Eoghan Kenny (Cork North-Central, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

605. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the supports available for small and medium enterprises affected by high commercial rents in Cork city; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59038/25]

Eoghan Kenny (Cork North-Central, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context

607. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the supports available for small businesses in Cork city struggling with rising energy and insurance costs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [59040/25]

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

I propose to take Questions Nos. 605 and 607 together.

I am acutely aware of the increased costs of doing business in Ireland and my Department is working diligently through the offices and agencies under our remit to provide solutions and assistance to small businesses nationwide.

The Cost of Business Advisory Forum, established in my Department this year, delivers on a commitment in the Programme for Government to support small business, enterprise, and industry, across various sectors such as hospitality, retail, agrifood, tourism, exports and manufacturing.

The Forum's key objective is to examine and identify the concerns of the enterprise sector around the impact of the rising costs of doing business, in Cork city and across the country, by creating a structured space where business owners and representative bodies can speak directly to decision-makers about the real-world impact of regulations, fees and operational challenges. The Forum has already met a number of times on issues such as; energy costs, security of supply and insurance costs. The forum will also focus on other cost driver topics, with each meeting including relevant regulators and agencies to ensure actionable outcomes.

The final objective of the Forum is to present a report to Government in late Q1 2026, that will outline its findings and highlight those steps that can be taken to mitigate issues arising from increased costs or any associated regulatory or infrastructural issues that merit a changed approach.

The Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) located in the 31 Local Authorities, are a key partner for small businesses in Ireland, helping them to identify and tackle their controllable costs. The three LEOs in Cork are actively engaged with their business community promoting a suite of supports designed to assist small businesses to reduce their costs and become more productive and more competitive.

The LEOs provide consultancy and grants to small businesses across all sectors, in the areas of Lean, Green, and Digital. These supports focus on enhancing productivity and improving competitiveness in small businesses and can help business owners identify opportunities to save time, money and energy.

For more information on the supports available through the LEOs or any other Government bodies, I would encourage business owners to visit the National Enterprise Hub (NEH).

The NEH is an all-of-government service, staffed by expertly trained advisors and is focused on helping businesses access a range of government supports. The hub brings together information and resources on over 250 government supports from 32 different Departments and State Agencies.