Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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431. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the supports available to micro-breweries, small distilleries and other such enterprises; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48896/25]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) play an extremely important role at local level, as part of a supportive ecosystem, providing their services direct to small businesses and promoting entrepreneurship within towns and communities across the country.

The LEOs, based in each of the 31 Local authorities, can provide a wide range of enterprise supports to micro-breweries, small distilleries and other such enterprises, covering all aspects of starting / setting up a beverage producing business, including vital business advice, mentorship and management capability training, and direct grant assistance to help with the cost associated with starting up and growing these businesses.

For established businesses, the LEOs offer consultancy and grants in the areas of Green, Digital and Lean practices. These grants are focused on providing capital to assist in implementation of recommendations to digitalise or decarbonise a business. These grants will also enhance the productivity and improve the competitiveness of these businesses.

Many existing micro-breweries and small distilleries have benefitted from LEO programmes aimed at food and beverage producers such as:

• Digital School of Food: An e-learning hub to support food producers in developing their food manufacturing businesses from start-up to the growth.
• Food Starter Programme: Programme for those with a food idea/very early stage of starting up a food business.
• Food Academy: An initiative with SuperValu, providing a consistent level of food marketing knowledge to new and early-stage food business owners.
• Dublin Food Chain: A marketing & networking forum representing many outstanding food and drink producers, retailer & distributors.

Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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432. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the trade-related supports planned in Budget 2026 to assist the Irish fashion sector in navigating post-Brexit rules-of-origin requirements and new US tariffs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [49539/25]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Your question specifically relates to Budget 2026 which will be announced by the Ministers for Finance and Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation on 7th October.

The Government through its agency Enterprise Ireland remains deeply committed to supporting the international growth of this vibrant and high-potential sector. Through a broad suite of strategic supports, Irish fashion and design businesses can access the tools they need to expand into key global markets.

The Government recently published the Action Plan on Market Diversification which has a series of initiatives designed to deepen and expand existing market relationships where possible, identify and cultivate new market opportunities, deepen agency support for companies seeking to diversify their export markets and promote and protect market access for Irish goods. Planning by Departments and Agencies for their 2026 Trade Mission programme will be developed to achieve this objective, in line with the Action Plan on Market Diversification.

Aligned with the launch of the Government’s Action Plan on Market Diversification, and in response to the US trade tariffs, Enterprise Ireland launched two new grants to support Enterprise Ireland client companies to assess and respond to the impact of US trade tariffs.

• Enterprise Ireland’s Market Research Grant offers funding of up to €35,000 for companies to assess the full impact of tariffs, gain market insights and develop mitigation strategies.
• Enterprise Ireland’s New Markets Validation Grant offers funding of up to €150,000 for companies to develop market entry strategies for new markets or new products.