With less than 9 weeks to go to Brexit, the Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys today directly appealed to businesses to accelerate their preparations and urged them to avail of State supports on offer to help them do so.

The Minister made the appeal on a visit to Keelings, who have been engaged in extensive preparations for Brexit since 2016. In these preparations, the company availed of State supports including the Enterprise Ireland Brexit SME Scorecard and the Act On initiative, as well as attending a customs information event. 

The Government’s suite of Brexit supports include preparedness vouchers and consultancy and mentoring supports, tariff advisory services, research on new markets and innovation supports through Enterprise Ireland, the Local Enterprise Offices and InterTrade Ireland, as well as two loan schemes, the €300m Brexit Loan Scheme and the €300m Future Growth Loan Scheme.

The Minister urged businesses to familiarise themselves with these supports. She also urged them to look at their supply chains, customs procedures, certification and standards.

Speaking today, Minister Humphreys said, “As things stand today, a crash-out is less than 9 weeks away, and while we hope it never comes to that, we can’t afford to take any risks. Against this backdrop, I am appealing to you to act now to help protect your business and your employees.

She added, “We cannot become paralysed by Brexit. We must continue to plan ahead, focus on what is within our control domestically, and be the masters of our own destiny. It’s time to tackle this thing head on. Together, we will face this.”

Source: www.businessworld.ie