Dublin, Ireland, 1st October 2019 The Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys TD, today announced that she has secured Cabinet approval to publish the Industrial Development (Amendment) Bill 2019.
The Bill provides for further enhancements to the suite of ongoing Brexit supports, which the Government has been providing to a range of business sectors. It will empower Enterprise Ireland to make loans to client companies for the first time in certain circumstances. The Bill will also increase the ability of Enterprise Ireland to provide R&D grants to help companies to diversify their offering, including the agri-food sector.
Minister Humphreys stated that “These measures will give additional power to Enterprise Ireland to further support businesses through investment, loans and a greater level of research, development and innovation grants. This will help firms to remain competitive and resilient in the face of global challenges including Brexit.”
The Bill also contains several technical amendments to existing legislation. For example, the proposals would, in a no Brexit deal scenario only, increase the overall funding which Microfinance Ireland (MFI) may receive in its lifetime by €10 million, from €25 million to €35 million. This would ensure that MFI would be in a position to provide increased volumes of loans to microenterprises most impacted in a disorderly Brexit situation.
