Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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160. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the extent to which his Department continues to monitor developments in the manufacturing and service sectors, including retail, with a view to endeavouring to address potential threats at an early date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9452/23]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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163. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the extent to which he continues to assist both the manufacturing and service sectors, in order to deflect the impact of costs increases, whether generated internally or externally; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9463/23]

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 160 and 163 together.

Government has put in place a range of measures in Budget 2023 to assist companies in facing the ongoing effects of Covid, Brexit and the illegal war in Ukraine. Building on the recently published White Paper on Enterprise, my Department working with our agencies and stakeholders will continue to monitor potential threats and identify opportunities for our enterprise sectors through both the Enterprise Forum and the Retail Forum.

The Enterprise Forum operated by my Department meets quarterly or as otherwise necessary, to discuss enterprise policy implications arising from emerging national and international challenges, with a particular focus on capturing the views, concerns and suggestions of the enterprise sector. Membership includes business representative bodies, senior officials from my Department and representatives from my Department's agencies. In addition, where appropriate, colleagues from other government departments, agencies or others with specialist insights into agenda topics may be invited .

In relation to the Retail sector, the Retail Forum, established in 2014 which also meets on a quarterly basis and is chaired by Minister of State Richmond, continues to provide a platform for mutual discussion between Government and the wider retail sector and value chain.

Membership of the Forum is comprised of Government, public sector bodies, retail representative bodies, business representative bodies, enterprise agencies and retailers including SMEs. Current priorities for the Forum include monitoring of the sector to respond to challenges and opportunities arising from disruptive changes including the evolving energy situation, digitalisation and decarbonisation. Additionally, members are invited to update the Minister on key issues of relevance to the sector at Forum meetings and through his officials.

The impacts of the war in Ukraine will also continue to be a focus for Government and my Department. The €200 million Ukraine Enterprise Crisis Fund, which was launched in October 2022, provides liquidity supports to viable but vulnerable manufacturing and internationally traded services companies experiencing trading difficulties, as well as targeted supports for eligible energy intensive companies experiencing severe increases in energy costs.

As a result of feedback from business, on Tuesday the Government, in the cost-of-living announcement, announced that the TBESS scheme would be amended to ensure more businesses are eligible to apply.

It is proposed that business who are tax compliant and whose energy bills have increased by 30% instead of 50% can now claim TBESS and this will be applied retrospectively to September 2022.

The scheme will also be extended to 31^stMarch 2023 and there is an option to extend further to 31^stJuly 2023 if required. From 1^stMarch onwards the level of relief will rise to 50% from 40% previously. EU State aid approval will be sought for the proposed changes to the Scheme.

We are also exploring options for providing assistance to businesses who rely on oil and LPG as their energy source and will revert to Government further on options.

In terms of access to finance, my Department will continue to support businesses who experience difficulty in accessing mainstream credit through discrete schemes such as Microfinance Ireland, the recently launched Ukraine Credit Guarantee Scheme and the various SBCI loan schemes still extant.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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162. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the degree to which the future for Irish manufacturing and services sectors remains positive or is likely to come under threat from any particular area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9454/23]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Irish manufacturing and services sectors have performed strongly and have successfully weathered a number of shocks in recent years including Brexit, COVID-19, and the disruption caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. According to the latest Central Statistics Office’s data, employment levels reached 2.55 million in Q3 2022. We now have more people employed in our country than ever before, while the monthly unemployment rate stands at just 4.4%. Irish exports also continue to perform well with goods exports increasing 19.3% in the first three quarters of 2022 compared to the first three quarters of 2021 while services exports increased 10.2% over the same period.

Building on this strong performance and improving Ireland’s competitiveness position is a key economic priority for Government. As a small, open economy, Ireland is particularly vulnerable to external shocks. Consequently, we continuously strive for improvement, so that we remain a highly competitive economy.

As part of Project Ireland 2040, the National Development Plan sets out the Government’s over-arching investment strategy and budget for the period 2021-2030. It is an ambitious plan with significant public investment across all sectors and regions of Ireland which will improve our resilience to future economic shocks.

As part of the National Development Plan, the Government has committed to an investment package of €165 billion over the years 2021-2030. In Budget 2023, the Government provided €12.4 billion for capital spending on vital infrastructure which will help reduce supply-side bottlenecks and boost the productive capacity of the economy. This will see continued growth in investment across housing, health, and transport, as well as a major step-up in climate related investment.

The recently published White Paper on Enterprise recognises in particular two major global transformations that are currently underway: the move towards a climate-neutral society by 2050, with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions; and the digitalisation of the economy. Government will work to support businesses in the manufacturing and services sector in reducing their reliance on fossil fuels and improve their energy efficiency in the coming years through a range of initiatives, including grants and loans. While the transition to a net zero economy will not be easy, it also presents incredible opportunities for Ireland, specifically in the area of renewable energy production. Policy will also ensure Ireland is at the forefront of the digital manufacturing, managing and coordinating resources to deliver on the aspiration of the 2020 Industry 4.0 Strategy to become a world leading hub at the frontier of Advanced Manufacturing.

The changing global environment requires a flexible, agile approach, and our FDI policy will evolve to take advantage of the new opportunities this transformation will bring, whilst also providing continuity as an investment destination. We will ensure our domestic manufacturing and services sectors are supported in terms of resiliency and opportunity to grow and scale. We will focus our efforts on developing an integrated system wide approach to create an ecosystem that accelerates start-up growth and scaling, that includes access to finance; investments in R&D and innovation; access to skills; and an appropriate regulatory environment as well as a tax system that encourages investment in start-ups and scaling.

The steps taken by the Government in recent months along with the measures outlined in the Government’s National Development Planand White Paper on Enterprise 2022-2030 means we can be optimistic about maintaining and improving the competitiveness of the Irish economy in the long term.