Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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33. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if his Department is developing sectoral strategies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53402/22]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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My Department, in conjunction with other Departments and state bodies, monitors sectors to anticipate needs and realise emerging opportunities. The latest series of sectoral reports, "Focus on Sectors 2020", was published in August 2020, which presented concise overviews of 16 key sectors of the economy, encompassing both exporting and locally trading activities, and outlined some initial indications of the impact of COVID-19 on these sectors.

In addition, my Department is currently prioritising our work on the White Paper on Enterprise due by December this year and, therefore, is not developing parallel sectoral strategies at this time. However, I should highlight that the enterprise development agencies, both under my own Department's remit and those under the remits of other Departments, continue to work with their client companies and sectors on appropriate strategies having regard to both the general global challenges they face, as well as, in some cases, unique sectoral issues.

All Department and Agencies continue to actively review their supports and interventions in light of the particular challenges posed by the global inflation crisis, including energy costs, the post-COVID recovery needs, the post-Brexit trade and investment relationship with the UK, the imperatives of the twin green and digital transitions and, of course, the economic consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In particular, at Government level, we introduced in last month's budget a number of specific business and employment support measures, including the:

- €1.25 billion Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme

- €200 million Ukraine Enterprise Crisis Scheme

- €1.2 billion Ukraine Credit Guarantee Scheme

- €500 million Growth and Sustainability Loan Scheme.

These measures recognise the latest challenges for business arising from the rising cost of doing business, such as energy, and demonstrate this Government's continuing support for businesses and employment.