Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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50. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the amount of funding allocated for the small firms investment in energy efficiency grant, SFIEEs, under the Supplementary Estimate for 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9123/23]

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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57. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the amount of funding allocated for the small firms investment in energy efficiency scheme under the Supplementary Estimate for 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9133/23]

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 50 and 57 together.

The Small Firms Investment in Energy Efficiency scheme was announced in Budget 2023. The objective of the scheme is to support capital investment by businesses to reduce carbon emissions based on energy efficiency projects. The rationale of the scheme would be to support companies to reduce their carbon emissions and overall energy costs by accelerating the adoption of low carbon technologies or processes.

Taking into account national policy and in consultation with the LEO network, Enterprise Ireland is developing guidelines and eligibility criteria for the rollout of the new programme by each of the 31 Local Enterprise Offices. A budget of €2m has been allocated nationally and it is planned to launch the scheme in Q1 2023.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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51. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the amount of funding allocated for the Lean for Micro scheme under the Supplementary Estimate for 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9124/23]

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The Local Enterprise Offices' (LEO) Lean for Micro is available to help build resilience within small companies.

Under this programme, clients can avail of consultancy support with a LEAN Expert (a qualified practitioner), who will work with the company to introduce lean principles, undertake a specific cost savings project and assist the company in benchmarking its performance. The programme helps to identify issues and potential areas for improvement and provides support to implement recommendations. It helps businesses achieve savings and improvements in capability and capacity to deliver.

There were 400 clients who undertook a Lean project in 2022 and the programme has been allocated €1.5m in 2023. Through this programme the LEOs are supporting businesses to improve their overall productivity and competitiveness.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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52. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the amount of funding allocated for the Green for Micro scheme under the Supplementary Estimate for 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9125/23]

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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The Local Enterprise Offices' (LEO) Green for Micro is open to all micro enterprises with fewer than ten employees. Qualifying businesses will access two days of intensive mentoring including a sustainability audit and action plan, designed to help "green" their business. This programme offers free advice and technical support on resource efficiency, how to better understand their carbon footprint and how to implement an environmental management system to reduce costs and lower greenhouse gas emissions. This support is free of charge for eligible enterprises and represents the potential for increased efficiencies within companies that adopt these principles.

There were 416 Green for Micro projects approved in 2022, and Green for Micro has been allocated €1.065m for 2023. Through this programme, the LEOs are supporting companies to deal with the challenges of climate change, changing regulations, rising resource costs and changing customer expectations around sustainability.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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53. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the amount of funding allocated for the trading of online vouchers under the Supplementary Estimate for 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9127/23]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Local Enterprise Offices' Trading Online Voucher Scheme offers up to €2,500 (with 50% co-funding by the applicant) to help micro businesses (those with less than 10 employees) develop their online trading capability. It includes training sessions that cover various topics, including developing a website, digital marketing, social media for business and search engine optimisation. The Trading Online Voucher scheme is open to established microenterprises across a broad range of sectors. Businesses who have already received a Trading Online Voucher can apply for a second voucher to upgrade their capabilities.

1,790 Trading Online Vouchers were approved in 2022, and the Trading Online Voucher scheme has been allocated €3m for 2023.

Through the Trading Online Voucher, the LEOs support microenterprises to begin or progress their digital journey and it is one of a comprehensive suite of competitiveness supports available through the network.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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54. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the amount of funding allocated for supports for businesses with more than ten employees under the Supplementary Estimate for 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9129/23]

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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In November 2022 the Government agreed to extend the mandate of the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) to provide grant aid to firms in manufacturing and internationally traded services employing more than 10 but no more than 50 full time employees.

The extension of the mandate will ensure a continuation of support for enterprises that have grown to ten or more employees, as appropriate to their stage of development and international growth ambition. Working with the LEOs, Enterprise Ireland will ensure that companies of all sizes in the manufacturing and internationally traded services sectors are assisted on their development journey, maximising their growth and job creation potential.

The framework proposal has been developed by Enterprise Ireland, in consultation with the LEOs, and an additional capital allocation of €2million was secured in Budget 2023 to roll this framework out on a pilot basis.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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55. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the amount of funding allocated for the business continuity voucher and the micro enterprise assistance fund under the Supplementary Estimate for 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9130/23]

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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Both the Business Continuity Voucher and the Micro Enterprise Assistance Fund were introduced as temporary emergency supports in 2020 to help businesses in the immediate aftermath of COVID-19 and therefore only received a budget allocation in 2020.

The primary aim of the Business Continuity Voucher scheme was to support companies to make informed decisions on the immediate measures needed to continue trading during the COVID lockdown while securing the safety of all employees and future business viability through identification of remedial actions.

The Micro-Enterprise Assistance Fund was open to enterprises with fewer than 10 employees which were ineligible for existing grants. It offered a voucher of up to €1,000 to help them adapt and invest to rebuild their business. The grant was a contribution towards the cost of re-opening or keeping a business operational and re-connecting with employees and customers.

The LEOs continue to support small businesses through: grant aid for clients with export potential; entrepreneurship programmes; and training, advisory and consultancy programmes that focus on improving the competitiveness and productivity of clients through programmes such as Lean, Digital Start and Green for Micro.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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56. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the amount of funding allocated for Microfinance Ireland under the Supplementary Estimate for 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9132/23]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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There have been no funds assigned to Microfinance Ireland for a 2023 Supplementary Estimate.

The Microenterprise Loan Fund, operated by Microfinance Ireland(MFI) assists businesses with fewer than ten employees. It provides much-needed funding to help microenterprises meet payments for stock, working capital requirements and other overhead expenses through the provision of low-cost lending facilities.

Microfinance Ireland provides vital support to microenterprises by filling the lending gap in the market by lending to business that cannot obtain loans from other commercial lenders. It provides loans of €2,000 up to €25,000 to businesses that do not meet the conventional risk criteria applied by commercial lenders and applies interest rate charges for its lending which are not reflective of its credit risk.

The loan term is typically three years for working capital purposes and can be extended to five years for capital expenditures. Interest rates range from between 4.5% for clients of Local Enterprise Offices and other partners to 5.5% for direct applications.

There is wide regional spread of loans across the country with 81% of loans approved in 2022 to microenterprises outside Dublin. The dominant sectors availing of loans from MFI have been the wholesale and retail sector (21%), accommodation and food services (11%), manufacturing (10%) and construction (9%).

The Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) and MFI agreed in September 2021 a partnership enhancing the availability of lower-cost MFI loans for Irish microenterprises. The SBCI has committed €30 million to MFI which significantly increases MFI’s lending capacity and ability to support more micro enterprises. The lower cost of the SBCI funding will allow MFI to offer lower rates on its Start Up, Cashflow and Business Expansion loans.

From the 1st of Oct 2012 to 31^stDecember 2022, the Fund approved loans to 4,635 micro-enterprises for a total value of €76.9million. These funds supported over 10,000 jobs.