Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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141. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation following the announcement in budget 2020 of a no-deal Brexit support fund for enterprises totalling €110 million, the details of the monetary amount that will be made up of financial instruments (details supplied) in tabular form. [42373/19]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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As announced last Tuesday as part of Budget 2020 my Department will have immediate access to €110 million of the Brexit contingency fund in the event of a no-deal Brexit scenario. A suite of measures will be activated to support businesses that are most affected. Importantly, this package is an initial tranche, which will be built upon as required.

There are currently a range of grant supports, vouchers and other direct payments available to firms, and there will continue to be grant-aid supports available for ‘vulnerable but viable’ firms as part of the mix of supports for firms in a post-Brexit scenario. In 2018 alone EI approved €74m to Brexit impacted firms in grant support. 

Experience to date and indications from businesses are that the immediate issues are going to be in relation to acute liquidity issues, whether that is to deal with currency, supply chain delays or loss of orders, and hence the need for short terms support for a broad base of firms. 

In addition to the existing range of grant and other supports from the agencies and the LEOs, several new schemes were announced as part of Budget 2020 that will be activated in a No Deal scenario. The form of support will be bespoke to the circumstances of individual firms and thereby where permissible the funding will be a mix of grants or loans and equity. These are set out in the table. 

My objective in the provision of support through the development agencies and bodies such as Micro-Finance Ireland is to ensure that we use the most appropriate mix of supports for individual firms to address their needs. It is important that interventions can be spread across the broadest base of firms as possible.

The remaining €5 million in the €110 million initial no-deal Brexit contingency fund for my Department will be allocated to InterTrade Ireland (€2 million) to support firms in the border region, North and South; and to Regulatory Bodies (€3million) to meet additional demands in the areas of market surveillance, accreditation and conformity. These bodies include the National Standards Authority, the Irish National Accreditation Board, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and the Health and Safety Authority.

Rescue and Restructuring Fund – €42 million

This fund is for the worst-case scenario. It will rescue firms with acute liquidity or insolvency problems and support them to put a restructuring plan in place to adjust to their new reality with investment support potentially of up to €10m under state aid rules for firms of all sizes depending on circumstances.

The funding will be provided in the form of equity or loans (as required by  State aid rules) through Enterprise Ireland and it will be available to eligible EI, IDA Ireland and Údarás na Gaeltachta clients, as well as non-agency clients.

Transition Fund – €45 million

This Fund will support businesses in the manufacturing and internationally traded services sector, ranging from food and engineering firms to business process outsourcing firms. It will help those businesses to adapt their business model as needed and adjust to the new trading reality. It is targeted at businesses with 10 or more employees.

The funding will be provided through grants, equity and loan support of up to €1m dependent on the circumstances of individual firms. Similar to the Rescue and Restructuring Fund, it will be delivered through Enterprise Ireland and available to eligible Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and Údarás na Gaeltachta clients, as well as non-agency clients.

Transformation Fund - €8 million

This Fund will be administered by Enterprise Ireland.

The funding will be provided as grants supporting larger indigenous firms to transform their business to develop new products and processes, to achieve a step-up in levels of competitiveness and innovation and to assist in diversifying to new markets. There will be initial funding of €5 million for primary food processing companies and €3 million for non-food companies, for example, in traditional engineering sectors. Additional funding for food transformation is also being made available through the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

Emergency Brexit Fund for Micro Enterprises - LEO repayable grants – €5 million

The LEOs will operate a new “Micro-Enterprise Emergency Brexit Fund”.

The funding will be provided in the form of a repayable grant at a 0% interest rate, which is how the LEOs currently provide grants, worth up to €50,000 through their LEO.

This support is linked to the MFI support below. Enterprises will have first recourse to MFI and then, if required, they may avail of further support in the form of a repayable grant worth up to €50,000 through their LEO.

Microfinance Ireland (MFI) – €5 million

This funding will allow Microfinance Ireland to increase the amount it can lend to microenterprises from €25,000 to €50,000 over a 2-5 year period at a competitive interest rate.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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142. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation following the announcement in budget 2020 of a rescue and restructuring fund of €42 million for a no-deal Brexit scenario, the details of the monetary amount that will be provided according to financial instruments (details supplied) in tabular form. [42374/19]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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As outlined in the Budget last week, the Government is putting in place an additional contingency package of over €1 billion for Brexit supports for the coming year.  This contingency will ensure that an initial provision of €110 million will be available to my Department and our Enterprise and Regulatory Agencies to provide targeted supports to impacted businesses in the immediate aftermath should there be a no deal Brexit outcome.   The provision will also allow for additional tranches of supports to be provided to meet actual needs as the impacts of a No Deal develop.

 The Rescue and Restructuring Fund (R&R Fund) is one of the supports announced in Budget 2020. It is contingent on the outcome of negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union and will only come into effect in the event of a No Deal Brexit.

 The R&R Fund will be available to vulnerable but viable enterprises. It is designed to rescue firms with acute liquidity or insolvency problems and support them to put a restructuring plan in place to adjust to their new reality with investment support potentially of up to €10 million under state aid rules for firms of all sizes depending on circumstance. It is intended that supports under the scheme would be available to all enterprises, employing 10 people or more (excluding primary agriculture and fisheries, sole traders etc) but only as a last resort. Enterprises seeking to avail of R&R supports will have to demonstrate that they have been unable to access mainstream lending.

The R&R Fund will be delivered by Enterprise Ireland (EI) in two distinct streams. Support will initially be provided by way of acute lending funding to assist enterprises experiencing severe difficulties and subsequently by way of equity funding to assist those firms to develop and implement a restructuring plan. The funding mix and allocation as between instruments will be dependent on individual circumstances of impacted firms.

Funding will be available to eligible EI, IDA Ireland and Údarás na Gaeltachta clients, as well as non-agency clients.

It is important to reiterate that this fund is designed to mitigate the negative impacts of a No Deal Brexit and will only be activated if no agreement is reached between the United Kingdom and the European Union.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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143. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation following the announcement in budget 2020 of a transformation fund of €8 million for a no-deal Brexit scenario, the details of the monetary amount that will be provided according to financial instruments (details supplied) in tabular form. [42375/19]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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As outlined in the Budget last week, the Government is putting in place an additional contingency package of over €1billion for Brexit supports for the coming year.  This contingency will ensure that an initial provision of €110m will be available to my Department and our Enterprise and Regulatory Agencies to provide targeted supports to impacted businesses in the immediate aftermath should there be a no deal Brexit outcome.  The provision will also allow for additional tranches of supports to be provided to meet actual needs as the impacts of a No Deal develop.

 The Transformation Fund is one of the supports announced in Budget 2020. It is contingent on the outcome of negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union and will only come into effect in the event of a No Deal Brexit.

 The Transformation Fund will be administered by Enterprise Ireland (EI). It is a grant scheme which is designed to support larger indigenous firms to transform their business to develop new products and processes, to achieve a step-up in levels of competitiveness and innovation and to assist in diversifying to new markets.

There will be initial funding of €5 million for food processing companies and €3million for non-food companies, for example, in traditional engineering sectors.

It is important to reiterate that this fund is designed to mitigate the negative impacts of a No Deal Brexit and will only be activated if no agreement is reached between the United Kingdom and the European Union.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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144. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation following the announcement in budget 2020 of a transition fund of €45 million for a no-deal Brexit scenario, the details of the monetary amount that will be provided according to financial instruments (details supplied) in tabular form. [42376/19]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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As outlined in the Budget last week, the Government is putting in place an additional contingency package of over €1billion for Brexit supports for the coming year.  This contingency will ensure that an initial provision of €110m will be available to my Department and our Enterprise and Regulatory Agencies to provide targeted supports to impacted businesses in the immediate aftermath should there be a no deal Brexit outcome.  The provision will also allow for additional tranches of supports to be provided to meet actual needs as the impacts of a No Deal develop.

 The Transition Fund is one of the supports announced in Budget 2020. It is contingent on the outcome of negotiations between the United Kingdom and the European Union and will only come into effect in the event of a No Deal Brexit.

 This Fund is designed to support businesses in the manufacturing and internationally traded services sector, ranging from food and engineering firms to business process outsourcing firms. It will help businesses to adapt their business model as needed and adjust to the new trading reality.

The Transition Fund is targeted at businesses with 10 or more employees, through grants, equity and loan support of up to €1m dependent on the circumstances of individual firms. The funding mix as between grants, loans or equity will be based on the individual circumstances of impacted firms and their individual viability plans.  

It is important to reiterate that this fund is designed to mitigate the negative impacts of a No Deal Brexit and will only be activated if no agreement is reached between the United Kingdom and the European Union.