1042. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment if he will publish a national SME scale-up strategy with the specific objective of increasing the number of indigenous medium-sized and large Irish-owned businesses through measures to improve productivity, innovation, exports and access to finance; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [60618/26]

Supporting the growth and scaling of Irish enterprises is a key priority for my Department and its agencies. Increasing the number of indigenous medium-sized and large Irish-owned enterprises is essential to strengthening Ireland's productivity, competitiveness, innovation capacity and export performance.

Through the development of national enterprise policy, the Government seeks to ensure that the needs of Irish businesses at every stage of their development, including firms with significant growth ambitions, are reflected in policy, regulation and the supports available through the enterprise agencies.

Enterprise Ireland plays a central role in supporting ambitious Irish companies to grow and scale internationally. Through its strategy, Delivering for Ireland, Leading Globally 2025-2029, Enterprise Ireland aims to increase the number of world-leading Irish companies by supporting firms to achieve greater scale through international growth, improved productivity, innovation and export diversification. Enterprise Ireland provides a comprehensive range of funding, capability development, research and innovation, leadership and management, and market development supports to help Irish enterprises realise their growth ambitions and compete successfully in global markets.

Supporting the growth and scaling of indigenous enterprises is also a central objective of the Government's Action Plan on Competitiveness and Productivity, which proposes measures to support an SME model that drives growth, innovation and competitiveness.

That Action Plan recognises that access to appropriate finance is a critical factor in enabling firms to scale successfully. In support of this objective, my Department is exploring measures to encourage greater participation by pension funds and other institutional investors in the financing of scaling Irish enterprises. This work is a priority action under the Action Plan and seeks to broaden the availability of long-term growth capital, supporting the development of a more sustainable funding environment for Irish businesses with scaling ambitions.

The Action Plan also recognises the importance of a competitive tax environment in supporting entrepreneurship, investment and business growth. As a further measure under the Action Plan on Competitiveness and Productivity, my Department has commissioned an independent review of taxation measures affecting entrepreneurs, investors and scaling businesses. The findings of this review will help to inform future policy options aimed at strengthening Ireland's attractiveness as a location to start, grow and scale a business.

While there are currently no plans to publish a stand-alone National SME Scale-Up Strategy, supporting indigenous firms to grow and scale remains a key priority of the Programme for Government. My Department will continue to develop and strengthen measures that support business scaling, and is leading development of Enterprise 2035, which will be a long-term strategy for enterprise growth; it will also focus on skills, lifelong learning, innovation, access to finance, digital and green transitions, and building resilience against the uncertainty within our global economy.