What We Do

Retail and Locally Traded Enterprise

Our focus on retail and locally traded enterprise includes identifying and engaging with stakeholders, and across government, to increase the resilience and productivity of our employment intensive retail and locally traded sectors. There is a particular focus on policy transformation for businesses in these sectors to respond to challenges and opportunities arising from disruptive changes including climate change and digitalisation and the importance of skills development so as to sustain and grow employment and standards of living for those in these sectors. 

Specific areas:

Business schemes statistics  

We collate and provide up-to-date figures on our COVID-19 and Brexit business support schemes to colleagues, the political system and the general public. For queries please contact supportstats@enterprise.gov.ie. For further information on supports, please see supports for SMEs.

Retail

The retail sector is the largest private sector employer in the country and is an important part of the domestic economy. Retail is classified under G47 NACE Classification.

Our role, as research and technical support for the Retail Forum, includes bringing forward new initiatives to support the development needs of the sector with the Retail Forum. The purpose of the forum is to allow key issues of relevance to the retail sector to be discussed, with a view to identifying practical actions which could be taken by government, or by industry itself, to support the sector with particular emphasis on achieving sustainable jobs growth in the sector. We also support the retail, grocery and distribution sector through engagement in relation to COVID-19 and Brexit and support sustainable growth of the retail sector through the Retail Forum. For queries please contact retail@enterprise.gov.ie

Locally traded enterprise 

We engage at a policy level with stakeholders, and across government to increase the resilience and productivity of our locally traded sectors. We identify specific initiatives which can support the developmental needs of these sectors in order to sustain and grow their employment. We pay particular attention to challenges and opportunities arising from disruptive changes including climate change and digitalisation and we also focus on the importance of skills development. For queries, please contact lte@enterprise.gov.ie.

Enterprise Forum

The Enterprise Forum was established in 2017, initially dealing with impacts on enterprise arising from Brexit, and more recently impacts of COVID-19 on enterprise. The purpose of the forum is now to discuss enterprise policy implications arising from emerging national and international challenges, with a particular focus on capturing the views, concerns and suggestions of the enterprise sector. The secretariat may be contacted at enterpriseforum@enterprise.gov.ie.