The Government is committed to continue delivery of the SEAI's residential and community energy upgrade scheme, which is central to achieving our national retrofit plan targets. This includes delivering more B2 home energy upgrades, revising and improving grants and financial models for homeowners and supporting group retrofits and area-based approaches in enhancing energy efficiency to reduce the cost for households. In budget 2025 a record €550 million was allocated across the SEAI's home energy upgrade schemes, …

The SEAI has confirmed that it does not record applications that have been withdrawn. It only records them for homeowners who have agreed to proceed with the works through the one-stop shop. However, the SEAI has reported that over 3,500 homeowner efficiency assessments have been completed in 2025. That is the first step in the process. Approximately 44% of those have converted into grant applications under the SEAI. For homeowners who have received the home energy assessment, there are alternative upgrade pathways…

There has been strong demand. There were almost 70,000 applications in 2024. There have been over 40,000 so far this year. Through the national retrofit programme, we are seeing further capital funding under the national development plan. We will see an additional €264 million through the European regional development fund. Local authorities will also have an opportunity through their energy efficiency retrofit programme, which will be funded through the Department of housing. In total, a huge amount of work is bei…

I move: That Dáil Éireann, pursuant to Article 29.5.2 of Bunreacht na hÉireann, approves the terms of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (known as the 'BBNJ Agreement'), adopted at the United Nations in New York on 19th June, 2023 and signed by Ireland on 20th September, 2023 the text of which was laid before Dáil Éireann on 16th September, 2025 subject to a Declaration p…

I thank the Deputy for his question. It is a priority for the Government to narrow the employment gap to which the Deputy refers. Working to enable people with disabilities to pursue freely chosen employment is an important personal priority for me. The forthcoming national disability strategy will include employment as an important consideration as one of its five key pillars. The national disability strategy is intended as a whole-of-government framework for the implementation of the United Nations Convention on …

Narrowing that employment gap for people with disabilities is a Government priority. The Minister, Deputy Burke, the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, and I are very much focused on this. The forthcoming national disability strategy, which will be published in the coming months, is really important in respect of employment. That strategy is a whole-of-government framework and relates to the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The finalisation and co-ordination of the strat…

Our enterprise agencies are already active in this space. Our local enterprise offices offer tailored supports for entrepreneurs with disabilities. Enterprise Ireland has an open door mentoring programme, which provides mentoring and capability supports, while IDA Ireland connects companies with talent from under-represented groups, including those with disabilities. I hear what the Deputy is saying. We hope to continue our engagement with the office of the Minister, Deputy Foley, to get the national disability str…

The introduction of alcohol labelling under the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018 is a matter for my colleague the Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill. As regards the question more broadly and measures to support businesses in response to tariffs, the Government recognises that this is a dynamic and evolving situation, which is being monitored closely by the Government. A key element of the Government's response is the forthcoming action plan on market diversification that is being developed jointly by my…

Let us be absolutely clear that the introduction of alcohol labelling is a Department of Health function. If the Deputy wants to ask this question during oral questions to the Department of Health, she is welcome to do so. Ours is the Department of enterprise, however, and I am responsible for small businesses. As a result, I have a duty to defend the interests of Irish indigenous SMEs, which are facing unprecedented global trade pressures not of their own making. The Deputy is right that the US market accounts for…

We are very much committed to a whole-of-government approach not only to public health but also to economic sustainability. The national alcohol labelling regulation, while rooted in public health objectives, must be implemented in a way that does not jeopardise Ireland's export-led recovery. Indeed, the alcohol beverage manufacturing sector employs more than 5,500 people and is a strategic contributor to our national economy. In one sense, we do not want to abandon the public health goal but we are asking for more…

My Department is committed to delivering an efficient and responsive employment permit system which supports businesses and ensures that we are well positioned to maximise the benefits of economic migration. The system is designed to facilitate the entry of appropriately skilled non-EEA nationals to fill skills and-or labour shortages required to develop and support enterprise for the benefit of our economy. The Department has responded to labour shortages reported by the haulage sector by making the role of heavy …

We recognise the pressures faced by many in the licensed haulage sector. I assure the Deputy that the Government is responding to those concerns. We have made significant progress with the new online employment permit system. It is delivering an effective and responsive system to provide the maximum benefits of our economic migration system. Over the past three years, we have increased staff resources, streamlined internal processing and introduced the new online digital system. It is very user-friendly. General em…

These are accurate figures presented by the Department.

I am not aware of the cases the Deputy raised.

If he wants to send me a note in relation to them, I will be happy to take the matter up. As stated, there is a more modern and integrated system now. We are working with the Department of Justice to try to streamline matters more. There is also a single application process for visas. We have made significant progress in relation to labour shortages in many sectors. The Minister and I have made additions - most recently in April - in the context of permits for HGV drivers and vehicle repairers. We will look at the …

The programme for Government outlines our commitment to addressing skills shortages and supporting economic growth through a strategic migration approach. Ireland’s general policy is to promote the sourcing of labour from within Ireland and the EEA. To fulfil this policy, Ireland operates and manages an employment permits system designed to fill critical skills and labour shortages in the short to medium term where those skills are not available within Ireland or the EEA. This targeted approach ensures that Irish e…

The employment permit system is demand-led and designed to respond to the real labour market needs. The occupations list is reviewed periodically. The next formal review is scheduled for the summer. It will be open to all sectors. We invite many representative bodies, Departments and NGOs to make submissions. It is evidence-based. It is reviewed and overseen by an interdepartmental group on economic migration, the skills and labour market research unit and Department of Social Protection. We recently made 43 change…

I thank the Deputy for his focus on this important area. The consultation will open shortly. We will make that announcement in due course. It will open for an eight-week period. There will be an opportunity for employers, representative bodies and Departments to make submissions. This is very much a transparent, data-driven process. It is open to all sectors. Most recently, we opened the eligible occupation list for town planners in order to deliver the infrastructure and the housing we need, and for social and hom…

I thank the Deputy for his question. Balanced regional development remains a key Government priority. One central aim of the White Paper on Enterprise 2022-2030 is to support balanced regional economic development. My Department and its agencies contribute to this agenda in several ways, including through the nine regional enterprise plans or REPs. These are bottom-up plans developed and led by regional stakeholders, which focus on collaborative initiatives to strengthen the enterprise ecosystem in each region. As …

I agree with the points and the principles the Deputy has presented. The regional enterprise plan for the west is very much a collaborative initiative and must be focused on digitalisation and decarbonisation and on ensuring that the region itself is put to the fore. We have a good story to tell about sectoral growth in ICT, agritech and medtech. It is great to hear about the large multimillion euro investment in Deputy Dolan's town of Athenry, where Dexcom created 1,000 jobs. We want to support that even further i…