Budget 2026 (Enterprise, Tourism and Employment): Statements Seanad Éireann — 2025-10-14 ============================================================ Linda Nelson Murray (FG), Industrial and Commercial Panel As a spokesperson on enterprise here in the Seanad I very much welcome the opportunity to speak to the Minister today and to the budget for enterprise and tourism, which we learnt of last week. I thank the Minister for taking the time to join us here. Ireland's overall international competitive position is strong and currently ranks as the seventh most competitive economy in the world. Ireland has experienced a decade of very significant economic expansion, a strong increase in population, rapid gains in employment and a substantial rise in energy demand. The Minister has been quoted as saying, "Where businesses thrive, jobs follow." This budget of €1.3 billion has invested in Ireland's enterprise base, regional development, innovation, tourism and long-term competitiveness. We have a volatile global economy and we do not really know what is around the corner, so using a budget to focus on supporting enterprise, regional development and tourism is a good call. It is vital that we protect the 2.82 million jobs in our economy. Some of the measures include: a hospitality VAT reduction for food catering and hairdressers from 13.5% to 9%; a research and development tax credit increase from 30% to 35%; capital gains tax was revised; an extension of the special assignee relief programme; the extension of the key employee engagement programme; enhancements to the digital games tax credit; and relief on foreign earnings was extended to the end of 2030. I am particularly delighted to see enhanced funding for tourism bodies and local enterprise offices. In Meath we have a fantastic tourism body, namely, Boyne Valley Tourism. The Boyne Valley, birthplace of Ireland's ancient east, is steeped in history and it is a really special destination. The board does fantastic work to promote our area, so investment here is very welcome. Likewise, in our local enterprise offices. The Minister attended the launch of our new Thrive Centre of Business Excellence in County Meath only a couple of weeks ago. The Minister will agree it was a super evening. The Thrive Centre of Business Excellence will serve as a central hub for supporting and attracting foreign direct investment into the county. The new 21,000 sq. ft facility will offer improved supports to businesses, from start-ups and small SMEs to larger companies operating on a global scale. I offer my congratulations to Meath County Council and the Minister's Department on the centre. In other parts of the budget we saw the proposed establishment of the AI office in Ireland, which will be a landmark step in positioning Ireland as a leader in responsible AI adoption, while also helping our competitiveness and growth. As the Minister mentioned, at €1.3 billion this budget represents €618 million in current funding and €680 million in capital funding under the national development plan. Total capital investment into the enterprise sector in 2026 will be €800 million. The budget targets key priorities identified in the programme for Government and the action plan on market diversification and competitiveness. Additional priorities include €100 million to prepare large-scale regional service locations for future FDI, an additional €50 million to scale centres and drive innovation, and €70 million to develop our Irish tourism SMEs and attractions. There is no doubt this is an ambitious budget for enterprise and tourism but right now, I would like to move on to small businesses. In our action plan for productivity and competitiveness, which was produced ahead of target, one of the six thematic challenges is creating and scaling more SMEs. We are repeatedly saying in government that SMEs are the backbone of the Irish economy. The Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, has said supporting small businesses and sustainable jobs remain at the heart of the Government's commitment to a strong economy and that is very much backed up with the VAT reduction, enhanced local enterprise offices, investment in innovation and scaling. I also very much welcome other improvements like improved access to supports by the national enterprise hub. Unfortunately, businesses are working at reduced hours and closing early because of cost. They do not open Mondays and Tuesdays and I will include our own business in that. They are faced with increased rates, there are 17,500 fewer jobs in retail this year versus last year and we have seen an increase of 112% in insolvency between quarter 1 and quarter 2, one in four of those being retailers. Minimum wage, which is good news for employees and news that employers welcome for the people who work hard for the business, will unfortunately put them under pressure. I do not know any employer who does not want their employees to be rewarded for their hard work but it is about being supported to do so. There has been a 44% increase in minimum wage in six years. My colleague in the enterprise committee, Deputy Clendennen, ran a survey on small businesses and the number one impact was wages, the second was the cost of raw materials, the third was the cost of energy, the fourth was tax demands - which in fairness restaurants, cafes and hairdressers have been looked after - and the fifth was insurance premiums. It is important, having listened to these businesses, that we take on board what they have said. I spoke to one business today that has gone from a profit of €200,000 in 2022 to €15,000 in 2024. This business owner has not taken a salary in the past year to keep the doors open. Their business has changed. The world of online shopping and cheaper Asian imports has had a dramatic effect. Walking down the main street in Navan, when I read this budget and listened to the Minister, I thought of Geoghegans clothing and curtain store, Reign Boutique, Chislers Boutique, Tierney's Newsagents, Connollys Seafood shop, Sorella Boutique, Ribbon Rouge, Tara dry cleaners, Balance Clinic and beauty spa, Jack Kiernan sport shop, Cordners shoe shop, David's Family Butchers, Henry Loughran's pub and Fitzsimons pub. These businesses are retail, pubs and beauty salons. I worry for them and I worry we need to do more for them. Perhaps we might have thought about beauty along with hairdressing. Many hairdressers also offer beauty and I believe the numbers employed in both are roughly the same. I worry for Navan town and every town with increased cost of doing business. I would like us to reassure all these businesses - I know the Minister does - that we have their back and that this budget will, in turn, help all these businesses and that we have not finished here. I welcome that we are going to cut the red tape on the length of forms for LEO grants under €3,000. That is brilliant. We need to push more Irish businesses to take up the research and development tax credit. We need to focus on SMEs and how we can support them with grants and business advice. Could we look at supporting small and rural retailers, pubs and beauty salons to level the playing field? Can we look at reducing business rates for businesses and sectors under severe pressure and in particular when there are roadworks happening? I heard of one business last week which lost 70% of turnover because right outside the door the street was being dug up. In my own town of Navan, we have an amazing plan in the Navan 2030 project. There is so much work being done to make our town a better place to come to but businesses that are already on the edge suffer during this phase. Could we offer energy supports for struggling businesses, apart from the upgrade to cleaner energy which is of course very beneficial? Can we examine fair trading practices? Could we offer locational zoning protections for town centre shops versus out-of-town developments? Could we ensure transport access? I feel it is very important to be able to park outside a shop. Could we also have another campaign to encourage shopping local, which I know we do very well every year? Maybe we should do one again. Finally, we should ensure small retailers have voices and policy information in order that regulation does not inadvertently disadvantage them. I know the Minister meets many of them on a monthly basis. I thank him for his plan and for protecting jobs and businesses with this budget. Some €1.3 billion is a massive statement and a massive investment. As I said earlier, protecting small business remains at the heart of this Government commitment. I look forward to what we have promised businesses in our programme for Government, which includes bringing forward measures to support SMEs with changes to PRSI, reduced energy costs for businesses and making sure business policies do not hinder jobs and do not hinder businesses. I very much look forward to working on all these with the Minister. --- 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/2025-10-14/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:13+00:00 Sitting date: 2025-10-14