Cabinet Committees Dail Éireann — 2026-05-12 ============================================================ Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central I agree entirely with Deputy McCormack about the potential for the midlands for renewable energy. There have been some very good developments and announcements there over the last year, with various Ministers attending. I attended one recently with the Deputy. The Bord na Móna land resource has very significant potential for both energy renewables and industry to go along with that. We will do everything we possibly can to capitalise on that for the benefit of the midlands. A transition and transformation is happening there, which is very positive. Regarding sole traders, small farmers and the self-employed more generally, Deputy Dolan is looking for a more streamlined Government approach and simplified tax compliance mechanisms. A cost of business forum has been established which has worked with the small business sector with a view to endeavouring to identify cost pressures on SMEs in particular. That is one strategy that has been deployed. A capacity is being developed within the Department of enterprise around simplification of regulation nationally. Across the European Union, significant work is also under way relating to the simplification of regulation for small businesses in particular. One of the initiatives coming on is a 28th regime, whereby SMEs can establish online and, within a number of days, would be European SMEs, without having to negotiate all the various national borders and so on. That is a focus of Government and of the European Commission. Regarding Clare family-owned pubs, we will examine what the VFI has put forward. There is no question that family-owned pubs, particularly in rural Ireland, provide a social network and enhance socialisation, which is an important dimension of human health and the development of community ethos and spirit. I am not sure about the specific proposal. I will have to examine that, but we can see what can be done. On the issue of our electricity prices being the highest in Europe, we are also the fifth highest in terms of purchasing power parity, but, nonetheless, they are too high. One of the key issues is grid dispersal. We are a peripheral island nation and we rely too much on imported fossil fuels. Those are the fundamental drivers of the high cost of fuel, as well as the volatility that arises when war starts. When there is conflict like in the Middle East and in Ukraine, and going back over the past number of decades, wars and conflict in oil-producing areas have created the greatest degree of volatility, so we have to move to renewables. That is the medium-term strategy. About 50% of electricity generation last February was through renewables. We achieved a lot in onshore renewable wind and solar is moving fast. The key challenge for us over the next number of years is offshore renewables, and then to work with the European Union on whether there are ways to deal with the regulatory framework governing the setting of energy prices. The link to gas is a particular factor in how energy prices and electricity prices are determined. Regarding capital, the support for enterprise is very strong. From Enterprise Ireland, for example, it is growing and continues to do so in respect of most indigenous enterprises for export. The Deputy did not distinguish whether it was indigenous enterprise for export or domestic service companies, but in terms of indigenous enterprise for export, the feedback has been very positive regarding Government supports, not just financial supports but also soft supports, market access supports, market intelligence, R and D grants and so on. Through the budget, we reduced VAT on hospitality. That measure, which was attacked by the Deputy and his party, is supporting SMEs. --- 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/dail/2026-05-12/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-27T06:54:49+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-05-12