Departmental Policies
Dail Éireann — 2026-04-28
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Peter Burke (FG), Longford-Westmeath

First, I go by evidence and fact. We are the second most competitive economy in the eurozone, which is a very strong value proposition. Since the report was brought forward in relation to the action plan, we have had a number of advances. Our semiconductor plan has commenced, which is significantly attracting investment in that space. Our action plan for market diversification is building on the risks that are there geopolitically, taking advantage of the 41 free trade agreements across the European Union with 72 countries. We brought forward our action plan for collective bargaining, which we discussed earlier on.
Despite the Deputy's reference to business costs, in the earlier debate she was looking to abolish subminimum rates, which would increase the costs of small shops by 30% or more. She is looking to bring in additional sick pay and refresh the living wage to bring it in more aggressively. All of those are costs to businesses. The Deputy should practice what she preaches in that regard. We have also brought forward and are working on a timeframe to ensure we lift the Dublin Airport cap. That is another important part of our tourism strategy. We brought forward our tourism strategy, A New Era for Irish Tourism, which was launched in December as part of the action plan.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-04-28/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:52+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-28