Lack of Support from Government for SMEs a Real Concern says O’Rourke. Local Fianna Fáil TD, Frank O’Rourke, has called on the Government to provide more supports to the SME sector, specifically Direct grant aid, in the context of BREXIT.
Frank commented, “I have consistently raised the challenges the SME sector are experiencing, in particular in the context of Brexit. With increased interest rate as compared to the EU average, increasing labour costs , increased insurance costs, increased commercial rates and now the threat of Brexit, the Government in my view are very slow to respond to the emerging challenges faced by SMEs.”
“Government Ministers continuously reference the Brexit loan funds as the solution to any questions posed on business support preparedness for Brexit. Yet few businesses have utilised these funds with only 11% of the €600m Brexit loan funds been approved for lending, with over €500m still to be sanctioned.”
“Revenue previously identified around 90,000 Irish businesses who traded with the UK in 2018. Yet one 675 of these businesses, less than 1%, have participated in the Brexit preparedness one-day customs workshops, run in all counties by Local Enterprise Offices.”
“The Government needs to outline all the contingencies and supports that will be available for businesses to cater for all scenarios including a hard Brexit. Direct grant aid is an urgent necessity for SME to deal with Brexit. Fianna Fáil have consistently called for an enterprise stabilisation fund and employment support scheme to be made available to the worst affected firms, as a policy response from the impact of a hard Brexit.”
