Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 April 2026
179. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment following his announcement of a €100 million allocation to a new scaling fund for Irish SMEs, the way his Department believes this funding will enable Irish SMEs to grow domestically and also reach international markets; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30513/26]
View answerIreland has a strong start-up ecosystem, but scaling remains a challenge partly due to limited access to finance.
In July 2025, the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment published the Report ‘Market Demand for and Supply of Scaling Finance in Ireland’, which identified a €1.1 billion funding gap for deals from €3 million and Series A+ rounds over the next 3–5 years.
To address these and broader challenges my Department is progressing targeted market interventions to increase the availability of capital, including through the proposed establishment of an SME Scaling Fund. As outlined in my Department’s Sectoral Capital Plan, published under the National Development Plan, the SME Scaling Fund is intended to support a well-functioning funding ecosystem for Irish SMEs as they scale.
The proposed establishment of the Scaling Fund is to ensure that there is sufficient capital available to high potential Irish companies to grow domestically and also reach international markets. While the exact design features of the fund are currently being developed, it is expected that the fund will increase the supply of capital for deal sizes from €3 million and above at funding rounds of Series A+ and subsequent rounds providing investment for the scaling and growth of Irish SMEs.
