We are working on the reclassification issue.

As Minister with responsibility for enterprise, tourism and employment, I am acutely aware that the period since Storm Éowyn hit on Friday 24 January has been a hugely disruptive and worrying time for householders but also for business owners, who have been extremely concerned about the impacts on their businesses, their livelihoods, their customers, their staff and their communities. I recognise that many businesses will have had a significant storm impacts and disruption to their operations over the past 12 days.…

I thank the Deputy for his very important question. We know small family businesses are the backbone of the economy. They employ two thirds of all employees in our country and drive so much vital economic activity across many of our communities. In the first few weeks of my appointment as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment I introduced an SME package which brought a second round of the increased cost of business grant, really focusing on retail and hospitality, the sectors which are very vulnerable accor…

I have really changed the direction of the Department to focus on small businesses. The Deputy can see that from the SME package I brought in and the SME test now having received Cabinet approval such that every statutory instrument, regulation or primary legislation change must have an SME impact assessment. We have put money behind it, with the enormous amount of grant support that is now available to the sector. I want to be clear that our value proposition to IDA clients is critical to this country. Of every €7…

It is very difficult to get through everything in a minute. I will make a decision on sick pay before the end of the year. As the Deputy will be aware, having been in the Department when many of the regulations came in, we are trying to take a pace, reduce the burden and put our SMEs first. On energy, we had a competitiveness summit in recent months. We are directing massive investment in our grid, including through the sale of AIB shares. We will try to put approximately €1.1 billion per annum out to 2050 into our…

This is a similar question to the previous one. It is important. We are trying to work with family businesses across the country. We brought in the SME package in the first weeks after I was appointed by the new Taoiseach. We are focusing on trying to lower the cost base for so many family businesses. We have brought in initiatives, such as ensuring they have support through energy-efficiency grants and digital grants, reflecting the ambition in the White Paper on enterprise. We are assisting on sustainability and …

I thank the Deputy again for pointing out the challenges and some of the solutions. I absolutely agree with her that we need to do more. We are clear about that. We are at the end of the lifetime of this Government and it will be up to political parties to bring forward their ideas, reflected in their manifestos, in the weeks ahead and ask the people to adjudicate on what we have done in the past few years. Front and central is that we have to try to support the backbone of the economy, which is small family busine…

I contest what KPMG said as I have heard many people in the business sector advocate the supports in place, which have been enhanced in budget 2025, especially in respect of innovation and the start-up space. Funding for companies trying to scale has been significant. We have worked to close the bridge with the UK because there is a big divide with regard to capital gains tax and incentives for investors coming into the marketplace. We have done a lot in the innovation space and that is one of the key parts of the …

I thank the Deputy for his question. Regional development is a key element of the Government's enterprise policy and is a key focus of the work of my Department and our enterprise development agencies. On job creation, the agencies of my Department are deeply committed to fostering investment in jobs across the manufacturing and services sectors throughout the country. This commitment is driven by the necessity to ensure balanced growth in the jobs sector across the entire country. Enterprise Ireland’s 2022-24 stra…

I again thank Deputy Durkan for his very important question. He rightly points out that it is important to look at the threats on the horizon. Globalisation is a significant threat to our foreign direct investment. We live in a very fragmented international geopolitical landscape. We can see that there are many trade tensions emanating across the globe. In a European context, we are trying to ensure we do not suffer as a result of those tensions. We have a lot of work to do in that regard in an international contex…

That is another exceptionally good question. We had a competitiveness summit a couple of months ago, and one of the key areas we are looking at is the changes in the Single Market and the exemptions that have been provided through the state-aid context. Ireland must be very careful in that regard because we are trying to ensure uniformity in the Single Market in order that it is a level playing field. We have sectors that are present in Ireland - the Deputy will be aware of them as they are right in the heart of hi…

I welcome the opportunity to speak on budget 2025 in respect of my Department. It is the first time the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment's budget has gone over the €1 billion mark, which is a significant increase on the previous year in terms of core expenditure. We have a number of initiatives in the context of this budget to support families and businesses right across the country. We are very clear in terms of our support for the hospitality and retail sectors. I am very much aware of their vulnera…

I thank the Deputy. The recent announcement from Becton Dickinson, BD, to close its Drogheda facility over the next two and a half years is extremely disappointing, especially for the staff and their families impacted by the decision. I assure the Deputy the Government is on hand to support those employees as they seek alternative employment. IDA Ireland has regularly engaged with BD on potential supports to its four Irish sites, including that in Drogheda. In particular, supports for staff training and upskilling …

It was a privilege yesterday to meet Trevor, the representatives of SIPTU and the team, who are working so hard on behalf of employees on the ground, and to see their passion and what the plant means to the fabric of Drogheda because it is a very significant employer. I did agree to take a submission from Trevor but I was equally clear, as I have to be, that I was in no way raising expectations because we have to be honest with people who are in a distressing situation when they get news such as this. I reaffirmed …

I absolutely understand how important this is and give my firm commitment that I will do my very best when I meet senior management, including the group chief executive, next week. The BD site is utility rich and has a lot going for it. We will work on it with the IDA to ensure we will get a strong tenant in there. Deputies Nash and O'Dowd have consistently raised the need for investment there and we will work to realise that. The new 50,000 sq. m advanced factory unit, which now has planning permission, will be ce…

Wavin Ireland has been an IDA Ireland client company for more than 60 years. My Department received a notification of collective redundancy from the company last Friday, 5 July, confirming its intention to reduce its workforce by some 50 positions by the end of the year due to the transfer of manufacturing functions to its facility in the UK. As always, the primary concern, in the House and in my Department, is for the staff and their families who will be impacted by this decision. The Government and our agencies w…

I am happy to work with the Deputy to support the community and provide high-quality jobs. That is important to our economy. IDA Ireland is drawing up a new strategic plan to ensure we remain competitive and can attract high-quality jobs into the region. The statistics are very good. Approximately one third of the new investment coming into the country at the moment is by new-name companies, many of which are choosing Dublin as their location. Two thirds of new investment is by way of repeat business, which is also…

I thank Deputy Flaherty for his important question and the work he is doing in this regard. IDA Ireland’s regional property programme ensures the continued supply of land, buildings and infrastructure in regional locations to meet the needs of current and prospective clients of IDA Ireland, as well as Enterprise Ireland and the local enterprise offices. Indeed, the availability of property and infrastructure solutions to meet the needs of multinational companies remains essential to winning foreign direct investmen…

I will do that. I spoke with the chief executive of IDA Ireland in connection with how important it is to progress investment in the midlands and in Longford town. The Deputy quite rightly points out the significant offering in Longford. The infrastructure is improving. One can see the N4, now obviously the preferred route, coming to the fore. It is an important artery of connectivity into the west and the north west. It is also for Longford town and for those employers that continue to have operations there. We wi…

For Deputy Flaherty's information, we will continue to work hard on that. It is in the capital plan. Hopefully, we will have a strong budget for business. We are working hard with our bilateral discussions with both Ministers to ensure that we have a strong business budget and, obviously, IDA Ireland will be central to that. In response to Deputy Murnane O'Connor, I will endeavour to get an update specifically in relation to Carlow. The figures relating to IDA Ireland are exceptionally strong. Its current strategy …