Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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255. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the estimated full-year cost if the budget for the digital start initiative increased by 50%. [36829/24]

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The Government has brought forward a substantial range of measures to reduce costs and enhance supports for small businesses. This includes changes to the Local Enterprise Office digitalisation schemes that were contained in the SME Package that was announced in May of this year.

Digital Start was first introduced in 2022 and is now called Digital for Business. As part of the SME Package, Digital for Business has been extended to all businesses with up to 50 employees across all sectors. Digital for Business provides a business with an expert digital consultant, for up to 3 days, who will assist them in analysing the existing digital systems in the business.

Digital for Business can identify potential gaps in meeting business needs and provide guidance on the implementation of new or enhanced digital solutions to improve business operations.

The recommendations from this consultancy can also form the basis of a follow-up Grow Digital Voucher to help implement digital interventions recommended.

The 2024 Digital for Business budget is €1,165,500. Increasing the 2024 budget by 50% is estimated to cost €1,748,250 for a full year.