Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)
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280. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the supports his Department has provided to SMEs to reduce the impact of tariffs on their businesses; if these supports were financial or non-financial; if they were targeted to particular sectors; and if they were targeted to SMEs or to all businesses, in tabular form. [40675/25]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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My Department has been preparing for tariffs and economic shocks and we are working with our dedicated agency supporting Irish businesses, Enterprise Ireland. Enterprise Ireland has established a bespoke team which is currently engaging with SMEs, supporting businesses around tariffs and mitigation measures, as well as offering advice and support on diversification measures.

The Government, through Enterprise Ireland, stands ready to support Irish exporters through its current range of supports and our focus is on assisting businesses in developing a response to trade tariffs. Enterprise Ireland has run, in partnership with international trade experts, briefing webinars and roundtable events in relevant areas including preparing for customs and tariffs, developing mitigation strategies, financial management (including currency management), supply chain strategies, and how to protect exports. These events were targeted at specific sectors (e.g. Food and Beverage) and for all companies trading with the US market. Further sector specific engagement is planned for Life Science and Aviation/ Aerospace sectors.

My Department provides funding for dedicated schemes and grants, including a strategic consultancy grant for expert advice to support SMEs to internationalise. Enterprise Ireland have an existing market discovery fund already open and I will be pro-actively engaging with businesses to make them aware of these supports and ensure they are accessed at scale.

Additional supports include funding of up to €5,000 under the Access Advice scheme for expert input on areas such as customs, supply chain, finance, and strategy, and up to €35,000 through the Strategic Consultancy Grant to engage external consultants for strategic development. Enterprise Ireland also provide supports to help companies strengthen resilience through innovation and competitiveness. These include the Digital Process Innovation grant, the Research, Development and Innovation Fund, and Productivity and Lean programmes.

My Department will continue to work closely with the enterprise agencies to ensure that SMEs as the backbone of our economy have the tools, resources, and strategic support they need to succeed in a challenging and competitive global environment.