Enterprise Matters and Business Supports for SMEs: Motion
Seanad Éireann — 2025-06-18
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Ollie Crowe (FF), Industrial and Commercial Panel

I move:
That Seanad Éireann:
- recognises the clarity in the Programme for Government that sets out the importance of SMEs to our economy;
- accepts that given the heightened level of international uncertainty, there is a need to focus on matters within our control which can make the domestic Irish economy more competitive and resilient to economic shocks;
- acknowledges the need to strive to reduce costs, administrative burdens and bureaucracy for businesses;
- endorses the focus at EU level of the new Commission on simplification and administrative burden reduction, including a reduction of administrative burdens by at least 25 percent, and at least 35 percent for SMEs;
- commends the acceleration of the timeline for the publication of a new whole of Government Action Plan for Competitiveness and Productivity which will cover, amongst other initiatives, reducing the cost and regulatory burden on business;
- supports the setting up of a Small Business Unit in the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment;
- welcomes the establishment of a Cost of Business Advisory Forum and its first meeting on 11th June, 2025; and
calls on the Government to:
- address excessive administrative burdens on enterprises;
- examine how the various regulations, services, offerings and supports can be simplified for stakeholders and unnecessary administrative burdens removed;
- right-size the regulatory environment for SMEs;
- ensure that regulations, schemes, supports and processes are consistent, necessary, proportional, and effective;
- provide predictability and certainty for business with good quality regulation and policy;
- underscore with State Bodies the importance of strengthening Ireland’s competitiveness and reducing the regulatory and administrative burden on enterprise; and
- further embed Better Regulation principles.

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Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2025-06-18/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:53:56+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-06-18