Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke has expressed his alarm at the low levels of digitalisation by small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and has pledged support in the upcoming budget to assist the sector to move online.
Warning that businesses “have a lot of work to do” on the digitalisation process, he pointed to his department’s target that 90 per cent of SMEs would be online by 2030.
He and his officials will focus on this area “in our budgetary package” to provide those supports to the sector, he said, although he gave no indication of the level of likely funding,
Speaking in the Dáil, Mr Burke also confirmed that two thirds of eligible businesses have signed up for a grant to deal with the increased cost of business. A total of €257 million has been allocated but the deadline for registration was extended by a fortnight because of the low number of applications.
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Mr Burke confirmed to Fianna Fáil Longford TD Joe Flaherty that “overall 72,576 registrations have been made, representing 81,366 businesses, or two thirds of the potentially eligible businesses”.
In addition, businesses “in the hospitality and retail sectors that qualify for an increased cost of business grant will receive a double or second payment under the scheme”.
When appointed three months ago as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mr Burke said it would be his “top priority” to support the SME sector which he described as the “backbone of Ireland’s economy”.
Pledging to “do our very best to have a strong budget for businesses”, Mr Burke noted progress in a number of areas and said the benefits of the Government’s SME package were now being felt by small firms across the country.
He added that “the reduced rate of PRSI will take effect from 1 October for workers on the national minimum wage. That process will be linked directly to the Low Pay Commission to ensure that minimum wage workers will not be at the higher rate of PRSI.”
There are also a number of energy efficiency grants, which he said are very important for sustainability.
But he stressed that “digital transformation is key to the SME sector but it is one area where I would be quite alarmed because some SMEs have a lot of work to do in that regard”.
His submission on taxation is ready to go to the Department of Finance and he said he would liaise with Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe “on the expenditure side to see how we can continue the support” for digitisation and other areas. The Minister is currently leading an Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland trade and investment mission to New York and Boston.
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