Business

Ibec calls for state agency aimed at domestically focused Irish firms

Lobby group warns of ‘significant gap’ in government assistance and says new body should focus on domestic-facing enterprise base

Danny McCoy, chief executive of Ibec. The body said it believed there needed to be a ‘national co-ordinating agency with equal status to IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland.’ Picture: Fergal Phillips

The state needs to establish a new agency, similar to IDA Ireland or Enterprise Ireland, aimed at helping Irish businesses selling into domestic markets, Ibec has told the government.

As the government prepares a white paper on enterprise, the business lobby group pointed to a “significant gap” around state assistance for domestic-facing businesses. “As it stands, these companies fall between multiple agencies or none,” Ibec said in a recent submission to the Department of Enterprise.