William Aird (Laois, Fine Gael)
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33. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the specific timelines and performance indicators that will be used to measure the effectiveness of the recently announced small business unit, in simplifying access to grants and supports, ensuring SME input into legislation through the SME test, and enhancing Local Enterprise Office resourcing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32783/25]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Small Business Unit has been established in my Department - fulfilling a Programme for Government pledge at an early stage and demonstrating the commitment of the Government to SMEs.

The Small Business Unit has been tasked with ensuring that the needs and issues of small businesses have a dedicated focus and are recognised and acknowledged across Government. This will be an ongoing task and there are several interconnected pieces of work that will determine its success in this endeavour.

My Department has simplified access to grants and support programmes through the National Enterprise Hub. The NEH has over 250 different supports for businesses from 30 Departments and agencies. The NEH is staffed by a team of expert advisers who are on hand to offer advice directly to businesses.

Since launching last year, the NEH has dealt with almost 6,000 enquires. Monthly numbers have increased consistently and 773 were received in May alone. The NEH currently receives over 6,600 monthly visits and is close to reaching 100,000 visits. The Small Business Unit will drive the continued development of the NEH with a focus this year on reducing burdens on businesses in accessing supports.

The implementation of the SME Test drives home the “think small first” principle across Government and tasks policy makers to consider the impact that any new policy, legislation, or regulation, may have on SMEs, and to mitigate against those impacts where appropriate.

The Small Business unit facilitates the SME Test cross-Government network which includes representatives from all Departments and meets on a quarterly basis to report back to my Department on implementation of the Test.

The Offices and Agencies of my Department have been written to requesting that they now apply the SME Test when developing new initiatives or offerings.

Finally, the Small Business Unit will ensure the Local Enterprise Offices continue to be properly resourced to help small businesses. The LEOs have a mandate to support small businesses with up to 50 employees and changes have been made to their grants and schemes to ensure more businesses are eligible.

The LEO Policy Statement 2024 – 2030, launched by my colleague Minister Peter Burke last year, outlines how the LEOS will contribute to the implementation of the priorities of the White Paper on Enterprise.

Responsibility for delivering on the actions set out in the Policy statement rests with the Small Business Unit. These actions include commitments to ease the administrative burden on businesses, to review all LEO supports, and the associated eligibility criteria.

Officials in the Small Business Unit will, in conjunction with Enterprise Ireland’s LEO Centre of Excellence, commission a review of the suite of LEO supports this year, with the results and recommendations to be reported back to my Department in the first half of 2026.