Eoin Hayes (Dublin Bay South, Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

88. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the role of Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland in shaping the Government’s strategic response to the US tariffs announced on 2 April 2025; the resources allocated for this purpose; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17864/25]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

My Department has been engaging directly with Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland in shaping the Government's strategic response to US tariffs.

The enterprise agencies have been engaging regularly with their client companies over the past few months so that the potential challenges and impacts of the changing geopolitical landscape.

More recently, Enterprise Ireland has established a dedicated team to lead the organisation’s response to this challenge and work directly with companies who export to the US to assess the impacts as the situation develops.

Regular engagement with client companies at the Irish site and global corporate level is at the core of IDA Ireland’s day-to-day activities in partnering with multinational enterprises to attract, retain and strengthen foreign direct investment (FDI) in Ireland.

The CEO of IDA and the interim CEO of Enterprise Ireland are also members of the Government Trade Forum, chaired by An Tánaiste.

The close relationship between my agencies and their clients fed directly into the development of their recently published strategies for the period 2025-29. Central to IDA’s strategy is an emphasis on partnering with IDA existing client base, which directly employs 300,000 people across the country, to identify opportunities to safeguard and strengthen long-term investment in Ireland. This will see IDA focus on supporting clients to increase the competitiveness of their Irish operations through investment in research, development & innovation (RD&I) digitalisation, talent development and sustainability.

Enterprise Ireland's new Strategy for 2025-2029 sets out plans to implement a series of robust measures to support the SME sector, focusing on financial aid, innovation, sustainability and digital transformation and core to delivering these ambitions will be a major expansion in the number of exporting Irish businesses and crucially a push to diversify into new territories and innovative sectors. Enterprise Ireland provides a range of supports to assist companies to diversify their trading and market strategies including the Market Discovery fund and the Strategic Marketing Review programme.

In addition to these targeted supports, Enterprise Ireland will continue to offer support tailored to the needs of SMEs, ensuring they have access to the financial resources required to sustain and grow their businesses.