Government Brexit Advisory, Financial and Upskilling Supports
From Department of the Taoiseach
Published on
Last updated on
As of 1 January 2021, the UK is now outside the Single Market and Customs Union. This means that any business that moves goods from, to or through Great Britain are now subject to a range of customs formalities, SPS checks and other regulatory requirements. Businesses, no matter how small, must take steps to understand the impacts these new rules or processes will have on operations, and to make sure they are ready for them.
Separately, the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland applies from 1 January 2021 ensuring that many of the changes arising in our trade with Great Britain do not apply to trade with Northern Ireland.
The Government recognises that the current business environment is extremely difficult. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed the economic context in which Brexit has taken place, along with the capacity of Irish business to prepare. That’s why Government, working with industry bodies and business groups, have made available a range of business supports, including financial, upskilling, and advisory supports to support businesses, and help them adapt to the changes Brexit brings.
An overview of the range of Brexit supports available and where you can find further details is below.
As a first key step, there are a number of tools that businesses can use to self-assess their Brexit readiness and identify what areas of their businesses might be most impacted or need the most attention.
For companies in any sector: Check out the Brexit Preparedness Checklist Brexit Preparedness Checklist which outlines the essential actions to take to ensure you are ready to trade with the UK.
For those in food, drink or horticulture: Use the Bord Bia Brexit Action Plan.
For those in tourism: Use Fáilte Ireland’s Brexit Supports Page.
There is a broad range of programmes and advisory supports in place depending on your specific business needs.
For all businesses: InterTradeIreland provides funding support and advice to cross-border traders via their dedicated Brexit advisory service .
For small and micro businesses: The Local Enterprise Office network is running a nationwide Brexit Mentor Programme to support business owners and managers.
For those who export: Enterprise Ireland ran a series of Brexit Advisory Clinics nationwide which provided information and practical support. The key takeout’s from the series can be found here. Enterprise Ireland also ran a series of Brexit Webinars with information and key tips that will help your business mitigate some of the risks of Brexit.
If you work in food, drink, fisheries or horticulture: Bord Bia’s Brexit Action Plan provides information on market diversification, business continuity, customer relationships, financial resilience and supply chain.
The new National Food Innovation Hub at the Teagasc Moorepark Campus provides infrastructure, expertise and opportunities to SMEs to innovate and engage in research activities in an affordable way.
In addition to the current supports open to the Irish seafood sector, Bord Iascaigh Mhara has a range of supports for seafood businesses to prepare for Brexit. Companies can avail of specific mentoring and consultancy of up to two days to help develop their Brexit strategy to mitigate associated risks. To apply for the Brexit Support Programme, please email brexit@bim.ie .
If you work in tourism: Through its Get Brexit Ready programme, Fáilte Ireland offers a set of supports, to help tourism businesses meet Brexit-related challenges such as development supports, training programmes, and insights and market intelligence.
Any company considering a market diversification strategy should be aware that companies in Ireland have access to the benefits of the full range of EU Free Trade Agreements, including those recently concluded with Japan, Singapore and Canada. The EUs Free Trade Agreements with Third Countries help to open new markets, break down barriers and provide new opportunities for Irish-based firms, in particular, agri-food businesses who often face the toughest barriers in exporting to Third Countries. Brexit has reinforced the importance of accelerating the delivery of EU trade deals with leading economies and regional blocs. Further information is available here .
Guidance and tools for managing currency exposure are available here .
In response to Brexit, a number of financial supports have been introduced to help address the challenges that it presents for Irish business. These include:
- The SBCI Brexit Impact Loan Scheme makes available up to €330m in lending to eligible Brexit-impacted SMEs and small mid-caps. This scheme is a successor to the Brexit Loan Scheme, with the important distinctions that loans are now for up to six years (rather than three) and primary producers (farmers and fishers) may now apply lending under the scheme. Loans range from €25,000 to €1.5m and loans of up to €500,000 are available unsecured.
- The Microfinance Ireland Brexit Business Loan provides up to €25,000 to businesses whose turnover has fallen (or is likely to fall) by 15% or more, or where a business has a short-term cashflow need as a result of Brexit. Loans range from six months to three years.
- Enterprise Ireland provides a range of financial offers to assist companies it supports to adapt to the relationship with the UK. These include the Post-Brexit Advisory Support , which provides companies with the consultancy advice necessary to plan for the opportunities and mitigate the risks associated with Brexit and the Evolve Strategic Planning Grant , which offers up to €5,000 to assist exporting companies to develop a comprehensive strategic approach to the new trading environment with the UK. The Market Discovery Fund is also available to explore market diversification.
Other Enterprise Ireland supports also include the Strategic Consultancy Grant, and the Agile and Operational Excellence offer.
- The Local Enterprise Office Network (LEOs) offers support in accessing a number of financial supports for businesses to prepare for Brexit, including Technical Assistance for Micro-Exporters Grants, and Trading On-line Vouchers .
- InterTradeIreland’s Brexit Voucher offers 100% financial support up to £2000/€2250 (inclusive of VAT) towards professional advice in relation to Brexit matters. This support can help your business get advice on specific issues such as movement of labour, goods, services and currency management.
- In addition the Government welcomes the European Commission’s proposal to allocate just over €1 billion from the Brexit Adjustment Reserve to Ireland and will continue to work to ensure this support is made available to the sectors worst-hit by the impacts of Brexit.
A range of supports to upskill staff within your business have been developed across key areas to address the challenges of Brexit including customs clearance, supply chain management, and marketing. These include:
- A second phase of Skillnet Ireland’s free customs training, Clear Customs Online 2020 , is open for applications, to support the customs intermediary sector and businesses that trade frequently with, or through, Great Britain. The course covers a range of customs and SPS requirements, and is delivered primarily through an online platform, reducing disruption for businesses.
- Enterprise Ireland online Customs Insights Module helps businesses understand the key customs concepts, documentation and processes required to succeed when trading with the UK (Excluding Northern Ireland).
- The course (circa 50mins) will give participants a firm understanding of customs, the implications for their business and the options from Revenue that are available to make the customs process more efficient.
- The Local Enterprise Offices run one-day Prepare for Customs workshops throughout the country, which aim to provide businesses with a better understanding of the potential impacts, formalities and procedures when trading with Great Britain. Click here to register for workshops.
- The Post-Brexit Advisory Support helps businesses to create a comprehensive action plan and identify the opportunities and risks that the new trading environment in the UK may pose to your business.
- Bord Bia offers training in customs and tariffs, supply chain management, and Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) requirements tailored for the needs of the food and drink sector. Bord Bia’s supply chain strategy guide and the logistics service provider directory aim to support businesses to identify operations partners, establish more efficient distribution channels or routes and identify possible strategies for managing Brexit.
- InterTradeIreland has created free bitesize supply chain supports to help businesses identify where their key opportunities and risks are, and what actions they can take to protect their supply chains.
Businesses can also avail of existing training supports through:
- Their local Regional Skills Forum which helps employers to connect with the range of services and supports available across the education and training system. Contact your Regional Skills Fora manager to explore your options.
- The Skillnet Ireland Network which works with businesses across a range of sectors to meet existing and emerging skills needs.
- Springboard + which offers free/subsidised higher level courses in a range of areas such as business development and logistics/supply chain management.
- Participation in the Logistics or Retail sector apprenticeship programmes. For further information visit the Apprenticeship Council.
- Enterprise Ireland’s GradStart programme which supports client companies in the recruitment of highly skilled graduates to develop and grow their business for two years. Where a company has a clear requirement for a graduate with language proficiency, 70% of individual graduate salary costs are covered.
Further information on these training and upskilling supports is available from Getting Business Brexit Ready: Upskilling.
Click here to return to the Brexit and Business page.
