Enterprise Support Services
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-22
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Niamh Smyth (FF), Cavan-Monaghan

I thank Deputy Boland for her very important question. Supporting the growth and internationalisation of small indigenous exporters is a key priority for my Department. Through Enterprise Ireland and the local enterprise office network, whose mandate includes supporting small businesses to develop and grow, our Department provides a continuum of supports to assist businesses at every stage of their export journey.
Our Department's White Paper on enterprise to 2030 sets out a target of 2,000 new exporters by 2030. To help to achieve this objective, Enterprise Ireland established Get Exporting, a new national export accelerator programme, to build ambition, capability and market-entry readiness among potential first-time exporters. Get Exporting provides expert-led workshops, digital resources and one-to-one guidance to develop an actionable export plan for small indigenous companies with little or no export experience or sales. Get Exporting is delivered in partnership with the local enterprise offices, Údarás na Gaeltachta and InterTradeIreland, ensuring that companies with export ambitions can avail of consistent and clear support to simplify their export journey regardless of their existing agency relationship.
Enterprise Ireland also offers a range of market access grants to assist companies that are starting out on their export journey. These supports include the digital marketing capability grant, the evolve strategic planning grant, the market discovery fund and the strategic marketing review. Enterprise Ireland works with more than 4,500 Irish companies that are exporting or are in the early stages of their exporting journey. Of these EI client companies, some 3,000 are small businesses with fewer than 50 employees. These companies can benefit from EI's international trade missions, trade event programmes and buyer visits, which are instrumental when growing and scaling internationally.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-22/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-22