Cabinet Committees
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-12
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Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central

Very often, the take-up is not huge in terms of the various loan schemes going back to Covid-19 right through. They had not been taken up to the same extent, but the Deputy attacked it. The VAT reduction was a very simple, straightforward way to try to help the hospitality industry, likewise on the construction side to try to reduce costs but the Opposition attacked it. They cannot have it both ways, but we will continue to work on the financing of enterprise and improving the venture capital area as well.
Regarding the CIE pensioners, again I will talk to both Ministers. My understanding was that it was coming to a conclusion and hopefully it will be resolved very quickly.
In response to Deputy Ó Murchú, cross-Border taxation is on the agendas of the Department of Finance, the UK Treasury and the Northern Ireland Executive. In terms of resolving the issue, it is easier said than done, but there is no question that it is one that the Minister and Tánaiste is focused on. We discussed it at North-South meetings, ministerial meetings and also in the context of the cross-Border bodies whose workers are directly impacted by the taxation situation vis-à-vis North and South.
In terms of the job losses at Covalen, retraining and reskilling supports will be provided. We do have the National Training Fund, so the agencies should engage with the workers there in terms of whatever supports they need in perhaps finding alternative employment or helping some establish their own businesses if that is what some might want to do.
In response to Deputy Connolly, social partnership is important. The most recent manifestation of it this year has been the Labour Employer Economic Forum that the Irish Congress of Trade Union, the chambers and IBEC attend. I have asked the Secretary General of my Department to draw up a paper and I have consulted with the unions and IBEC, as well as the chambers and others, to see how we can solidify or develop a pathway to a stronger social dialogue and engagement. It will take all involved to participate but people would generally be supportive of some enhanced social dialogue. Whether the various parties want to go back to full-blown social partnership as we knew it is another question.
In response to Deputy Heneghan, I agree with him in the sense that all of what he outlined in terms of private wires - and the Minister is driving that forward - will be pursued and, as I said last week, the cost benefit analysis is part of what we need to examine. Examining a proposal means doing the cost benefit and the leg work to sort of identify what it would entail on the nuclear question. However, all of the others do not fall by the wayside as we develop that.
In terms of the half a billion euro, I have spoken to the Minister and that will be spent. We have spent up to €4 billion from carbon tax revenues on a whole range of measures, including farming, in terms of agri-environmental schemes, fuel poverty and the retrofitting scheme. Since the Minister brought in reforms, the applications have doubled in the first month or two since he announced them.
In response to Deputy Boyd Barrett, someone has to keep an eye on public expenditure and if the Minister for public expenditure is not doing it, then there is something really wrong. The Minister has to alert all Government Departments to stay within their budgetary frameworks.
I did not quite get the import of what Deputy Paul Murphy was saying, in terms of one person not being able to get the grant because it was wrongly-----

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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