I thank the Deputy for his question. The increased cost of business scheme was announced in budget 2024. It has been allocated €257 million and is specifically designed to target smaller businesses. It was initially opened for registrations between 14 March and 1 May. However, on 15 May, I announced two changes to the scheme as part of the wider SME package. First, registration was opened for an additional two weeks to allow businesses another chance to sign up for the grant and, second, those businesses operating …

We currently have €230 million transferred to the local authority sector and that will cover the first and second rounds. Once that is disbursed, there will be a small enough buffer left over and, at that stage, we will assess what we can do with it. My focus is that any money that is voted by this House in the budget will be spent by my Department this year, and I am very clear on that. I and the two Ministers of State will be going forensically through each area to ensure that all money that businesses need badly…

We will do our very best to have a strong budget for businesses. That is central to what we are doing in the Department. The benefits of our SME package are now being felt across the country. The reduced rate of PRSI will take effect from 1 October for workers on the national minimum wage. That process will be linked directly to the Low Pay Commission to ensure that minimum wage workers will not be at the higher rate of PRSI. There are also a number of energy efficiency grants that are very important to the work on…

Hear, hear.

I thank the Deputies for raising this matter, which concerns a huge number of people and their families across County Louth, in particular Drogheda, who are impacted by the decision. I met my Oireachtas colleagues and others in relation to this significant news earlier this week. I met officials from IDA Ireland earlier today to discuss this important issue. I reiterate my position and that of the Government on the floor of the House this afternoon. Becton Dickinson UK and Ireland announced that, following an analy…

I take on board both points made by Deputy Nash and both points made by Deputy O'Dowd in connection with this. I reiterate that the families of all those affected and those workers are to the forefront of our minds because it is a very significant employer that has had a generational impact within the town of Drogheda, and indeed beyond. The national planning framework sets out a very significant designation for Drogheda to achieve capital investment into the future. We will be absolutely committing to working with…

I welcome the opportunity to contribute on this very important debate on the asylum and migration pact. From a country with a population of more than 5 million, I know how many people we have who claim Irish descent right across the world. There are approximately 70 million people around the globe. That is so much a part of our story and what it means to be Irish and the shared experiences many families went through. As a former Minister for European affairs travelling around Europe, I also know about the weaponisa…

No one said that, absolutely not.

I thank Senator Lombard for raising this very important issue and raising awareness of the increased cost of business scheme, which is very important as a mechanism for the Government to assist businesses with the cost of doing business. Supporting SMEs is one of the Government's clear priorities and the increased cost of business grant is a key focus and part of our Government's response. The Government signed off on a package of €257 million for the increased cost of business grant and local authorities, funded t…

I thank Senator Lombard again for his persistence on this very important issue. He is right that there are fewer than 5,000 businesses awaiting payment. To be very clear and honest, as regards the service level agreement, there was a date of November included in the original agreement I inherited. As we got a new round of ICOB, however, we spoke to all the local authorities and worked with them. Now we see that many of them - over 90%, or indeed 100% - have approved payments, and that is very strong. In connection …

I thank Senator Ahearn for raising this important matter and for his ongoing work as Fine Gael spokesperson on enterprise, trade and employment in the Seanad and the great work he does in that regard. In introducing his Commencement matter, he spoke about the action the Government has taken, such as the increased cost of business scheme in 2024. He mentioned the figures for County Tipperary. We will work closely with Tipperary County Council and all other local authorities to ensure businesses get this vital fundin…

I thank Senator Ahearn for putting forward his strongly held views on the VAT rate and its reduction to 9%, and also pointing out that we put approximately €12 billion into our business sector in the two budgets preceding budget 2024. That shows the scale of the Government commitment to our SME sector. Be absolutely assured that I will leave no stone unturned in fighting for the SME sector. I will do all that is available to me through the powers of my office in the budgetary negotiations and I will work very hard …

I thank Deputy Shanahan for posing this important question. The Government has adopted a proactive approach in supporting the Irish SME sector across multiple crises over recent years. Over the two-year period to budget 2024, a total of €12 billion was provided in cost-of-living and doing business supports, comprising a mix of permanent and one-off measures, most significantly the temporary emergency support scheme. Budget 2024 also continued several measures which will support businesses, like the €257 million in …

When the scheme closed a week ago, we had about 76,000 registrations. That was roughly 60% of all businesses that qualified for the increased cost of business grant. A decision was then taken to open the scheme for a further two weeks and to run a very strong and robust advertising campaign, which we hope will encourage additional uptake in the run down to next Wednesday. I appeal to businesses to apply because this money is there for them. Regarding businesses that do not qualify because they are over the €30,000 …

Again, I thank the Deputy for his question. We have worked with all sectors. I met ISME yesterday, along with another number of business sectoral groups. We are working with them to progressively keep improving the business environment in which they operate. I point out that inflation has halved since November 2022. That demonstrates that Government policies are working. We really did tackle it in the best way we could by mitigating the pressure on vulnerable people and by introducing strong business packages of €1…

As the Deputy will be aware, I announced the reopening of the ICOB grant scheme from 15 May to 29 May. This is to ensure those business owners who missed the deadline can now register. They should do so without delay, and the sooner they register, the sooner the local authority can verify the information and make a payment to the businesses. I have also made a change to the scheme that allows for a second payment to be made to businesses in the hospitality and retail sectors or a double payment for businesses in th…

We all know commercial arrangements in how businesses operate with their landlords are different from business to business. It is difficult to put conditions in place to assess every single one. The best metric I have at the moment to get money out to vulnerable businesses as quickly as possible is linked directly to their rates. If I put more conditions in place right now or try to pave the way for opening the scheme to wider priorities, it will be difficult to get the money out quickly. I will assess it when the …

I would robustly point out that the Government is listening to the SME sector. That is demonstrated by our warehousing of debt at 0% for those who experienced difficulties over the Covid period. Some €20 billion has been put in towards Covid and Brexit, with €12 billion put in through the past two budgets. We have halved inflation, which is a key metric of business. Energy costs are coming down substantially. We want to see that being passed on to businesses, and indeed consumers. The 9% VAT rate relating to the en…

I thank Deputy Smith for his kind wishes. I propose to take Questions Nos. 54, 58 and 63 together. The Government is very aware that SMEs have faced a number of economic shocks in recent years which have resulted in cost increases. On 15 May, I, along with my Government colleagues, announced a substantial range of measures to reduce costs for small and medium-sized businesses. Included in these measures was the reopening of the increased cost of business, ICOB, portal from 15 May to 29 May in order to allow ratepay…

I again thank the Deputy for outlining his concerns on the sectors. As it happens, the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, and I were discussing the issue of manufacturing yesterday at one of our meetings. The Deputy is quite right. There is a varied number of issues that we are trying to respond to in that area. I have travelled around the country a lot since my appointment and I have found that one of the key areas is space. Many manufacturing or engineering companies throug…