Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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77. To ask the Minister for Trade, Enterprise and Employment the total funding made available to businesses located in counties Cavan and Monaghan for Brexit preparations through his Department in 2020; the total number of businesses which have benefitted; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37530/20]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The Government’s Brexit Readiness Action Plan sets out a broad range of changes that will occur from 31 December 2020, regardless of the outcome of ongoing EU-UK negotiations. It provides clear and concise advice on steps to be taken now by businesses and individuals in order to prepare for the end of the Transition Period.

My Department and its agencies have put a wide range of Brexit enterprise measures in place, and introduced a Brexit Readiness Checklist which highlights some of the key actions businesses can take to prepare for the changes Brexit will bring from 1 January 2021.

The Border Enterprise Development Fund (BEDF), administered by Enterprise Ireland, provides for collaborative, enterprise capability-building projects advancing entrepreneurship, productivity and innovation in the Border Region. The Fund is part of a €28 million economic stimulus package announced for the six border counties of Louth, Monaghan, Cavan, Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal earlier this year. 11 projects totalling over €17 million have been approved across each of the Border counties, with over €2.9 million going to Cavan and Monaghan.

The Brexit Loan Scheme can be used to help businesses as they innovate, change or adapt in response to their Brexit-related challenges. Since the scheme’s launch, five loans have been approved to sanction for businesses in Cavan, to a total value of €650,000, and six loans have been approved to sanction for businesses in Monaghan, to a total value of €1,560,000.

As part of the July Stimulus, I announced a new €20 million Ready for Customs support scheme. Enterprise Ireland is rolling out the scheme, along with a suite of other financial, mentoring and training supports, to help businesses prepare for the new challenges of trading with and through the UK.

Table 1 below details the number of companies and amount of approvals under Enterprise Ireland’s support schemes in Cavan and Monaghan.

In addition to the table above, 54 companies from Monaghan and 48 from Cavan have registered for Enterprise Ireland’s Online Customs Training. 19 companies from Cavan and 20 from Monaghan have also taken part in Enterprise Ireland’s Act On Initiative which assists companies to create a strong action plan and identify the opportunities and risks that Brexit may pose.

The Local Enterprise Office (LEOs) offer a wide range of Brexit supports to further strengthen the capacity of our microenterprise sector, such as: 

- The Brexit Mentor Programme

- Prepare Your Business for Customs

- LEAN for Micro

- Brexit Business Adviser

- LEO Customs Training: Cavan and Monaghan has each ran 2 Customs training events to date in 2020, with 28 participants in the Cavan events and 30 participants in Monaghan. An additional 2 training workshops scheduled for Cavan in the next few weeks.

Table 2 below shows the 2020 budget allocations for the specific Brexit and Covid measures for the LEOs in Cavan and Monaghan

As part of the Technical Assistance for Micro Exporters grant, 3 approvals have been made in Cavan and 2 in Monaghan.

InterTradeIreland’s (ITI) Brexit Advisory Service offers a focal point for businesses working to navigate changes in cross-border trading relationships as a result of Brexit. As part of this service, ITI has run a series of awareness-raising events to help improve knowledge of customs processes and procedures, as well as identifying actions businesses can’t take in areas like logistics and supply chain management.

ITI’s Brexit Planning Voucher enables eligible businesses to obtain advice on specific areas such as tariffs, currency management, and regulatory and customs issues. In total, 2275 voucher approvals have been made to the value €5.11m. Data is not available on a county by county basis.

IDA Ireland offers a suite of tools that its clients can avail of to assist companies to sustain and grow their businesses for the future, such as:

- IDA’s International Marketing Programmes – to assist companies expand their marketing efforts to generate new markets and new opportunities;

- IDA’s Lean and Agile Programmes – to assist companies in increasing their performance and competitiveness for sustainability and growth of their service or manufacturing site in Ireland;

- Global Sourcing Programme – to assist companies in sourcing their supply chain in Ireland to create more agility and efficiency and decrease over-reliance on the UK market and access.

Government will continue to address suitable enterprise measures in the context of the evolving COVID-19 and Brexit challenges to our economy and our people.