary agriculture and seafood sectors to support strategic long-term investment in a post Brexit environment. The Scheme, which is delivered by the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) through Bank of Ireland, Ulster Bank, KBC and AIB makes €300 million available to eligible businesses with up to 249 employees at an interest rate of 4.5% or less for loans up to €249,999 and 3.5% and less for loans greater than or equal to €250,000.

Loans can be used for investment in tangible or intangible assets for the purpose of process and organisational innovation or investment in tangible and intangible assets on agricultural holdings linked to primary agricultural production.

Future Growth Loan features include:

- Loan amount from €100,000 (€50,000 for primary agriculture) up to a maximum of €3,000,000

- Loan term from a minimum of 8 years to a maximum of 10 years

- Loans less than €500,000 will be unsecured

- Interest rate of 4.5% for loans up to €249,999 and 3.5% and less for loans greater than or equal to €250,000.

Enterprise Ireland and the Local Enterprise Offices also provide supports specifically to help companies to diversify. These supports include the Local Enterprise Offices Technical Assistance for Micro-Exporters (TAME) Grant. This grant supports clients to explore and develop new export market opportunities. With a focus on helping companies to diversify, this scheme is a matched-funding opportunity with up to €2,500 available. 

The Enterprise Ireland Market Discovery Fund incentivises companies to undertake market research and develop viable and sustainable market entry strategies in new geographic markets. The Market Discovery Fund provides support towards internal and external costs incurred when researching new markets for products and services. Support can be provided over an 18 month period from project start date to project end date. Support for Market Discovery Fund applies when eligible companies are either looking at a new geographic market for an existing product/service or an existing geographic market for a new product/service.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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306. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation her views on a proposal by an organisation (details supplied) to mitigate a hard Brexit. [41665/19]

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 Brexit-impacted and which meet the scheme criteria. The scheme leverages €23 million exchequer funding to provide a fund of up to €300 million over its lifetime.

Under the first stage of the scheme’s application process, businesses apply to the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) to confirm their eligibility for the scheme. Businesses can use guidelines provided on the SBCI website to determine if they are eligible, and if so, to complete the eligibility form. As part of the process, businesses submit a business plan, demonstrating the means by which they intend to innovate, change or adapt to meet their Brexit challenges. The SBCI assesses the applications and successful applicants receive an eligibility reference number.

The scheme is offered by the Government of Ireland through my Department and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and is operated by the SBCI. It is supported by the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group’s InnovFin SME Guarantee Facility. In order to qualify for eligibility under the scheme, businesses need only satisfy one of eleven InnovFin criteria. These criteria are established under the InnovFin facility itself, and were not put in place by Government.

However, the innovation activities supported by the scheme are not limited to technological innovation. Rather, recognised innovations are relatively broad ranging and supported activities include development of new products/services and entry to new markets, as well as changes to production methods and supply chains. The hurdle rate as to whether an activity is innovative is not onerous, and, as at 25 September 2019, just 15 applicants to the scheme have failed to meet the innovation criterion. I am aware that many firms that may met the eligibility criteria and have received approval from SBCI have not yet proceeded to sanction with their bank, and as the SBCI approval previously was valid for only four months, I have agreed with SBCI that they will extend the validity period for their eligibility to six months so as to reduce the administrative requirement on firms to reapply. 

Full information on the innovation criteria is available through the Brexit Loan Scheme Information Pack, available through my Department’s website. Some case studies illustrating what qualifies as innovation are included in the information pack. I have also attached a copy to this response.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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307. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation her views on a proposal by an organisation (details supplied) to mitigate a hard Brexit. [41666/19]

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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308. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation her views on a proposal by an organisation (details supplied) to mitigate a hard Brexit. [41667/19]

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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309. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation her views on a proposal by an organisation (details supplied) to mitigate a hard Brexit. [41668/19]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 307 to 309, inclusive, together.

As part of Budget 2020 I announced a range of targeted measures that can be effectively deployed to meet the specific requirements of individual firms that may experience liquidity or transformative investment challenges in a no-deal Brexit scenario. These measures will be rolled out as part of the initial €110m Brexit contingency fund that will be available to my Department as part of the Government's €650m Brexit contingency Fund announced by the Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform last week in Budget 2020. This funding and other measures are being deployed based on our ongoing engagement with the European Commission on the State aid framework and my Department continues to explore, through the Irish/EU State aid Technical Group, all opportunities within existing State aid rules. 

Much has been achieved by this Group to date including the Brexit Loan Scheme, the Future Growth Loan Scheme, the expansion of the Rescue and Restructuring Scheme to include Temporary Restructuring Aid and the subsequent increase in state aid flexibilities in relation to these Schemes.  Through the Working Group, approval was received, for example, to provide support to Carbery Food Ingredients towards financing a large diversification project to mitigate the impacts of Brexit and further options, through the Agriculture state aid Guidelines, are being developed to support large food companies.  The work of this Group is ongoing.

Should issues arise that require an approach that does not fit within the existing State Aid rules, this will be raised as part of the Technical Working Group discussions.  I have received assurances from Commissioner Vestager, Commissioner for Competition, that the Commission stands ready to act urgently in mitigation against the impacts on Brexit on Irish firms.

In relation to the potential for introducing an employment subsidy scheme, while this is primarily a matter for my Ministerial colleagues, in the Departments of Employment Affairs and Social Protection and Education and Skills, I know that the existing system of systematic short-time working arrangements remains in place and are being utilised by the Intreo offices countrywide.

Furthermore, a group comprising officials from those Departments and my own Department continue to meet and are examining policy options in this space in event of a hard Brexit and an early-warning coordination process has been established for firms experiencing difficulty.  Intreo offices (under the auspices of Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection) stand ready to work with employers experiencing short term difficulties in all sectors, with the objective of keeping workers close to the labour market as viable firms adjust. In addition, there has been strong engagement between relevant Departments regarding responses for the tourism/hospitality and freight sectors.  

 The suite of additional supports for business announced in the Budget of up to €110 million for a combination of lending and repayable grants to be available for deployment in a No Deal scenario are all designed as targeted and temporary, supporting viable but vulnerable businesses and with built in assurances to safeguard the State’s investment. These supports will be critical particularly in the highly vulnerable border areas and in supporting exporters who are heavily exposed to the UK market in sectors such as construction, engineering and food.

The introduction of an enterprise stabilisation fund in 2009 required a significant change to State Aid rules, which was subject to the approval of all 28 Member States. In accordance with EU rules, it was also required that the fund be made available to all Member States. However, following a review of the approach in 2009 it was subsequently found that the greater benefits accrued to the larger EU economies.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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310. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation her views on a proposal by an organisation (details supplied) to introduce a compatible limited amount of aid scheme for investment or working capital for exposed businesses to mitigate a hard Brexit; and if costings have been carried out in this regard of such a scheme. [41669/19]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The Rescue and Restructuring scheme, with a State aid approved ceiling of €200 million, was put in place to allow us to respond rapidly to provide support for "Undertakings in Difficulty" and enterprises experiencing acute liquidity needs.  This scheme was developed as it was considered prudent to have contingency measures in place so that my Department can respond swiftly to changing circumstances, as necessary.

However, the Scheme is not the first port of call for enterprises seeking support for investment and working capital.  Over the last two years, a suite of supports, including this scheme have been put in place by my Department.

The Brexit Loan Scheme was launched in March of 2018.  The Scheme, using a combination of Irish Exchequer and EU guarantees, leveraged up to €300 million of lending, at a maximum interest rate 4% and at a cost to the Exchequer of €23 million, €14 million of which was provided by my Department and €9 million provided by Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

The Scheme provides short-term working capital for 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. 

The Future Growth Loan Scheme was launched in March of this year. The scheme provides a longer-term facility, 8 to 10 years, of up to €300m to support strategic capital investment at competitive rates with minimum loan amount of €100,000 for SMEs (€50,000 for primary agriculture) and maximum loan amount of €3,000,000.  Loans of under €500,000 are being made on an unsecured basis.

This scheme is jointly funded by my Department (€37.2 million) and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (€24.8 million) at a total cost to the Exchequer of €62 million.  This scheme is available to eligible businesses in Ireland and the primary agriculture (farmers) and seafood sectors to support strategic long-term investment. 

My colleague, the Minister for Finance, in his Budget 2020 speech on Tuesday, 8th October 2019, announced a contingency fund of €650m, across a number of Government Departments, in the event of a no deal Brexit.  On day one of a no deal Brexit, €110m will be made available to my Department for the following:

- €42m for Rescue and Restructuring

- €45m for a new Transition Fund 

- €8m Transformation Fund for Food and Non Food businesses 

- €5m additional support to Microfinance Ireland, and 

- €5m Micro-Enterprise Emergency Brexit Fund. 

In addition, I will provide €2m extra to InterTrade Ireland in the event of a no-deal Brexit to support cross-border firms North and South and an extra €3m to Regulatory Bodies of my Department for additional demands in market surveillance, accreditation and conformity.

This is in addition to the funding available under the Brexit Loan Scheme and the Future Growth Loan Scheme and the full range of grant supports available to firms through Enterprise Ireland and the Local Enterprise Offices to prepare now for Brexit through improving their competitiveness and innovation and diversifying markets.

In terms of State Aid, my Department has been working closely with the EU Commission and DG Competition since November 2017 through the Irish-EU Technical Working Group on State Aid.  The Group comprises representatives from DG Comp, my Department, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Enterprise Ireland.  The objective of the Group has been to scope and design schemes to support enterprises impacted by Brexit in line with State Aid rules.  This includes exploring all opportunities under EU Regulation No. 1407/2013 (de Minimis Regulation).

Through the mechanism of the Technical Working Group, Ireland has fully utilised the provisions of the State aid framework to enable the investment by Enterprise Ireland of €74 million in Brexit impacted businesses in 2018.  Options available through the Agriculture Guidelines are also being developed to support large food companies.

State Aid approval was received in February for capital investment by Enterprise Ireland in an Irish cheese producing company, Carbery Food Ingredients Ltd, to help the company towards financing a €65m diversification project to mitigate the impacts of Brexit. 

On 24th January 2019, I met with the European Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager.  The meeting focused on the severe challenges that Irish businesses will face as a result of Brexit and the need for appropriate and timely State supports.  It was agreed that Irish officials will continue to work closely with the Commissioner's team in addressing any State Aid issues that may arise to ensure a rapid and appropriate response as the firm-level implications of Brexit become known.  The Commissioner has emphasised that the Commission stands ready to act urgently in mitigation against the impacts of Brexit on Irish firms, and my officials continue to work with DG Competition, as part of the Technical Working Group.