2025/016 The Provision, Support and Maintenance of a Digital Platform for Enterprise Ireland Export Development Programmes

Enterprise Ireland’s new strategy ‘Delivering for Ireland, Leading Globally (2025-2029)’ outlines our aims and ambitions for the Irish enterprise base and its purpose to ‘Accelerate Sustainable Irish Business’. The ambition over the next five years is to support Irish exporting companies to make an even greater contribution to the Irish economy through international growth and nationwide employment, with the long-term ambition that exporting Irish companies become the primary driver of the Irish economy. The OECD and the SME Taskforce established that there was a structural issue in Ireland’s internationalisation performance, stating that Ireland had a low ‘export propensity’. Key recommendations from the OECD, SME Taskforce and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment “White Paper on Enterprise 2030” were made to address this, including the development of a single offering and programme that would support companies in a holistic way to build the capability and capacity to meet the key requirements at each stage of the their export journey. Enterprise Ireland has, under the ‘Compete’ pillar of our new strategy, committed to supporting 1,700 additional Irish-owned exporters by 2029, in collaboration with the Local Enterprises Offices. Scaling the number of new exporters from the current levels being achieved has been agreed as a national priority as recommended by the SME Taskforce. A dedicated New Exporters central team has been established in Enterprise Ireland, who will lead out on a New Exporters Accelerator Programme. The programme aims to support non-exporting or early-stage exporting companies, regardless of agency, to build the knowledge, confidence, and strategies needed to succeed in global markets, and achieve their First Time Exports. The full list of requirements are contained within the tender documents.