Ceisteanna ar Pholasaí nó ar Reachtaíocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation
Dail Éireann — 2026-07-09
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Peter Burke (FG), Longford-Westmeath

Stamp duty was linked to construction, and construction is not as beneficial to revenue, because there is no export. We are doing three things to support and underwrite the vulnerability of the State. We have record capital expenditure, of €19 billion this year, which is up 54% in two years. We are paying down our debt, which is critical to keep our balance sheets strong. We have reduced it by 40 basis points since the pandemic. We are investing in our future. We have over €24 billion in two funds that are investing based on the fact that 1 million people in our country will be over the age of 65 by 2030. The capital infrastructure we have to put in will be transformational. If we keep doing those three things, that will make our value proposition very strong to attract investment.
Critically, it will improve the chances of our indigenous economy. I always point out that the top ten Irish-born firms in Ireland employ 450,000 people globally. Enterprise Ireland has had a record year with €38.86 billion in exports for the €3 billion spent in the economy. We are in a strong position in our indigenous economy. I welcome Deputy O'Connor, as Chairperson of the enterprise committee, and the ideas he has brought forward to do more and to support Startups Ireland, which will be critical, as well as the national acceleratory unit we will have next year, again ensuring that all our entrepreneurs, start-ups and high-performance units get the support they need.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-07-09/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:07+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-09