Well, let us resolve one thing today: that this House will not be suspended again. Let us ensure we get on with our work and are delivering for the Irish people what we were sent here to do by our communities.

I welcome the opportunity to brief the House on international security and international trade - two issues at the core of Ireland’s foreign relations at a time of great turbulence and change in the world. The Tánaiste has clearly set out the challenging international security situation and international trade context, highlighting the complex global environment in which our economy is working for the people of Ireland. As businesses must be responsive to the changing environment, we must recognise the threats on t…

I wish Deputy Conway-Walsh the very best of luck in her role as spokesperson. I look forward to working with her. I had a very good relationship with her predecessor, Deputy O'Reilly. The Ministers of State, Deputies Smyth and Dillon, and I look forward to delivering the programme for Government in the years ahead. I am acutely aware of the significant challenges the impacts of Storm Éowyn have caused for business owners over recent weeks. Since 24 January, I have been closely monitoring the situation with Storm Éo…

I thank the Deputy for her response. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine has announced a scheme for investment in the horticulture sector, which has been very significantly impacted. I was very quick to contact the insurance federation to get assurances that businesses affected would be covered regarding their standard practice. While I cannot go into the detail of individual policies regarding excess because they are very different, I can assure people that, in the general course of action and insurance …

In line with the commitment in the programme for Government, we are establishing a scheme. Specifically for this event, we need to be clear that the first recourse for businesses is through their insurance to cover them for damage, loss of earnings and spoilage of stock. That is the critical way in which they seek recourse. It is very different from flood damage where businesses could not get insurance. That is a very different scenario. We are establishing a scheme. I also point out that, regarding the statutory d…

While the technology sector, which includes software, has undergone a period of sustained growth for the past 20 years, recently it has seen some significant contraction. Where IDA Ireland's multinational clients in this sector have announced global job reductions, the reductions have typically been less than 10% of their total global workforce. Furthermore, in most cases, the job reductions implemented in Ireland have been lower in percentage terms than the globally announced figure. Typically in an economy with s…

While we have seen a recalibration in the tech sector post Covid, it is still very strong. We have a very rich vein of talent. We have and are host to eight of the ten global leading tech companies in this State at this time. We provide so much talent and skills, with 8% ICT graduates in our economy. That is double the EU average. We are double per capita in STEM graduates, which provides a huge rich vein. We have, as part of our digitalisation strategy, a very clear policy regarding the tech sector, which was esta…

We have a huge demand for workers in those categories. That can be seen from how much the landscape has changed across our capital city and other regions throughout the country. That is why the IDA has specifically called out digitalisation and AI as one of the key growth drivers for its new five-year strategy, hoping to bring in €7 billion of research and development investment, growth of 15,000 jobs per annum, of which 54% will be in regional Ireland, aimed at getting 550 investments right into our regions. That …

I thank Deputy Connolly for her question. The Department of Foreign Affairs and my Department established a dedicated business and human rights stakeholder forum with the participation of individuals with relevant expertise and responsibilities from key organisations across business, civil society, trade unions and academia to assist with the development of a second national action plan on business and human rights. The stakeholder forum has met on two occasions so far. The first meeting took place on 14 December 2…

I thank Deputy Connolly for her intervention. A lot of the new EU instruments that are coming into context, and which this plan will have to respond to, are very technical in nature and we are trying to work these and bring them into the action plan. A significant number of the actions contained in this plan are under the purview of other Departments so obviously we are trying to work and liaise with them to ensure we have key deliverable actions agreed right across government. We are taking this very seriously. We…

It is this Government that brought forward the idea in the programme for Government to deliver on this because we take our human rights obligations very seriously. One can see that from all our actions in multilateral forums, particularly the UN. I met Volker Türk, the head of UN human rights, on many occasions in my last brief. We take very seriously our obligations. With regard to the report, some of the areas are very technical in nature because new EU instruments have come on board that we have to respond to. S…

I will endeavour to come back to the Deputy with a timeline as soon as I can get a clear line of sight across government as to when we can deliver it. I do not want to come forward with a plan that I cannot deliver, or which does not have actionable points or delivery dates on it. That is the most important point that I want to have as a stamp of my Ministry.

I thank Deputy Scanlon for his kind wishes on behalf of myself and my Ministers of State, Deputies Smyth and Dillon. The number of jobs in Enterprise Ireland-supported companies in County Leitrim has increased by 67% since 2020, with 978 people now employed in the county by these companies. In 2024 there were 110 new jobs created in the county by Enterprise Ireland-supported clients, helping the county achieve 11% growth in 2024. In County Sligo, we have seen an increase of 19% in employment among Enterprise Irelan…

I thank the Deputy for his question and for his advocacy on behalf of his constituency. Enterprise Ireland has established the advanced manufacturing unit in Sligo, which is very important. It is an innovation that is a key support to industry working in partnership. It is a huge advantage in terms of doing things that in many instances industry cannot. On Enterprise Ireland and its wider strategy, last year we had over 67% growth in the regions. This is outside of the capital, which is very important. We are looki…

I would be happy to. We see four growth areas at this time. First is digital. We are trying, in line with the White Paper on enterprise, to get to 90% digital intensity by 2030. In healthcare, cell and gene therapy is a huge growth area, as well as other healthcare mechanisms. We hope to bring AI into that sphere, which will be key. In sustainability, we have had about 93 investments through IDA in its last strategy. That will be key to reducing our emissions by 35% by 2030. Customers of significant employers deman…

I thank the Deputy for his warm remarks and his important question on Cork County Council. The ongoing replenishment of stock is essential to ensuring the portfolio remains fit-for-purpose and meets the evolving needs of the FDI, Enterprise Ireland and LEO client base. A ready supply of appropriately zoned land for development is required for IDA to fulfil its remit and continued success in attracting FDI to Ireland. IDA, therefore, maintains a focus on land banks to future-proof the ability of its property portfol…

The Deputy raises a valid point and that is why we are launching in the coming weeks Enterprise Ireland's new strategy for the next five years. We need a stronger relationship with Enterprise Ireland and the IDA to make sites available to smaller indigenous enterprises which have grown significantly in recent years. I have raised this with the Department and my fellow Ministers. It is an area we will zone in on because there are significant smaller enterprises which have a land requirement, particularly in the ligh…

I would be happy to facilitate a meeting with Deputy Moynihan and to work on the land banks that need to be made available through Údarás na Gaeltachta or Enterprise Ireland for smaller agencies. It is something we need to improve upon. I would be happy to work with the Deputy in that regard. I do not have specific figures on the work carried out with Údarás but I will come back to the Deputy. I worked hard with Deputy Clendennen to deliver a significant land bank in County Offaly. These issues are commercially sen…

I thank the Deputy. I propose to take Questions Nos. 15 , 19 and 20 together. In total, the increased cost of business and power up grant schemes paid out a very significant sum, totalling more than €400 million, to support SMEs throughout the country. This total of €400 million included €154 million in the first phase of ICOB, €90 million in the second phase of ICOB and €158 million through the power up scheme. The take-up rate for ICOB was very significant, with 68% of eligible businesses registering for the gran…

It is obviously critical that businesses get the support that they need and qualify for. We are working with the Department of public expenditure and reform on rectifying the issue relating to the misclassification. It is critical to demonstrate how much this Government is supporting our SME sector. The forthcoming programme for Government outlines changes we will be implementing in VAT and PRSI to support businesses trading through very significant challenges in terms of the regulatory burden that has been placed …