Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail)
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262. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the measures taken to help the SME sector since July 2020; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28931/24]

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Government is committed to backing businesses and will continue to work closely with SMEs nationwide by supporting their growth.

In May of this year, the Government agreed to a package of measures to support SMEs and with the aim of reducing costs for small and medium sized businesses.

Key measures in the SME Package included:

• reopening the Increased Cost of Business (ICOB) Scheme for another 14 days
• introducing a second payment of ICOB for businesses in the retail and hospitality sectors
• doubling the Innovation Grant Scheme to €10,000
• increasing the maximum amount available under the Energy Efficiency Grant Scheme to €10,000 and reducing the business contribution rate from 50% to 25%
• widening the eligibility for the Trading Online Voucher, extending it to all sectors up to 50 employees, modernise eligible expenditure and doubling the grant to €5,000
• increasing the lending limit for Microfinance Ireland loans to €50,000 from €25,000
• widening the eligibility for the Digital for Business Consultancy Scheme and extending it to all sectors with up to 50 employees
• launching a new ‘Ireland’s Best Entrepreneur Programme’ to encourage entrepreneurship and startups in under-represented groups
• launching the new online National Enterprise Hub for SMEs to access information on the wide range of Government business supports
• implementing an enhanced ‘SME Test’
• review ESRI research on the impact of Statutory Sick Leave before deciding on any further increases
• review the proposed Roadmap for Increasing Minimum Annual Remuneration Thresholds for Employment Permits

My Department through Enterprise Ireland and the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) have a suite of supports on offer to small businesses.

The past four years has seen the remit of the LEOs expanded into the heart of our locally traded sector and have a greater focus on developing new exporters. The recently launched LEOs Policy Statement 2024 – 2030 reaffirms the centrality of LEOs as the first stop shop for small businesses in Ireland.

In 2023, my Department received approval from Government to extend the LEO mandate, allowing LEOs to provide direct grant funding to enterprises operating in the manufacturing and internationally traded services sectors with export ambition with up to 50 employees.

The Government and my Department’s focus is on ensuring that our businesses and jobs remain viable for the future. In that regard through our agency Enterprise Ireland there were schemes introduced between 2020 – 2024 specifically targeting the challenges of the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and global supply chain disruption. Some of these are outlined below:

• COVID-19 Business Financial Planning Grant,
• Sustaining Enterprise,
• Sustaining Enterprise Fund - Small Enterprise,
• Sustaining Enterprise Fund – HPSU,
• Ready for Customs Grant,
• Online Customs Insights Course,
• Ukraine Enterprise Crisis Scheme.