Budget 2026 (Enterprise, Tourism and Employment): Statements Seanad Éireann — 2025-10-14 ============================================================ Aubrey McCarthy (IND), University of Dublin I thank the Minister, Deputy Burke. I reiterate what Senator Nelson Murray said to welcome him to the House. I thank him for engaging with us on budget 2026. The budget arrives at a very important time for Ireland. I am a member of the enterprise committee so I know what is happening out in the real world with the small firms, the family businesses, the cafes, the florists and the hairdressers. You can certainly see the pressure mounting. People are working harder than ever before just to stay in business. One statistic came to us at the enterprise committee a few weeks ago which said many businesses are six months away from shutting down and they definitely need supports. While the official economy looks stable, that is simply not what we are hearing on the ground or what people are experiencing. When we then see the global landscape shifting rapidly, and that we are facing higher interest rates, soaring costs and low confidence, we can see that uncertainty is everywhere, from the war in Europe to worldwide trade tensions regarding tariffs, as we have discussed in this House many times. As a small, open economy, Ireland is squarely in the middle of all this, facing all the headwinds of this turbulence. I do not envy the Minister’s task and I know this moment in time demands leadership. It demands a clear path to protect Irish jobs and strengthen our enterprises. Our small and medium enterprises are the true backbone of this economy and they are under immense strain. We see that weekly in the enterprise committee. These are the people that open the shutters every morning, pay the pay cheques at the end of the week and sponsor the local football team. For them, everything seems to be getting tougher. As we have discussed before, energy bills are getting excessive, access to finance is tightening, insurance costs are crippling and, on top of all of that, there is a lot of bureaucracy and red tape. I am sure the Minister is aware that these are the daily realities for people trying to keep their doors open. Budget 2026 was an opportunity to show real belief in these people, but I do not believe it went far enough. Our indigenous enterprises deserve the same level of confidence and commitment we often show multinationals. What the Irish and the IDA have done regarding attracting foreign investment is phenomenal. It has transformed Ireland, created jobs and put us on the global map, but it is also dangerous to rely heavily on a handful of global corporations for our tax base. I live in County Kildare and God help us if Intel or Pfizer or other such companies leave. One change in global tax policy or shift in corporate strategy, as we have seen recently with the US and pharma issues, and we could find ourselves deeply exposed. Strengthening our domestic business space is key. It is not just about economics but also safeguarding our national resilience. One issue I brought up in this House before is the deemed disposal route on index funds. I had hoped that would be addressed in the budget. It perfectly illustrates how outdated parts of our system are. While it sounds technical, if we look at the mechanics of it, it is fundamentally unfair. At the moment the Government is introducing auto-enrolment to make sure that people plan ahead. At the same time, we penalise ordinary savers who have done the right thing and planned ahead, in trying to build security for their families. Every eight years they are hit with a tax bill on profits they have not even cashed out on. That in itself seems senseless and discourages both investment and long-term saving. Fixing this would not cost the State a huge amount of money, but it would send a powerful message that Ireland supports those who plan ahead, take responsibility for their future and believe in building for it. While also discussing enterprise, one thing that is key to our committee is tourism. Tourism is also one of the key features of the Irish economy, and from Killarney to Kilkenny, from the Wild Atlantic Way to the Wicklow mountains, etc., tourism sustains our towns, employs many people and injects energy into every corner of the country. One figure came across our tourism spend. The numbers are similar but the tourism spend has reduced drastically. Therefore, many small operators are close to the brink. We need targeted, smart supports without layers of complicated schemes that seem impossible to access. We need to focus on sustainable tourism that brings life to all the regions of Ireland all year round, not just for the summer months. When we talk about enterprise, we are talking about real people, and behind every budget line and policy there is a human story of a worker, family or student. When a small business closes, as Senator Nelson Murray mentioned, it is not just a balance sheet loss, it is the end of somebody's dream and livelihood in a locality. Often, a whole community suffers. That is why we need to focus on enterprise policy as social policy. The Minister visited a social enterprise that I started in Greystones and was very receptive to what we do there. It shows that if we back small businesses, we back families, towns and opportunity. I urge the Department and the Minister to adopt a whole-of-government approach and to get serious about investing in, upskilling and transforming our workforce through innovation in order that Ireland can be the best small country in the world in which to start, run and grow a business, not just for multinationals but for the people who call this island home. We cannot afford to wait for the next crisis before we act. I have spoken in this House about the need to strengthen the younger entrepreneurs that are coming behind. The next Collisons are probably leaving school now, so we need to focus and make sure those people are empowered to start their companies here. The true measure of a successful budget is not how it looks in the Department's report but how it feels in people's lives. Let us ensure that budget 2026 delivers not just numbers but hopes. --- 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