Emer Currie (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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526. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the mechanisms being put in place to allow businesses and representative organisations to make submissions to the proposed cost of business advisory forum on the regulatory and administrative costs affecting them; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23458/25]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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The establishment of the Cost of Business Advisory Forum was a commitment in the Programme for Government, under ‘Supporting Small Business, Hospitality and Retail’. This outlines measures to support SMEs, including a review of all business taxes and costs, and to ensure businesses are consulted before new legislation or policies are introduced that impact small businesses.

It is envisaged that the mechanism of engagement through the Forum will be series of meetings structured thematically, on topics such as infrastructure, licensing, regulation and issues concerning the rising cost of business. The Forum will be comprised of senior officials from across Government Departments - as well as the relevant State bodies - alongside members from a variety of business representative organisations.

The Government recently agreed that the first meeting of the Forum will be held before the end of this month and that the Forum will be a sub-group of the Enterprise Forum. My officials are currently coordinating the logistics to convene the Forum.

Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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527. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment whether any financial assistance is available to businesses which had to close during Storm Éowyn, but nevertheless continued to pay their staff, but are ineligible to claim on their insurance for loss of earnings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23547/25]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Government is acutely aware of the significant challenges that the impacts of Storm Éowyn caused for business owners since 24th January. Following the immediate damage caused by the storm, many businesses were impacted by subsequent outages in relation to power, water, and communications networks.

The situation in relation to Storm Éowyn and its impacts on the business community was closely monitored through regular updates from the National Emergency Coordination Group and updates from Local Enterprise Offices in the counties with the most significant and prolonged impacts.

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, through the National Emergency Coordination Group, are leading a cross-government review of the response to Storm Éowyn. My officials are engaging in this review and it is expected to be completed by the end of June. This review will inform consideration of any potential extreme weather event assistance scheme for the business sector.

With regard to the issue of losses arising from Storm Éowyn, I would in the first instance encourage businesses to seek recourse through their insurance providers to cover any losses incurred. I have been engaging directly with the insurance federation and my understanding is that most losses incurred by businesses, such as property damage, loss of earnings and spoilage of stock, fall within standard insurance cover and the damage caused by the storm is a standard insured peril for insurance policies.

In the past, my Department has operated a targeted Emergency Humanitarian Flooding Scheme in response to specific flooding incidents. These schemes are specifically targeted to providing a contribution to small businesses of up to 20 employees as well as community, voluntary and sporting bodies, that have experienced damage as a result of flooding, to help them get back up and running. A condition of eligibility for these schemes is that the business must not have been able to secure flood insurance through no fault of its own.

Ryan O'Meara (Tipperary North, Fianna Fail)
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528. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if he will detail the grant supports that are available towards running costs for small and medium enterprises; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23675/25]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Government is committed to backing business and will continue to work closely with small and medium sized businesses through our enterprise development agencies to support their growth, competitiveness, find new markets, create jobs and take on the twin challenges of decarbonisation and digitalisation.

The Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs), located within the 31 Local Authorities, have a key role to play in this as the first stop shop for small businesses in Ireland. The LEOs promote entrepreneurship, foster business start-ups, develop small businesses, drive job creation and provide accessible high-quality supports for small businesses within their Local Authority areas.

To assist small and medium enterprises to increase their competitiveness as well as to reduce their costs, the Local Enterprise Offices provide consultancy and grants to small businesses of all sectors, in the areas of Lean, Green, and Digital. These supports focus on enhancing productivity and improving competitiveness in small businesses. Effective and efficient use of materials and resources can make a significant difference to the costs of a business.

The LEO Lean for Business programme provides consultancy support with a LEAN Expert (a qualified practitioner), who works with the company to introduce lean principles, identify issues and potential improvements within a business and undertake a specific cost savings project and assist the company in benchmarking its performance.

The LEO Green for Business support offers two days of intensive mentoring to help small businesses to prepare for the low carbon, resource efficient economy of the future. This includes a sustainability audit and action plan.

The Green for Business scheme is a prerequisite for the Energy Efficiency Grant (EEG) which supports the investment in technologies and equipment that can assist businesses in reducing their energy costs.

The aim of the scheme is to reduce the impact of enterprises on the environment thereby increasing the agility and resilience of these businesses. The EEG provides grant assistance of up to a maximum of €10,000 with a 75% contribution rate from Government and for a broad range of eligible expenditure.

The LEOs also assist businesses to prepare and implement a plan for the adoption of digital tools and techniques through Digital for Business.  This support provides up to 3 days free consultancy.  Upon completion of a Digital for Business consultancy, businesses can then apply for the Grow Digital Voucher, which offers funding of up to €5,000 or 50% of eligible costs for new cloud-based software subscriptions for 1 year, including training and consultancy to set up this software. 

Grow Digital can help a business to reach more customers through online sales and marketing and will help businesses to stay competitive by bridging the digital gap allowing them to stay competitive in today’s marketplace.

I would recommend that any small business owner contact their Local Enterprise Office and ask to speak to a Business Advisor about the supports available to them.

I also encourage any business owners looking to avail of government support to consult the National Enterprise Hub (NEH). The NEH is an all-of-government free service, staffed by expertly trained advisors and is focused on helping business owners access a range of government supports. 

The Deputy will be aware that last year, I introduced two schemes in response to the increase in cost of business. In total, over €400 million in grant aid was successfully paid to SMEs right across the country in 2024 under the ICOB and Power Up grants.