Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment debate -
Wednesday, 3 Jul 2024

Members participating in the meeting remotely are reminded to do so from within the Leinster House complex. Today, we will discuss key priorities, legislation and an updated account of matters relating to the Department of Enterprise and Employment through quarters 1 and 2 of 2024. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is responsible for advising on and implementing the Government's policies related to developing the productive capacity of the economy and fostering an environment that provides for employment creation and sustainability.

The Department is also engaged in developing policies that enable fair competition in the market place, protect consumers and safeguard workers. I am pleased that we have the opportunity to consider these matters further with the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Peter Burke. I welcome him to his first appearance before the committee as a Minister. From the Department, I also welcome: Mr. Declan Hughes, Secretary General; Mr. Dermot Mulligan, assistant secretary, workplace regulation and economic migration division; Ms Jean Carberry, assistant secretary, digital, EU and climate programme division; Mr. Ronnie Downes, assistant secretary, trade division; Mr. John Hughes, principal officer, innovation and investment division; Mr. Brian Walsh, principal officer, retail and locally traded enterprise; Dr. Dermot Coates, chief economist, economic and tax policy unit and Mr. Pat Phelan, assistant principal officer, management and business support unit.

Before we start, I will explain some limitations to parliamentary privilege and the practice of the Houses as regards references you can make to another person in your evidence. The evidence of witnesses physically present or who give evidence from within the parliamentary precincts is protected pursuant to both the Constitution and statute by absolute privilege. Witnesses are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice that they should not criticise or make charges against any other person or entity, by name, or in such a way as to make him, her or it, identifiable, or otherwise engage in speech that might be regarded as damaging to the good name of the person or entity. Therefore, if your statements are potentially defamatory in relation to an identifiable person or entity, you will be directed to discontinue your remarks. It is imperative that you comply with any such direction.

The opening statements have already been circulated to members and to commence our consideration of these matters, I now invite the Minister to make his opening remarks.

I thank the Cathaoirleach and members of the committee. I am now 13 weeks in my role, with my feet firmly under the desk. I look forward to working constructively with the committee in the days and months ahead. Before I read my statement, I wish both parties in the Aer Lingus dispute the very best today, on an important day for our country. Our connectivity as a small, open, island economy really depends on aviation and strong global connectivity. I appeal to both sides to work constructively over the course of the day, subsequent to the intervention by the Labour Court.

Much of the progress this year can be framed within the context of delivering our ambitions under the Government’s national enterprise policy, the White Paper on Enterprise 2022-30. The White Paper sets out the Government’s ambitions for a regionally balanced and sustainable economy with policies targeted at delivering for our open economy with strong trade and foreign direct investment a vibrant innovation ecosystem and a resilient labour market.

I am pleased to say that we have made strong progress across the whole of Government in implementing the vision set out in the White Paper for Irish-based enterprise to succeed and to deliver rewarding jobs and livelihoods. Almost half of the activities outlined in the 2023-2024 White Paper implementation plan have been delivered, and the majority of those remaining are on track for completion as scheduled. Despite the global challenges and volatility impacting some sectors, Central Statistics Office, CSO, figures continue to record strong employment growth. We had a record 2.7 million people in employment in quarter 1 this of year, an unemployment rate of 4.1%, increasing female participation and every region at full employment. Income tax receipts also remain robust, indicating the ongoing strength of the labour force.

At the end of last year, more that 560,000 people were employed in clients of the enterprise development agencies, that is, Enterprise Ireland; IDA Ireland and local enterprise offices, with an additional 500,000 employed indirectly in providing goods and services to those clients. Taken together, the Department’s agencies are supporting more than 1 million jobs, or 35% of the total employed across all regions. The agencies inform me that the first half of 2024 is broadly positive for their clients, as international markets recover. While broadly the economic indicators look good, we remain exceptionally vigilant at Government level. We are continuing to focus on competitiveness to ensure that Ireland is the best place in Europe for Irish and overseas multinationals to invest and for SMEs to develop and grow. On that point, the White Paper contains specific measures to support our SMEs to navigate the challenges and opportunities of the twin green and digital transitions. SMEs are the backbone of local communities and are central to our ability to build a broad-based and successful economy and society. Last month, I brought forward a package of measures to support our SMEs in reducing costs, boosting productivity, digital innovation and energy efficiency, while also balancing critical progress in terms of working conditions.

The SME package included measures such as reopening the increased-cost-of-business grant, introducing a second cost-of-business payment for the retail and hospitality sectors of up to €10,000, increasing the maximum amount available under the energy efficiency grant scheme to €10,000, widening eligibility for schemes such as the trading online voucher and digital for business consultancy to firms with up to 50 employees, and doubling the value of the innovation voucher to €10,000. These measures will help many SMEs to secure their long-term financial sustainability and grow good jobs into the future.

In May, I launched the first ever local enterprise office, LEO, policy statement. It sets out the central role the LEOs will play for small businesses with up to 50 employees throughout the country. The LEOs will provide an accessible one-stop shop, with more than 370,000 businesses eligible for some form of support.

The White Paper on enterprise recognises the opportunities that arise as we transition to a climate neutral and sustainable Ireland. My Department is committed to encouraging energy efficiency in enterprise and exploring the potential of new sources of renewable energy as part of our cross-Government climate response. To date, more than 12,400 tailored climate action plans have been generated for businesses using my Department's climate toolkit, thereby providing an action plan for firm-level green transition. In March, my Department launched its offshore wind strategy, Powering Prosperity, to ensure we have the necessary infrastructure, supply chains and skills in place to take advantage of Ireland's abundant offshore wind potential. This roadmap will allow us to harness the potential of a whole new industrial sector. It will provide well-paid jobs for regional and coastal areas while reducing our energy bills and our reliance on other countries for fossil fuels.

To meet our ambitions under the climate action plan, I have just published the decarbonisation of industrial heat roadmap to inform the necessary interventions to decarbonise heat use in the manufacturing sector. I demonstrated the Government's commitment to assist the manufacturing sector when, earlier this month, I launched a €300 million industry decarbonisation fund to incentivise businesses to make significant investment decisions to reduce their carbon emissions. This will help us to achieve our 2030 abatement target.

The challenges faced by businesses today are not just in green transformation but also in accelerating technological change and market disruption. These challenges can best be addressed through innovative actions and pioneering research and development. Expanding our support for targeted, business-focused research, development and innovation is imperative for Ireland's ongoing economic development and the resilience of the enterprise base. In May, I launched the seventh call for funding under the disruptive technologies innovation fund, DTIF, to support collaborative projects for the development and deployment of disruptive technologies on a commercial basis. The latest call has a focus on projects that complement our policy objectives to improve digitisation and meet our climate targets.

My Department has continued to be outward looking in 2024. We have an ambitious programme of trade missions that focus on promoting the innovative capabilities and competitive offerings of Irish companies to international buyers across a range of sectors.

In the area of regulation, my Department, through our discrete regulatory bodies, continues to enforce and uphold the rights of workers and consumers and to exercise statutory mandates in areas of competition and company law. Levels of entrepreneurship and company incorporations with the Companies Registration Office, CRO, remained strong in the first six months of 2024, with a total of 10,384 new companies registered. This was an increase of 3% on the same period in 2023. My Department issued 30,981 work permits last year. We have seen a 39% increase in applications so far this year. We have also issued 2,300 renewals to date in 2024, compared with 1,615 for all of 2023.

The Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, has completed more than 2,400 workplace inspections so far this year. The Health and Safety Authority, HSA, has completed over 5,000 occupational health and chemicals inspections to date in 2024. The Injuries Resolution Board continues to achieve a consent rate of above 70% for cases brought before it, with more than 5,700 respondents agreeing to have their cases assessed up to the end of May this year. Since earlier this year, the board's new mediation service for public and liability insurance claims has been fully operational.

Moving to legislative matters, my Department has continued to advance our priorities. The passing of the Digital Services Act 2024 will ensure the rights of Irish users of digital services are protected. We have strengthened protection for employees in a collective redundancy situation. We commenced legislation to allow mediation on insurance claims at the Injuries Resolution Board. We have progressed the Employment Permits Act 2024 to make the permits system more flexible and protect workers. We will commence the various provisions of that Act over the coming weeks. Last week, we completed passage of the Digital Services (Levy) Bill 2024 to extend the power of Coimisiún na Meán and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC, to meet their expenses in regulating the providers of online platforms and protecting consumers.

On 1 January, to ensure that work pays more, the national minimum wage increased by €1.40 to €12.70 per hour. This increase, among other measures, is part of the Government's commitment to reaching a living wage of 60% of the median wage. The Government will continue to have regard to the prevailing economic conditions in the implementation of these measures.

My Department is currently consulting with stakeholders on a new statement of strategy, which will run to 2025. Guided by the programme for Government and the objectives of the White Paper on enterprise, the statement will provide a framework not only to sustain the economic progress made but to continue the momentum towards our vision to make Ireland the best place to succeed in business and to work and live.

I look forward to a constructive engagement this morning with committee members. I am happy to take questions.

I welcome the Minister. I think I have already wished him well in his role. I extend those well wishes again in this forum.

I had not intended to raise the situation in Aer Lingus but I do so in response to the view the Minister expressed regarding connectivity. I share his view that connectivity is extremely important. There are many business owners, particularly in tourism but not just in that sector, who will tell anyone who cares to ask that they desperately need a good season this year. We are still suffering from the reputational damage caused by the long and excessive delays at Dublin Airport. That story went global and not in a good way. I welcome that the parties to the dispute are engaged with the Labour Court. Is there any scenario under which the Minister or any of his Government colleagues would see it as appropriate to intervene? I fully respect that the parties are in talks. I know exactly what that is like and how important it is that they be given space and time. However, does the Minister have a plan B in the event that the talks are not successful?

I thank the Deputy for her question. It is very important that this matter be resolved quickly. As I pointed out, every single industrial relations dispute is resolved. It is important to acknowledge that both parties to this dispute have a strong track record in dealing with the industrial relations infrastructure of the State. They have resolved disputes previously through that mechanism. It is an independent mechanism and it has intervened today. That is why I said it is very important not to make a political judgment ahead of the work of the independent industrial relations infrastructure. The parties are sitting around a table today. An intervention has been made. We hope both parties will come together in positive, constructive and well-meaning talks and will achieve a resolution.

The Government has stated clearly that this dispute involves a private company. As I said, we have very strong industrial relations machinery. The State's play, as it were, is to put forward the availability of that machinery, both by way of the Labour Court and the WRC. That provides a safe space for both parties to sit around the table and discuss their differences. It is the mechanism upon which the Government relies. I keep in contact with the Labour Court at all times. It is so important that we achieve a resolution.

I asked the Minister whether he has a plan B and he said he does not. I have questions I wish to ask him.

The Minister brought up the issue of Aer Lingus. I asked him if he has a plan B. He does not. That is fine. That is his position. I regret that.

I want to ask the Minister about the substance of the discussion because I am conscious of the time. I want to talk to him about businesses that export. He will be aware, as I am, that they generally perform better across the KPIs, including employment and productivity. It is a bit of a no-brainer that expanding exporting will improve our broad economic performance. In recent years the level of SME exporting has remained static at 3%, potentially dropping back to 2.8%. I am sure the Minister will agree that this is a low figure. It was lower than I would have thought. What is being done by the Department to increase SME exporting among existing exporters and prospective exporters? For those considering exporting, is the Department devising supports or a particular strategy to improve the figure, which we can both agree is a low one? Given that the figure is low, there is an opportunity there.

First, Enterprise Ireland has achieved a record level of exports. There are approximately €34.5 billion of exports, of which 71% are outside the UK market. If we look broadly at where they are coming from, we can see steady growth in the eurozone region. Germany in particular has grown by double figures. It is up 14%. We are steadily growing our export market. We have seen significant inroads in terms of new companies coming into the marketplace and exporting. Enterprise Ireland has met its growth targets for exports. There was some pressure in the food and dairy sectors, but we are working to resolve that. We have the Food Vision strategy up to 2030 with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

We are encouraging many new enterprises to work and invest in innovation through our research, development and innovation tax code. The new tax credit has gone up to 30%, and there has been an increase in the first payment instalment for pre-authorisation. The future is very bright for exports. We have seen steady growth in many areas. Post Brexit, it is very interesting to see the UK market grow by about 6%. We are talking about €9.97 billion in value. That is steady growth.

There are smaller players working through Enterprise Ireland as well. We have a service level agreement with our local enterprise offices, LEOs. We are trying to increase the number of smaller companies exporting into the marketplace and we are giving them the tools to do that. That is why we have a strong vehicle in Enterprise Ireland whereby any smaller enterprise that is trying to get into the export market gets the support through our export strategy. We have seen growth in that area. I appreciate that it is a challenge for SMEs. That is why we are working with them, through Enterprise Ireland and the LEOs, on an export development strategy. In the years ahead the Deputy will see an improvement. The statistics are very good at present. As I outlined, this country's exports are very strong. Enterprise Ireland's figure of €35 billion is very strong and there is growth across many different sectors.

There is scope to increase that, specifically for SMEs. I assume it is the Minister's intention to increase that figure from the current low base that I already put on the record. Is it his intention to set a target or will he wait and see what happens? When we decouple the SMEs from the larger figures, it highlights the scope that exists for growth. Is there a plan to set targets or what way will the Minister approach it?

Absolutely. We are looking to set a target of 9% for SMEs with employees, which will be an increase from the current level of 6%. We are working through our strategy to do that with the LEOs, in conjunction with Enterprise Ireland. We anticipate very fertile growth because from our engagement with other markets, through the State agencies, the increase is very significant in many areas. There are a lot of new markets to be won, in particular in the food sector, right across the economy. There is a significant amount of work under way in that regard.

I thank the Minister very much. I want to talk about SME productivity and growth for a moment. That is at the heart of the potential to increase wages and profitability. We are successful in Ireland at generating and attracting high-growth firms, in particular multinationals but domestic SMEs sometimes lag in terms of productivity. That issue is not related to the workers not working sufficiently hard. Some of it is due to the slow pace of digitisation. Some of it is due to outdated management practices, lack of improved infrastructure and the built working environment, which all contribute to either hindering or enhancing productivity. What are the Minister and the Department doing to boost innovation and productivity in the domestic economy so that the gap between the FDI and SME sectors can be closed? We want to see SMEs adopting international best practice in management skills, upskilling the workforce, and improving capital investment in the built work environment. Is there a specific strategy or focus on SMEs? Does the Minister believe one strategy will fit all?

No. In the White Paper on Enterprise we have a strict focus on digitalisation, decarbonisation and innovation. We have a target in our plan to get basic digital intensity to 90% of all SMEs by 2030. There is a huge amount of work under way to achieve that. We have put together a very significant funding package of €58 million for the digital transition fund. We have also choreographed interaction with the tertiary education sector in order to innovate and get a new way of working. Small companies can get vouchers and work with tertiary education to hive off new opportunities and new ways of doing their business.

Second, we are working through the climate action toolkit on decarbonisation. We have seen approximately 12,400 companies get their own tailored plan. We are working with the new decarbonisation fund, which we have put €300 million into, and that has resulted in a dramatic change in some areas. We have a lot of work to do in some sectors. Cement, for example, accounts for 40% of all emissions, so we have a lot of work to do in that sector in regard to the decarbonisation map that has been published.

In terms of innovation, it is important that we have a strong take-up from companies using data analytics, cloud computing and AI, which are going to provide a great opportunity for so many SMEs in the future. Dr. Patricia Scanlon is working on the AI advisory council which has six separate subgroups. A number of reports have been published by the Department on that. We are very much tailoring support to SMEs in order to innovate and improve productivity and ensure there is a strong bedrock for research and innovation. In addition, we are tailoring our tax code to support that and trying to make the administration capacity side more lean, which will be important. I have strong views in that regard, which I am working on in the current budgetary context.

The point about making the administrative capacity a bit leaner is very interesting, in addition to the potential for AI. That is something we have discussed here at the committee at length. It is a subject in which we have taken a particular interest. We recognise, as does the Minister, the potential that exists, which is important, but we also recognise – I am sure he does also – that there is some trepidation in the business community when people, who possibly should not do so, say things like "everybody is going to lose their jobs because of AI" and "there will be no work in the future".

We know that is not the case but we also know that there is great potential. The Minister mentioned in his contribution a link between SMEs and the tertiary education sector. Could he elaborate on that?

Our innovation voucher scheme with tertiary education has been increased for SMEs by up to €10,000 to try to form partnerships. If it is a small, manufacturing process, they could examine how they could innovate and improve their productivity. Those grants are important to help the smaller industries and SMEs, some of which are just around the kitchen table. There are so many important funding streams there. As well as trading online and digitalisation, we have bespoke schemes for them through the SME package, which is very important.

Would the Minister have a concern that there might be difficulty accessing and engaging with the tertiary education sector, particularly for the smaller SMEs that are set up around the table? It might be a little bit daunting for people almost going back to college for the first time but specifically in relation to their business. Does he see that there is an issue there? I hope those barriers will get broken down over time. Is there a specific action or any one particular college or university that is doing particularly well at it where it could be piloted?

We fund innovation offices and knowledge offices through our third level education tertiary links. That is important for enterprise because once the links are established and the connection is there, the Government is able to fund the streams and then they can provide vouchers right to the SME client. They can set out what issue they need help with and what area they need assistance with and hopefully achieve better productivity and better innovation. Deputy O'Reilly is quite right that AI is a huge challenge. It is very important for public trust that we manage it correctly and we regulate effectively but do not reduce innovation. The big challenge is to strike that balance.

I welcome the Minister's officials here today. Through the Minister and the Secretary General, I thank the officials for all the assistance and help they have given us over recent times, either at the committee or otherwise. They are always very courteous and professional.

I will start by asking about the unified patent court, which is something I have taken huge interest in. I was disappointed the referendum did not happen, although I understand why it did not. The Minister made a statement on 16 April about the need for a broader discussion on the importance of unified patents and the economic benefits that joining the patent court might bring. I understand from figures from IBEC that the benefit would be €1.6 billion per annum. Could the Minister let us know what the plan is? What will be done to bring about a broader discussion about the importance of unified patents so that people know what they are voting on? I know that legislation has almost been brought through the Houses. I think it is at Report Stage in the Seanad. Is there anything stopping us finishing that off and having it ready in case a decision is taken at some stage? There seems to be two different points of view. One is that it should run on its own and the other is that it should run with an election. I am interested in knowing what the Minister's thoughts are on this. What is happening? Denmark passed this in 2014. Ten years later, we are still fooling around with it and have not made a decision on it.

I thank Deputy Stanton for his engagement on this issue. I know he is a strong supporter of the proposal. It is important for the research community. As a Government, we are very committed to delivering the referendum. It is an important change which will really help that community. I will point out that we encountered a number of hurdles along the way. First, there were two constitutional challenges internally in Germany. We had Brexit. There were a number of areas that delayed the actual proposition getting to the people, unfortunately, and when we got to that juncture we were fast running out of time. We know the Electoral Commission prior to this had signalled in other referendums the need to have time to inform everyone in due course. We were concerned that it could be drowned out in the discourse around the mayoral election, the European elections or the local elections. It is a very technical proposition, there is no doubt about it, and we cannot afford for it to be jeopardised. We have written to all stakeholders to re-engage and see what exactly they are doing and, on the other end, what the key sectoral interests are doing to promote and explain the importance of the patent court to all their members. We are engaging on that at the moment and we will then make an assessment and a whole-of-government decision about the referendum.

Before I leave that, is there an indicative timetable as to when a referendum might be held? I know there is a general election on the way. As I said, Denmark faced all those barriers too and yet they managed to do it in 2014 and got it through with a good majority. My fear is that this will drift and drift without a definitive stance being taken.

I can assure the Deputy that I will keep it firmly on the table with my Cabinet colleagues. Obviously, I cannot give a clear assessment here unilaterally as regards the timing of the referendum. As I said, I am ensuring we are doing our job in terms of engaging with the sectoral interests. I am keeping it on the table and in discussion at Government levels but obviously the Government will have to collectively form an opinion on what date it should be delivered on.

On foot of a Supreme Court decision regarding the State's ability to ratify the agreement, we have set up a steering committee to provide a roadmap for its implementation. I will just get a note on the roadmap. The Supreme Court decision was issued in November 2022, when it ruled by a majority of four to three on the ability of the State to ratify the agreement as Irish law stands. It also ruled by a six to one majority that CETA could be ratified by our Parliament if certain changes were made in the legislation. We are currently reviewing those changes as a Government because obviously, we are very committed to the ratification of CETA. It has provisionally applied since 21 September 2017 and it is important that we get our work done regarding the ratification process.

With regard to small businesses, the Small Firms Association, SFA, issued a press statement on 31 May saying that in its view, based on research it carried out, one in three small businesses will run out of liquidity within six months without additional funding. This is in accordance with its survey. The statement goes through the findings and reports that 80% of small businesses have experienced rising costs and so on. Has the Minister carried out any comparable research? What is the Department's view with respect to this quite concerning statement from the SFA?

We have a number of funding streams and loans schemes with the pillar banks. Over recent weeks, I have met with a number of the pillar banks. I am due to meet with Bank of Ireland next week to try to assess what the level of overdraft utilisation is across the economy and what sectors are potentially under pressure or feeling the pain of increased costs. We have done that piece of engagement. We have a number of schemes already. We increased the microfinance loan working capital up to €50,000 through our SME package. We also have the sustainability loan scheme, which is very important for investments from €25,000 up to €3 million. This has a very strong take up with institutions. Primarily, I was trying to meet them to see what level of take-up the schemes have and to ensure their feet are held to the fire in ensuring the SME sector has access to them. The Ukraine guarantee facility was also heavily utilised. There was over €1 billion in that scheme. We are providing finance through our banks, which is very important. I underscored that through the SME package with Microfinance Ireland. We also brought in the main banks and we continue to engage with them to see what the pressures are. Approximately 14 credit unions are using the Ukraine guarantee facility as well. We are trying to bring it to all areas of the economy and right into the heart of the SME sector.

Lots of companies might be concerned about further borrowing. No matter how low the interest rates are, they will be concerned about that. I understand that the national training fund is in surplus at the moment. It has been put to me that it would be helpful for businesses if they could access that fund, especially when we are talking about the increases in wages that people are incurring. They bring young people in and they train them. I know there are constraints but has the Minister's Department looked at the national training fund to utilise it even further to help small business in particular?

Absolutely. That is a very important point. We are working closely with the Department of further and higher education and the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform in connection with the utilisation of the fund to better effect. There is over €1 billion of a surplus in the fund currently.

We see much of a mismatch of skills across the sector, be it a small enterprise in a sector that is very dependent on staff and cannot get staff away to train or upskill because it depends on key persons being in position. We have to look at backfilling and in what way we can utilise the fund in connection with it. Regarding the mismatch in skills, I think it will be important. I am working through the budgetary package, trying to ensure that we have utilisation of the National Training Fund to better effect. When we consider the sectors paying into it and what they are getting back, there is an absolute necessity that Government comes forward with schemes and assistance that will help those SMEs with their labour shortages. We are in a constrained market. We know that even from my opening remarks on the utilisation of permits across the economy and how constrained things are. The Deputy is absolutely right. That is one of my primary focuses in the weeks ahead as we negotiate our next budget.

Employers can get support to employ people with disabilities, and rightly so. It might be useful to explore other ways existing employers can employ people using that fund that is sitting there.

Could the Minister tell us a bit more about the disruptive technologies innovation fund? It is the seventh call. I think it is closing on 30 April. How much is in the fund now? Typically, what kind of companies are involved and what kind of work is being done through this fund?

It is an important fund. We can see how it was put to good effect by some smaller companies. If there are companies that have significant control of markets – almost all the market in some cases or a significant proportion of it – the fund is key at funding new enterprises that can innovate or offer an alternative product that could try to get in and seek market share in already established markets. Currently under the disruptive fund call, a total of €370 million was awarded to 104 projects. I launched a seventh call of the fund on 7 May. The call was opened on 30 April. This current call is open-ended. Previously, we had closing dates on them but, as far as I know, we have not put a closing date on the current call. It is a significant fund. In respect of some smaller companies, for example, one exceptional company in the midlands has produced stoma bags that will be more patient-friendly and easier to use and will not have the difficulties that many patients get with them. It can try to break into a very established market. This gives smaller companies a chance like that to break into those markets. As I said, the fund is very significant.

Will the Minister let us know about Balance for Better Business? I was involved in that in a different role a number of years ago. It works to urge and support gender balance at directorship level in State and private companies. I understand that has now moved from the Department of Justice to the Department of enterprise. I am interested to know how it is going and what progress is being made, if any.

Balance for Better Business is very important. I met with it recently. It launched a new five-year strategy and targets 40%-plus female representation across boards and leadership teams through to 2028. I absolutely concur that it is important we have additional female participation in senior leadership roles across our economy. It is critical. There are 2.7 million people employed and approximately 1.25 million female participants now in the labour market. That is up about 170,000 since quarter 1 of 2019. Policies like remote working and improved childcare all contribute to a significant increase in participation. More agile rules are underwriting our labour force. Balance for Better Business is a critical tool in advocating on behalf of that. It has met its initial target and is working on the five-year strategy to hit 40% participation through to 2028.

I recognise the work and support the Department gave in the context of the intra-company transfer employment permit situation, whereby spouses are now able to work. The decision was made by the Department of Justice eventually but I know the Department of enterprise was very supportive of it, and I mark that now. It means that spouses and partners of people who transfer here from abroad with certain skills can now work from day one. Until very recently, we were one of the few advanced countries that did not allow that. Is the Minister getting any feedback on that change? I know it is very recent, but has he received any feedback from business and industry since it happened?

The feedback is very positive. We have a number of other changes on the horizon now with the single-use system, which will be more efficient in terms of the dual process of applying for a work permit, and a visa secondary to that. We will make it much simpler. Second, it is important that the permit follows the worker. That will make it more agile and make the system stronger for workers, and they will have better conditions as well. The many changes, simplifying the system and having a portal now where there is a single permit application are very important. There has been significant progress, which has been welcomed. The view I get is that it is working very well. We have had a huge increase in the number of permit applications in recent weeks. We are seeing a strong requirement. It could hit more than 40,000 across the economy this year, which is significant. It also points out the constraints currently in the labour market.

It is a site in Ballyadam, near Carrigtwohill. It has been there for 12 years, completely idle. Are there any plans to make use of that site? It has all services. It is completely serviced with water, power, wastewater, roads, rail – you name it. It is just sitting there, not being used. I just want to draw the Minister's attention to the site if he is not aware of it. He might come back to me with a note on it at some stage.

I think the Deputy is referring to the Amgen site. We will continue to engage with the IDA. There have been a number of engagements further to parliamentary questions on the Deputy’s behalf in connection with it. I am happy to raise it with the IDA on the Deputy’s behalf and to continue to try to ensure we secure a business for it, which is important to the region.

Seven minutes is never enough. I welcome the Minister and thank him for bringing his whole team with him. I cannot imagine how he gets his head around a whole Department in 13 weeks, so I will not be looking for plan Bs or plan As from him.

It is great we are at full employment in the country. It is something we have to acknowledge and be positive about. It is always easy being negative and saying what more we should be doing. It is great we are at a stage where there is full employment. If people want to work, there are jobs for them. It is very positive.

I will focus on smaller businesses, which are the backbone of where I come from in Clare. As enterprise, trade and employment spokesperson for the Green Party, I do not worry too much about the multinationals and their vast profits. I like to focus on the smaller business that are struggling a lot with profit margins.

The first issue I wish to raise is that local enterprise offices are doing great work in some things around digitalisation, going online, women in business and things like that. They are doing well in that regard but they are not doing so well on the green for micro stuff. Their targets are too low and they do not have the uptake we would like to see and need them to see. We need to look again at the green for micro. We have increased the fund. I got extra funding from the previous Minister to increase the grants linked to the green for micro. There was not a direct grant linked to it previously.

There are also issues around the companies that are listed that do these two-day audits for free. Some of them are on site for two days and do loads of work. Yesterday I talked to a woman who runs a café in Dublin. She had to send in all the photographs. Nobody is coming near her business. She has to do a load more work, send loads of photographs of everything and send loads of bills in. I know for a fact these companies are getting €2,500 each to do the two-day energy audit. We broke down the figures through the Department. Let us have standards. Let us see why we are not getting the uptake we should be getting. If done properly, this will make huge supports to help businesses cut down their electricity costs, replacing fridges and all that kind of stuff. We need to look at that.

With regard to small businesses, it is great we have done such great work in the Department around increasing minimum wage, time off, sick pay, paternity leave, maternity leave, mental health issues and menopause leave – all very positive things. However, for small businesses, it is a much bigger challenge than it is for big businesses with big profits. We also have an extra bank holiday, which is fantastic. However, from a small business perspective, those measures all cost the small businesses huge amounts.

As yet, we have not given them faith or hope that this is at all possible for them. It is something that is deeply worrying a lot of small business that have small profit margins. We need to look at the PRSI side of things. It is a worry because 70% of jobs in Ireland are in the SME sector. I know we get a lot of taxes from the multinationals but, at the end of the day, they could up and leave any time they want. The small businesses are invested in, support and work in our communities. I worry about small businesses and all the extra costs we have put on them, which were badly needed for fairness and better quality of life for employees, but we do need to look at what we will do with small businesses.

I am worried about scope 3. Small businesses are struggling to get the scope 3 stuff. I have been talking to many big businesses that try to get small employers and employees providing for them because that is part of their overall climate targets. In general, a lot of big companies are doing very well in that but they can afford a whole team of people to help bring down their costs and move away from the dependency on fossil fuel, plastics and things like that. However, they are struggling to get small businesses that have a clue what their carbon footprint is, which means small businesses are losing out. I want to know what we are doing about the scope 3 stuff. I believe there is a whole climate section in the Department. I do not know how we are looking. Is the Department engaging with businesses to ensure climate targets are progressing? We have this climate action Bill. How is it going? I know great work is being done on it but I do not know how it is looking. Has the Department contacted to the IDA, Enterprise Ireland and got them all in a room to discuss how our targets are working out and what more can be done to make sure we reach them?

Is there any plan to completely separate the local enterprise offices, LEOs, from local authorities? They vary hugely from county to county. Some of them are embedded in local authorities and will do whatever takes the fancy of the CEO of the council, while others are separated, committed and doing a great job. I see a huge variety in the way LEOs are working. We have invested huge money in them. We have also said they are now able to support businesses with up to 50 employees, whereas it used to be ten. What have we done to restructure the LEOs to make sure they are capable of doing this? Money and throwing money at grants is not always the solution. Sometimes we have to make sure it is being done right and spent well. I would like an update on that issue. Have we gone from nought to ten to nought to 50 and left everything the same?

Last, will Enterprise Ireland support businesses I met that cannot access supports from the Department of agriculture because they are adding value to something? For example, if a yoghurt maker adds flavour, the Department of agriculture will not support him. Can we look at the businesses that are falling between the cracks, food producers in particular, and see what the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment can do to support them? At the end of the day, we need to be able to feed our own country, whatever about exports.

I thank the Senator for her interest in the SME sector. She quite rightly pointed out how important the green transition is to that sector. That is why, first of all, to demonstrate our support in the SME package we have increased funding streams. For the energy efficiency criteria, we reduced the capital contribution from applicants to 25% for grants up to the value of €15,000. Essentially, this will provide energy equipment such as LED lighting for kitchens to reduce their monthly bills-----

I apologise for cutting in on the Minister and will not do so again as it is rude, but if he looks at the figures for the LEOs for the uptake of the audits that lead to these grants, the target for one county was 17 for the whole year, out of 4,000 SMEs in the county, and they did five workshops. I ask specifically whether we need to look at those targets. They are very low and they are not being reached.

Regarding the green transition, the fund for which the Senator mentioned, there have been 340 interventions for audits from January to May. Absolutely, that needs to ramp up significantly on a national level. We will provide the impetus to do that. Obviously the LEOs have a service level agreement with Enterprise Ireland in terms of adjudicating on their performance and how they go about their business. As I said, we have a lot of work in the SME package tailored toward the SME sector and encouraging it to go green. Nationally, we continue at pace with our decarbonisation through our €300 million fund. We have a responsibility for about 9.7% of emissions in the industrial sector. We have done a huge amount of work to tackle that, be it decarbonisation of cement, the industrial heat roadmap or ensuring that big and small companies can transform how they go about doing their basic business and get the opportunity and research, in conjunction with tertiary education, to inject productivity and more green methodologies into their processes. That will be critical. We will continue that funding, which is very important, through the LEO structure.

Also, it is critical to note that the climate toolkit for businesses has issued about 12,400 plans, as I mentioned earlier on. Again, we need to continue ramping up activity in that area and show people this is a necessity. Second, as there is so much change in supply chains and what many companies require, it is important that our SME sector really embraces this change. It will be a demand into the future, including on the part of consumers. We can see that starting at the very top. It will absolutely trickle down to the smallest SME in the country. That is how we have to work, encourage and ensure that we meet our targets by 2030.

I thank our guests and congratulate the Minister on his elevation. I wish him the best of luck in his new role.

There is quite a lot in the White Paper. We could probably give much lengthier consideration to various issues than we have time for today. I will touch on a few of them, if I may. First, I have brought up with every Minister and Minister of State who has come through this Department the idea of adding ISME to the Labour Employer Economic Forum, LEEF. I raised it a number of times with the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste. It has not happened. I know there was a meeting this week. Who is going to represent the voice of small business at LEEF in the future if the Government is not going to put a group such as ISME on the board?

Second, the Minister made reference in his opening statement to balanced regional investment. The Department gives itself a lot of kudos for what is taking place. The Minister particularly referenced a sustainable economy, the strong trade, the FDI attraction and a vibrant innovation ecosystem. With respect to my own county of Waterford and the south east, how do the metrics stand up in terms of inward investment, strategic infrastructure and development? I point out to the Minister that we have had no investment in an airport, a total investment of €4 million in SETU, nothing done on the N25 or N24 roads and very little investment in the hospital, where we have a number of capital allocations going on there for years. What is the Department's headline on that?

On business challenges, I presume the Minister is aware that the costs of public liability and commercial insurance is rising substantially again this year despite the fact that we have brought in the new regime for awards and claims are reducing.

Regarding the business challenges of the Government's aspiration to a living wage set at 60% of the median wage, has the Department attempted to look at why Ireland is such an outlier in terms of where our median wage sits among European peers? It is largely because the salaries paid through FDI and in the high levels of the public service are skewing that.

On energy production, is the Minister aware that the Department of agriculture has produced a new bio-methane strategy? Within that, there will be considerable requests for a feed-in tariff and operational supports. Has the Department any idea where it is going on that?

Finally, as regards our multinational tax take, has the Department any concerns in respect of a potential change of US President which could lead to a potential change in US tax policy? What would we do if some of our top ten multinational corporations were to be tempted to partially or fully return to the US?

I thank the Deputy for his questions. I had my first meeting of LEEF last week, which was very positive. I have met with a number of the unions and business representatives. I have also met with ISME. It has been on the business forum and I met it at a separate bilateral engagement to hear its concerns. Obviously, it is affiliate to and working through the committee currently under IBEC. Its admission into LEEF has been raised with the Taoiseach. Obviously, it is not in my purview to give that admission but we have raised it.

Waterford has seen significant investment over the past number of years. When I first came into the Department, IBM announced 800 high-tech jobs across Waterford, Cork and Dublin.

Will the Deputy let me finish? IBM creates significant employment in Waterford. To see it continue to prosper and grow is significant. There is the new technological university, of which I am sure Deputy Shanahan is aware. It provides huge employment and services for the upskilling required throughout the country. In the region of €170 million was put in through the urban regeneration and development fund, which will have a transformational effect on the quays in Waterford. It will be a significant project. At approximately €290 million, the budget for the hospital is up 44% from the commencement of this Government's term of office. There is €69 million in capital expenditure, and a range of flood protection measures were taken in the city. Approximately €30 million was invested in schemes relating to active travel. There is a new courthouse and a new primary care centre. A massive amount of work and investment have gone in, which is realised on the ground by a strong labour market. We have full employment. I have no doubt Waterford feels that too. That is demonstrated by the evidence I am providing to the committee.

On the issues relating to a living wage, we are in an independent process with the Low Pay Commission, which is currently adjudicating on its work. We await a recommendation from the Low Pay Commission on about 16 July. The Government will consider that recommendation in due course. We are all aware of the circumstances and accumulated costs businesses are enduring. The Department of Social Protection and my Department compiled a report. It is available to everyone. We must not lose sight of the improvements that continue to be made in conditions for workers and that improve productivity and morale. We should not assess this as a zero-sum game. What is good for the business can be good for the worker and vice versa. It is important that we continue to work with businesses and try to support them in reducing costs. We did that through the increased cost of business grant and the 15 interventions in our SME package.

There have been significant improvements in the insurance sector. The Government received a report recently on the implementation of actions, which are substantially complete. New competition came into the marketplace recently with the arrival of a South African company. Subsequent to a Supreme Court case, mediation is now taking place. I hope we will see, in the statistics that are to come out, the improvements due to the actions taken in the insurance reform plan we brought to the Government. During the week, there was significant concern about legal fees and the proportion of cases involved. We will have to see how the statistics for the period after the Supreme Court case wash out. I hope we will see significant improvement. We also need more competition to come into the marketplace.

Biomethane is another significant strategy the Government has brought forward. We will work with the Minister for agriculture. It is important for the green transition, as well as trying to align how to get public infrastructural projects like it up and running, reforming the EPA licensing process and ensuring the planning code delivers projects like this of scale in a better fashion than it already is. That is why we have the Planning and Development Bill, which is currently going through the Oireachtas.

The US election process is ongoing. Ireland has a strong diplomatic corps in the US. We have about nine missions across the US, and a number of new consulates are operating well and building on the strong ties and relationships we have on Capitol Hill. No matter the Administration, Ireland will continue to invest in our bilateral relationship and bring forward our concerns. The importance of a healthy bilateral relationship is that your friends can talk to you and explain where they believe you are going wrong in terms of policy. We saw that during the engagement in the White House this year and Ministers who went to different cities across the US.

On the Minister's response, which I also heard from the Tánaiste and the Taoiseach, the flood relief for Waterford and the construction of a courthouse were done under the previous programme for Government, as was the Dunmore wing hospital development. On the Minster's other point about investment in our technological university, there is a strategic capital ask in that regard of €300 million going back 18 months. To date, €4 million is the capital investment in the transformation the Minister described for third level in Waterford.

I welcome the Minister and congratulate him on his elevation. The Low Pay Commission recently recommended the abolition of all sub-minimum rates of pay for young workers. It is an issue close to my heart. I have a Bill ready to go in this regard. What is the stance of the Department? When will the Minister act on this unanimous recommendation?

We received the recommendation from the Low Pay Commission. To implement it, we await advice from the Attorney General's office. We also await an impact assessment on the economy. There have been significant cost increases. I want to ensure the actions I take do not have any negative effects. It is important to realise it was a unanimous decision and the Government will respect it but I want to do those two pieces of work before I make my decision, which will be shortly.

The EU adequate minimum wages directive is due to come into force in November this year, as the Minister knows. Owen Reidy from ICTU said, "To date little if any meaningful progress has been made by government to bring Irish law into compliance with the requirements of a directive they voted for in Brussels." I am genuinely at a loss. What is happening? Where is the Government at in relation to this directive, which needs to be in force by November?

We have done a significant amount of work through the LEEF committee. We met all actors to get together our plan for collective bargaining. Any country below 80% collective bargaining has to provide an action plan by the end of 2025, I think. We will meet that deadline. We are working on that plan. There are two issues relating to the LEEF high-level implementation group which require a change of law and legal advice. The first relates to good faith engagement. We are working through that process. We have a meeting with a subgroup of LEEF, chaired by the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, on 7 July, I think. It will consider that advice at that meeting. The second relates to authority and power regarding one side not turning up to JLCs and strengthening the Labour Court. We have not received advice from the Attorney General on that. I met Owen last week and other union representatives because it is important that I engage with them. They need to see results. On the business side, they need to engage in the full spirit of LEEF, which they are. I am hopeful we will make progress in our subcommittee on 7 July and adjudicate on the first piece of legal advice. It is critical we have our action plan in respect of the directive in advance of the deadline.

I hope so. I am glad to hear that response from the Minister. We have an issue with low pay. IBEC was before the committee a couple of weeks ago. Its representatives spoke about the care sector, which is important to our economy and our families, in many cases. It acknowledged the rate of pay per hour for a home care worker is €13.10, a shockingly low rate of pay. I asked IBEC and I ask the Minister, how does a home care worker get a pay rise in this country?

There are three sectoral orders which have been increased over the past number of weeks, representing different sectors. There is the minimum wage, as I said. From 2015, there has been a 42% increase in the minimum wage to ensure there is progression for workers' rights.

We have seen the introduction of sick pay on a statutory level. We banned zero-hour contracts. We brought in tips legislation. We have auto-enrolment coming in from next year, again, to future-proof pension funds for our workers.

I have outlined it exactly. I was very clear in the detail on exactly what the Government is doing on the two issues that require legislative change and with regard to the action plan, which we are going to need a timeline for. Obviously, if a person is not covered by a sectoral order, he or she is dependent on the minimum wage. We are trying to get to a living wage of 60% of the median wage. We have set out our trajectory to do that. The Senator can pick any aspect of the economy and ask my why someone is on a particular wage. Our floor is the national minimum wage. We are improving that to get to a minimum wage of 60% of the median. We have set a trajectory to do so.

I mentioned six other interventions that the Government has taken to improve the conditions of workers. I am very clear that it is so important in terms of productivity to ensure that workers have very solid conditions. I have demonstrated that to the Senator.

We have three different sectoral orders that are being used to try to improve the conditions of workers, be it in the cleaning sector, security or childcare. All have seen improvements over the last number of weeks. I have told the Senator quite clearly that we have set a process in place to respond to the directive from Europe through LEEF. We are going to meet the target in terms of having a plan with regard to collective bargaining published, and we are also seeking advice with regard to legislative change regarding the good faith engagement and the transfer of power from the JLCs to the Labour Court.

Like others, I congratulate the Minister on his appointment and, indeed, on his grasp of a complex brief in a very short time.

It seems to me that a lot of Irish business is facing a whirlwind of changes. We had the financial crisis, Covid-19, the Ukraine war, digitisation, AI and the climate crisis. This is certainly wreaking huge changes in business models, consumption patterns, supply chains and geopolitics, and none of these are over in my view. We continue to see massive changes that will change the landscape within which Irish business operates. The key in my view is agility and adaptability. They are going be at a premium with within Government, but more especially within business.

We need to build the capability of business to manage change. It is disappointing to see the very low level of take-up in respect of some of the Government's schemes. It has now doubled their value. That is welcome. The take-up is still low, however. I suggest that the Minister consider a sectoral structure for driving transformational change within sectors. Therefore, instead of looking at individual schemes, such as green, digital and online vouchers, the Government must recognise that there are sectors that need to be transformed and it is not happening in the present model.

I have a particular interest in the circular economy. My belief is that Irish business has not cottoned on to the innovative changes that will be required by the circular economy. It puts a requirement to think afresh about design, packaging, processes, material selection and repair. Huge changes are needed in the way sectors are organised if we genuinely embrace the circular economy. Product as a service, for example, will become changed. We will see a change in the way we handle transport, to give just one example. I urge the Minister as I have urged his predecessors, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Minister with responsibility for the circular economy to adopt this. I do not see that while there is consultation, there is not the real drive.

My second question comes from a bit of work I have done. Some 50% of Irish workers would like to work beyond their obligatory retirement age. The breakdown is 60% of women and 40% of men. It seems to me that the Department is still promoting the idea of a contractual fixed end where the private sector can demand that people stop working. Is it not time to start promoting positive, age-friendly workplaces? I know there are proposals within the Department.

On the issue of the high street, we hear much about the problems that are afflicting hospitality and other sectors. I would be interested to hear a little more. Their common diagnosis seems to be that it is a demand problem and that we need to reduce the VAT rate. I wonder whether that is the case or are there deeper problems at work here?

That brings me to another question. There is a €2 billion surplus in the National Training Fund. We do very little lifelong learning or transformational investment in skills. It seems to be caught by spending rules. Is that something we could crack? It does seem that at a time when we need to build new capability in our workforce, we have money locked up.

I am very interested in regional development. When I was in the Department, we set up the regional enterprise strategies. The Minister has been doing some work on clustering in his Department. Will we begin to see a shape of clusters that could be associated with different regions? It does go back to the Senator's point about the capability of the LEOs to drive the sorts of people who are now coming to them and who will expect support in this much more complicated area.

Another question I have relates to the problem we have with delivering infrastructure, particularly for renewables. One of the sectors caught up in that is the ICT sector in light of the moratorium on data centres. How can we move that on? It seems that we risk a long-term, crucial sector because of short-term constraints. Can we manage that better? Mr. Michael O'Leary is suggesting the establishment of a Department with responsibility for infrastructure. I do not know if that is an option.

If the Minister is doing disruptive innovation, could the Department or the Government to think about doing work in the health arena. We have the capacity for predictive medicine, preventative medicine, monitoring and managing long-term conditions. We have all the ingredients to be leaders in that when it comes to ICT and medical devices. We ought to try to bring those forces together to do something very interesting in this sector, which could become a traded capacity if we do it right.

I beg your pardon, Deputy Bruton. I am so used to the title. I was told yesterday that there have been 16 Ministers with responsibility for enterprise over the past 40 years. Deputy Bruton was almost a permanent fixture in the Department. He was there on a number of occasions, even, I am informed, when an interim Government was in place.

With regard to the final point on healthcare, absolutely. I saw a statistic that 30% of all the data created is in the healthcare realm and that 70% of this is either not used or is underutilised. Therefore, we can see the prominence of our data capacity, be it through AI or other mechanisms we have to carve out new opportunities in this regard. We have to be to the forefront of innovation in our policies in doing that. If we are not, we will absolutely be left behind.

That brings me to the Deputy's point on data centres. Obviously, there is an inextricable link when we look at Ireland's value proposition in being the second largest worldwide exporter of ICT and having such a digital presence here.

With regard to the national economic dialogue, our corporation tax take has risen from €4 billion to €20 billion in a decade. I quoted a figure for female participation in the workforce of approximately 1.25 million. This is achieved through remote working and other methodologies. This is inextricably linked to the importance of having very sound infrastructural capacity, of which data centres are a key element. We have a lot of work to do to improve our grid. Arguably, our grid will need more investment in the next decade than it has seen in its lifetime. This indicates how strong and important it is. How the State will improve the grid will be a bigger question because it involves a unique funding stream. I am aware there are ongoing discussions, through our Cabinet subcommittee structure, on how we can improve our grid. Doing so will be so important. Private wires and other mechanisms will go only so far; the main point is that the grid has to be improved. As part of our capital infrastructure plan, this really needs to be examined; however, I know this involves a different methodology, and we have to see what we can do to bring about an improvement. I really want to underscore how important this is.

A point was made on the circular economy and sectoral issues. We are very open to the suggestion. We have done a lot of work in the area of modern methods of construction. We have published a roadmap on how to decarbonise the cement sector, which is responsible for more than 40% of our emissions. I am absolutely prepared to take suggestions on sectors to try to improve and meet the very ambitious targets we have set out in primary legislation. We can do a lot with the roadmap.

Public procurement is also a very powerful tool to have at one's disposal to change habits. We are working on this through the forthcoming green procurement action plan, which feeds into the circular economy. Many directives are coming down the line, including the right-to-repair directive. It is a matter of ensuring a very strong implementation plan for the green transition directive, which is to be transposed by 27 March 2026 and to apply from September 2026. Therefore, considerable work is being done.

We held business conferences right across the country in 2023, but it is a question of bringing a sense of urgency to the heart of our SME sector in addition to some of the bigger client portfolios of Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland. These bodies engage very strongly with the various sectors. Where the very biggest companies are concerned, the company at St. James's Gate is 264 years old and now has an ambitious plan to reduce its carbon emissions by 40,000 tonnes. It intends to use less water over a six-year horizon and reduce its emissions by over 90%. An aspect of the intervention through our decarbonisation scheme is that knowledge has to be shared across sectors. If an iconic brand like the one at St. James's Gate goes green and embarks on the transition, it shows that it can be done right down the scale. Through the new reporting requirements and mechanisms that put sustainability reporting on par with financial reporting for the user right down the supply chain, change has to happen. I am very open to working with and supporting industries in this regard on a sectoral basis. We are already doing this and can do more of it.

On the take-up, I believe our energy efficiency scheme was fully utilised last year. We put more money into it through the SME package this year. It is for smaller enterprises but can make a significant difference.

Regarding the retirement age, the general scheme of the legislation was referred to the joint Oireachtas committee for pre-legislative scrutiny, so we are supportive of it. The committee published a report on 24 May. We are working across government to honour the commitment and implement the recommendations in this regard. We are working on the Bill, obviously, and support it.

On hospitality, everything we do has to be evidence-based, so I have engaged with financial institutions to try to get a picture of overdraft utilisation in particular sectors. We are hearing about many concerns in the hospitality sector. I met representatives of the hospitality forum established during the Covid pandemic. Huge amounts have been invested, including approximately €12 billion in the two budgets preceding budget 2024. Much of the investment was to ensure the sectors would be kept on life support and could be recharged when restrictions were lifted. I absolutely believe there are more components to the problem than VAT; we really have to examine this in the round. I am now preparing my pre-budget submission. One of its key elements is the National Training Fund. I cannot for the life of me understand why we have not made more use of this. Spending rules seem to impose significant barriers but I believe there is a lot we can do. I have spoken to the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy O'Donovan, and the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, Deputy Donohoe, about this matter. It was referred to in the most recent Budget Statement, so I really believe that we have to see action in the forthcoming budget to address the mismatch of skills. As the Deputy alluded to, there is a surplus of nearly €2 billion. Many sectors cannot send employees for training because they have no one to backfill positions. There is a lot we can do for the sector through the utilisation of the fund, as well as by keeping the PRSI of lower-paid workers at pace with what is recommended by the Low Pay Commission and implementing all the other action points we have taken from our SME plan, which will be very important in supporting the sector. I am very willing to work with the sector and I hear the Deputy's point on it. There is a lot more going on in this area.

I have heard there is strong evidence of positive developments. I realise I am not covering sole traders or smaller businesses in saying this, but the number of incorporations is five times greater than the number of liquidations in the sector. The ratio is 10:1 in the wider economy. The number of new businesses is very significant.

I have a point to make that is not directly related to what has been said, but I just want to mention it because it relates to news breaking in my constituency on the Wavin factory. The factory is moving quite a substantial amount of its production to England, which will come as a huge blow. I intend to correspond with the Minister on this matter. Balbriggan is one of the biggest towns in my area, an area that experiences considerable underemployment. Most of the workers who live in Balbriggan leave it in the morning as they do not work in their local area. Wavin is a big employer in the area, so the news about it has come as a shock to many. I wish to flag to the Minister that I intend to correspond with him on this. I know there will be no difficulties associated with the Department in working to do all that is possible. I understand decisions have been made but there may be a role and scope for intervention. I will correspond with the Minister on that, if that is acceptable.

Absolutely. I will be very happy to work with the Deputy on that. Wavin is a company of long standing. When uncertainty like this creeps in, it is of great concern to workers and families especially. With regard to what we can do, we will engage with her directly and work with the management. I have not been briefed on the matter.

I was only flagging it and was not trying to bounce in a question or anything like that. I just wanted to flag that I will be corresponding with the Minister. I mentioned the matter only because it is in the news in my local area. I thank him for indicating he will engage on the matter.

Can he confirm that the ERO for security workers has been signed and that pay increases have been put into effect since the first day of this month? Why was the ERO for the security guard sector decoupled from the national minimum wage? It means the pay of the workers in the sector will not track the national minimum wage. This was covered in the preceding ERO but now it appears to have been removed. I would be very grateful for an explanation.

Yes, it has been signed and has been in effect since 1 July. Obviously, the EROs are ahead of the minimum wage and living wage. The sectoral interventions are for the sector. Security guards have got their agreement over the line but I understand there are some legal concerns connected to it. Since I am not fully aware of the circumstances, could I provide a brief on the details to the Deputy afterwards?

If the Minister could, I would be very grateful.

I want to ask a question about the Employment (Restriction of Certain Mandatory Retirement Ages) Bill 2024, which will remove a small portion of mandatory retirement clauses. My view and that of my party is that it does not go far enough.

However, even as far as it goes it looks like - as was reported at the weekend - that it will not become law in this Dáil. Is that the case?

I am hopeful that it will. We are hoping to get it through the Oireachtas in the autumn session. Obviously that is intention of the Department. We are supportive of it and we have received our pre-legislative scrutiny from the committee. We are continuing at pace and we support it. I am hoping to get it into the Oireachtas schedule in the autumn.

We will see. I want to ask about digitalisation. We had a hearing two weeks ago and I thank Ms Jean Carberry, who is here, for the very useful information that she gave to us relating to the digital economy and the society index. We know that only 66% of SMEs have a basic level of digital intensity. When we look at the various indices, there is scope for improving this. A total of 37% of businesses with more than ten workers are using big data. That is a very low figure. More than half are using the cloud and only 8% are using AI. This is something that we as a committee have taken a particular interest in. Clearly there is scope for improvement there but the scope is there because the levels are low, which is not good.

There is no reason Ireland cannot become an international economic digital leader. We have significant strategic advantages here, especially in our network of multinational and indigenous tech companies. What is the Government doing at the moment to achieve improvements in this area? Is there anything new in the pipeline that has not been mentioned that the Minister feels will have an impact in this area? I am specifically concerned about the 8% using AI given that there is significant scope there. I welcome the Minister's thoughts that.

The Deputy is absolutely quite right that the SME sector has the challenge. We have set out quite strongly in our White Paper on enterprise the target of 90% digital intensity. We are working now through the €58 million digital transition fund for our SME sector, which is very important to try to bring them up to speed. We also have a new portal that will launch at the end of this month whereby an SME will be able to plug into the portal and it will be able to propagate them advice on what areas they are falling down on with digital transition and what support we can give as a Government. As a twin approach to that, we have a national enterprise hub which will be a one-stop shop for businesses to plug into. They will be able to get support, be it a new business starting out and depending on the sector it is in, and they will be able to pinpoint exactly what grant aid, support, mentorship or advice they need within that context. That work is under way and will be a significant assistance.

With AI we have seen approximately 5% in our SME sector. We have a lot of work to do and that is fast changing. It is the case that almost as soon as reports are brought out in the area of AI they are out of date. We saw three reports-----

----on the labour market, but it is a significant challenge. As I said earlier, we have our advisory council with our subgroups, and we had a very significant Cabinet subcommittee meeting, where we are working through that very aggressive horizon - I believe it is 36 months for the AI Act to be brought in - and right across so many different State actors to build public trust. Be it the Health Products Regulatory Authority or in aviation, there are so many other actors that need to see we have policies in place and are ready for that transition. Our Department will be leading it right across various different Departments to ensure that those competent authorities stay with their responsibility and that we are ensuring the change does happen.

There is a need also to invest in infrastructure. We saw what happened when the HSE was hacked. It exposed just how antiquated and outdated a lot of the hardware was that it was using, which surprised anyone not familiar with the workings of the HSE. While we are having this conversation about the technology, we also need to make sure the agencies such as those referred to by the Minister have access to something a little bit better than Windows 95. I am being facetious but the Minister knows where I am going with this. There needs to be both.

I absolutely concur with that. It is important that the National Cyber Security Centre gets the skill sets. We have seen this in terms of operability and capability right through the EU and in being involved with so many real life operational hacks. We must ensure they get the experience they need to ensure our State is robust and resilient. As I pointed out earlier, it is incredible to note that 30% of all data are in the healthcare setting worldwide. This just shows us how important it is to have strong resilience built in there. The State has learned a lot from that hack and about the implication it had on patients' lives. So many patients were worried about having their personal data made public. We absolutely have to learn from that. We are committed.

We also underscored the SME package in the context of digitalisation with additional grants. The new portal will be easy and accessible. We brought it up with all the sectors in the business community. We have a business forum that sits around the table and they have all worked with the new hub and the portal and got full sight and oversight of it. I am hoping both of those will be a good assistance to the SME sector in the months ahead.

I wish to raise two issues. The Minister spoke about the global footprint and the great work going on with Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland and so on, which is laudable and is world-class. Recently I have been involved with Canada. Ireland has a presence in the east and the west but not in the centre. Has the Department looked at a presence for IDA Ireland in Calgary, for example, or Edmonton, which are two of the big cities in Canada? The staff on the ground in the east of that country are doing good work but it is a long way over there. These are very prosperous and industrial places with very strong economic bases. This is just something to put out there. As I have said previously here, I feel that while we have a lot of people working in the US, there is a gap there. Perhaps the Minister and the Department would explore this with a view to opening a permanent office in that part of the world.

In March, the Department launched the offshore wind powering prosperity strategy. I have gone through it and it is extraordinarily ambitious. It is very well put together and very comprehensive. I congratulate the authors of it. There is a snag, however, in that offshore wind depends on a venue where companies can assemble the turbine, carry out research, do maintenance and have a service base. At the moment in the Republic, we have no such place. When the committee members visited Belfast, we discovered that they are way ahead of us in that regard. We also visited Cork. We were told that the Port of Cork is the only port in Ireland that has planning permission but it cannot expand because it has no money. I have brought this matter up again and again. The powering prosperity strategy could actually falter if we do not have a space where we can assemble turbines. This is hugely important for enterprise. There are thousands of potential jobs available and I am worried they might go elsewhere and be lost to Ireland unless we can get our act together. I was told that planning permission runs out at the end of next year and they may not be able to get planning permission again to expand. I have brought this up time and again in the Chamber with other Ministers but it is really under the remit of this Department because of the job potential and the industrial potential. If we lose this, it will be a real tragedy.

Related to this and directly impinging on the Department is the need for the port to expand but not only by building on extra to the quay side. The port authorities have approached IDA Ireland because the agency has land close by to the port. The port wanted to lease some that land for a limited period so it could expand. Will the Minister, the Department and the officials present engage with IDA Ireland and with the port to see if it is possible to make that happen.? It would be a huge benefit to enable our offshore renewable energy sector to develop. There are two issues. The port itself has to expand by building on, for which they have planning but no funding. The Minister might go back to his Cabinet colleagues and ask about that. It is hugely important. What if this does not happen? The Doyle Shipping Group has pulled out from this sector because of the uncertainty.

They are not there. Nowhere else in the Republic has planning permission to do this. My concern is that all the potential for jobs will be offshore. We were told in Belfast that to tow one of these turbines cost €250,000 per day. If they are towed from France or Wales, it is not going to be economically viable. All these grand ideas, plans and so on could go up in smoke unless we get our act together. This is really serious and it needs action at ministerial level and senior departmental level.

Those were the two issues I wanted to raise. They relate to the Canada question, which I would like the Minister to consider, and the IDA Ireland land in Cork and the need for the port to expand as a matter of urgency, with Government assistance and funding to make that happen.

I thank the Deputy for those two important points. In respect of the Canadian market, Enterprise Ireland has approximately 1,400 clients in operation in that jurisdiction. IDA Ireland currently has under review its location plans through its capital plans. I will relay the Deputy's comments about the opportunities, especially further to the engagement through the CETA partnership. There are probably significant opportunities, as he rightly pointed out.

In respect of powering prosperity and our offshore renewable wind plan, in my previous Department I was very much engaged in providing the planning and consent regime for the offshore renewable sector, ensuring MARA got up and running with a chief executive and a team and ensuring we would get our designated marine area plans, DMAPs, in place, that is, the local area plans that allow development to commence. From the Arklow Bank to now, a lot of time has passed without investment in this area.

When we look to the horizon and the energy demand out to 2030, we have to get this right and delivered by then. If we do not, our economy will suffer. It is so important we put all our wheels in motion. I hope to work with Scotland in this area. We are getting ready to have a memorandum of understanding with Scotland in connection with it. In supply chain management, there is a lot we can do in that regard. I visited the port in Cork, met people and brought a ministerial colleague. There is planning permission; the Deputy is quite right. It is currently with the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, ISIF, and there is a live application. It is important it be delivered urgently. It has been raised with the Government and we do know about the urgency attached to it. Obviously, the port and Foynes need significant investment and the Government is prepared on that front to ensure we can manage the logistics attached to the supply chains. That is going to be critical to get it operational.

On the west coast, further out, there is significant work to be done in advancing the DMAPs. There is huge work on innovation and trying to secure floating turbines that will work, as prescribed, offshore. I understand there has not yet been any invention that works satisfactorily, but we have to be ready for it when there is. The Government is seeking to have we the conditions right, have our strategy in play and are prepared to host infrastructure, deliver the complex supply chains and invest research because the area is ever changing. As a Department, we are investing heavily in research in the area.

I absolutely acknowledge the urgency. ISIF is dealing with the Port of Cork as we speak. It is important that that investment be delivered.

I am aware of the ISIF application and other funding that might be possible, but my understanding is it is going very slowly. If it does not happen soon, the planning permission will run out, and there is a concern planning permission might be very difficult to acquire again. It would have to start the whole process again, as I understand. This is really urgent. If it is not sorted by the end of this year, it is not going to happen and we will have nowhere in the Republic that can do this. All our grand plans, ideas, strategies and so on will be for naught. I urge the Minister to revert to his Cabinet colleagues and to push this as hard as possible. It is really urgent.

Absolutely. I assure the Deputy it has been raised, in the context of the planning permission running out, because it is very significant. We have seen in other areas how difficult it is to get planning and that extending planning can be a significant challenge. I hope that, in the context of our infrastructure, the new planning Bill will assist in that regard. It is important that this investment get on the road.

That has to be expedited. I hope the Minister will take that back to the Cabinet.

I will read from the minutes of a meeting in a county council local enterprise office regarding productivity supports. During April and the beginning of 2024, business advisers in an LEO visited several local businesses to promote the current productivity supports, which the Minister's Department is funding very well. These include green for business, lean for business and digital business, all of which we have discussed extensively during this meeting. All supports can help businesses reduce costs - this is from the minutes of the meeting in the local authority where the LEOs are embedded - and make them more energy efficient. So far in 2024, eight applications have been approved. That is two and one third businesses, if we think about the three types of supports that are available. It is eight in the first quarter. That is why I have serious concerns. In County Clare, for example, 92% of our workforce is employed by the SME sector. It is time for the Department to ask Enterprise Ireland, which the Minister said is in charge of the LEOs, to see what targets we are setting, what we are doing well and what is not working. There is no issue with funding for this from the Department, but it is not getting out there on the ground. Of those eight, I was responsible for four of them even knowing about the initiatives.

There is a PR aspect to this. I do not know what else we have to do but I ask the Minister to seriously examine this. The funding is there from the top down but bottom up, talking to small businesses, they do not know about it, they do not have time about it and they are told it is a lot of extra work. We are missing something here if only eight applications have been approved in one quarter when there are thousands of SMEs. We can ask for figures from all the LEOs to see how it is going and what is not working, because there is no shortage of funding coming from the Department.

Will Enterprise Ireland support businesses that cannot access supports from the Department of agriculture because they are adding value beyond packaging or very basic processing? For example, if a small creamery wanted to make flavoured yoghurt, it could not get support from that Department if it was adding flavours to it, because combining ingredients makes it no longer a primary processor, which is the only type of business the Department will support, but that is the innovation a lot of local food companies could undertake to create sustainable, long-term jobs in local communities. It is also good for small farmers to look into.

We have a large part of the world's supply of beef and milk and one ninth of the world's supply of baby formula milk, I believe, but we have to get real about the issues facing us. Climate change is going to heavily influence how we can import foods, and we are so not ready and not resilient as a country that has a lot of land and produces a lot of food. We need to take it seriously to support small, indigenous businesses that are not just thinking about exporting. What are we going to do to support them? These companies come to me having been told by the Department of agriculture that it cannot support them. We cannot live on beef and milk alone. We have a spud crisis at the moment. I would love to see the Department of enterprise taking the food issue much more seriously. We saw that when the Suez Canal was blocked, we could not import food. We are not facing up to the reality of what we are facing as a country. We are not climate resilient when it comes to feeding our own country, and the LEOs only support companies that produce food that is ready for export. There are huge gaps there and the Department needs to look at that. Whose responsibility is it? Is it that of IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland or the Department of agriculture? These gaps need to be filled.

Deputy Bruton touched on the issue of the 9% VAT. This is the biggest ask of restaurants, cafés and hotels, which are the biggest employers where I come from in lovely north Clare.

It is their one clear ask. Either they are completely wrong or the Department is missing something else. We gave it to them before. I have to go to Buswells now and meet a load of people from the hotel industry. The 9% VAT rate is a clear ask and there are small people doing big work on this.

Is there more to do on the PRSI reductions? We have done loads on wages, quality of life and days off for lots of different reasons, which is brilliant. The minimum wage was also increased, despite Sinn Féin not being able to acknowledge that fact, but what is being done to help small businesses who do not have big profits and cannot afford all those changes unless we give them the 9% or PRSI reductions? I know the Minister is working hard on budgets but we have to give them hope to get them through this season and next summer season as well. Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire.

-----for her questions. On the LEOs and the funding streams flowing from them, our national hub will be a significant benefit in trying to increase awareness. It will be launched next week on 10 July. That will pinpoint all available funding streams, mentorship and assistance the SME sector needs. It was stress-tested through the regional forum and business forum to ensure they think it is a good idea. That will help pinpoint issues around SMEs and assist businesses in finding the answer and helping them with mentorship and assistance.

On the numbers of participants, I have national figures for January to May 2024, including 25,000 training programmes. In terms of the green interventions, there have been 340 since January; we would expect more, but we will work to increase those. In the context of my role in the Department, I have to prioritise working hard for the SME sector. It is one of the areas I have hived off and I want to push that in the weeks ahead.

The digital portal we will launch at the end of the month will assist SMEs in their capabilities, in where they need to improve and in showing their resilience. That will be a significant assistance to them. The funding streams are there. That hopefully will help-----

No. There will be a single point of contact. We need to get it to a stage whereby a person incorporating a company and sending out letters is advised of this national hub to connect to for advice. That will point people in the right direction and someone will be at the end of the phone, which is important. That is what we will ensure through the hub.

Absolutely. This will show people the various State actors available to help them. It will be launched on 10 July and the digital portal will follow that. We have a lot of work to do in that space. The SME package points to a lot of interventions that will assist, like PRSI, which the Senator referenced, and the SME test, which is important across government, in Think Small First. A number of memos have been sent back through Government with the Cabinet secretariat being the gatekeeper. They have not demonstrated the SME test. We want to get it into the Cabinet handbook to ensure it is embedded in the process that any intervention or idea is stress-tested as to how it would impact business.

Food Vision 2030 is in the Department of agriculture, with Teagasc, Bord Bia and our State agency, Enterprise Ireland, working to deliver that vision and grow sustainable food production in our country. I attended a significant Food Wise Conference in Croke Park recently. It was incredible to see the innovative practices on display and to see our continued growth in market share and exports.

I do not see any significant issue with yoghurt. Every application and engagement has to be judged on its merits but Enterprise Ireland is engaged with some significant clients in the sector and doing a lot of work. I cannot see what the reason or rationale is but every case is different.

We are happy to engage with the Senator on that and try to unlock the issue.

We also have the increased costs of business grants flowing out. Hopefully the second payments to the hospitality and retail sectors will be going out from next week. That is another significant intervention which is helping business. It is a cash payment directly into the bank account for just an application that can be done in less than two minutes. That is an important assistance to the sectors the Senator is concerned about.

The population of Waterford is 2.5% of the national population and the population of the south east is approximately 10%. The capital expenditure in the programme for Government is approximately €45 billion, as far as I can make it out. That suggests Waterford should see €1 billion, pro rata, and the south east should see €4.4 billion. Will the Minister go back to his Cabinet colleagues and ask them where that is in evidence? It is not in evidence.

With regard to IBM, the Minister referred to 800 jobs. That is the amount being discussed.

That is potentially 200 jobs to Waterford over the next three years. We have not had major FDI investment in Waterford since West Pharma eight or nine years ago. I was recently told informally that an inquiry was made by staff of a large multinational about locating in Waterford and IDA Ireland advised them it did not feel the land bank was available for what was proposed. There are two factory sites there for sale, which I mentioned to IDA Ireland previously: Cartamundi, which, unfortunately, went out of business last year with the loss of 350 jobs, and Waterford Tretford Carpets. Both sites are in the industrial park. Why would the IDA Ireland not buy them as a proactive development to attract FDI?

Going back to the business environment, we are trying to get entrepreneurs into business and to scale and move on but we have a regime of capital gains tax which means an entrepreneur who wants to divest a business or pass it on to family can be subject to up to 33% capital gains tax. This is a significant disincentive to people in business. Will the Minister look at that, particularly considering the headline capital gains tax take fell by €200 million in 2023? Does he have an opinion on whether it is working?

Another employee incentive programme is the key employee engagement programme, KEEP. We have problems with employee churn in business and this is an obvious way of dealing with that but the take-up is very small. What can be done to push it on?

I reiterate what Deputy Stanton said on the offshore wind development programme. I have questioned a number of times in the Dáil why the State is not taking an active investment role in licensing offshore wind. Taking the south-east DMAP that is being discussed, the community dividend is €14 million to €18 million over the life of the farm, which is 25 years, so it is nothing really. We are putting money into strategic rainy day funds. Why is the Government not investing in future energy generation so the State will not be held hostage by private investors in the future when it has no ownership and no rights other than being contracted to pay the tariffs they put on?

Waterford port is marshalling onshore wind. If you go down to the port, you will see all the roundabouts coming up the motorway have been amended to allow large turbines and pylons be moved to onshore wind farms. There is an application from Waterford port for over a year and a half to the Department for funding to help with a jetty extension. It is up to a total of €35 million but there is no movement on that. It is far less than any other figure being asked at present for port development. Deputy Stanton said, and I agree, that we are in danger of losing all this offshore opportunity, whatever it may be. It is hard to quantify what it is but it is obvious the State is not showing interest in investing in the ports. It thinks the private sector, which is doing the wind farms, will do the port infrastructure. Wind farm people I have spoken to have told me that will definitely not happen.

The State does need to invest.

I thank the Deputy for his questions. Regarding our capital expenditure, the Government is probably spending approximately €12 billion per annum. That was approximately €3 billion a decade ago, so the pace of growth can be seen. I genuinely look at it as a glass half full. In the case of Waterford, there have been significant infrastructure improvements over the past decade. They came across two Governments, which I supported as a backbencher in the previous one and as a Minister in this current one. Some of these improvements are highly significant and go into tertiary education, health, greenways and roads, as can be seen through the North Quays getting €170 million in one investment. This makes the point that it is getting significant investment. I will raise the Deputy's concern about the IDA not recommending a client go to that particular location. I will raise that with the IDA. It has a significant building programme that it is working through in eight different areas. I will raise the Deputy's concerns in connection with Waterford with the IDA directly but I emphasise there are a lot of good things happening in the region.

Of course, from a Government standpoint, I would make this point. It is important to demonstrate when we have a significant capital plan. People need to see and feel that. Even looking at housing, Waterford is one of the shining lights in the repair and leasing scheme. I went down there and met Michael Walsh, an exceptional city manager, who is doing incredible work. He pioneered that scheme and really showed other local authorities what they should be doing. I visited the old building just outside the city that had seen transformational effects. There is a huge amount of work being done.

Second, on capital gains tax, the Deputy obviously was referring to a €10 million gross threshold in connection with the valuation of businesses. I will be working on that as I do not want it to be the case that our indigenous enterprises are at a disadvantage through a measure whereby a capital gains tax must be paid for a non-cash transaction if it is being passed over to the next generation, particularly as businesses now need cash to invest in decarbonisation. We need to focus on how they embark upon a more sustainable pathway, as well as trying to freshen up senior management. All those areas will have to be looked at in detail and I will be calling for improvements in that area. There is no secret about that.

It is very important to keep entrepreneurs at home. We have made improvements to the KEEP scheme to make it more attractive, and we will be working to try to increase the uptake on it. Regarding our offshore wind, I am in agreement that we have a huge amount to do. That is why we have set out an ambitious strategy in the Department through Powering Prosperity and as our value proposition to ensure we can attract investment on a sound footing into the future. Offshore wind is fundamental to that deal, and we have a huge amount of work to do, as has rightly been pointed out by the Deputy in terms of the investment, because we have to deliver it. This is not a choice; it has to be done to provide that certainty. I will work with my Government colleagues to try to achieve that. As I said, I had a significant conference with a Scottish minister down at the Port of Cork, and we are happy to work with other areas so we can ensure that we have the capacity to bring in that infrastructure. We do not want to lose this opportunity. We are a country that has an exclusive economic zone that is beyond seven times greater than our landmass. Our opportunity is vast and we need to be ready for the improvements in technology on the west coast as well.

Going back to the point of the State taking proper capital investment, it is a really missed opportunity. We only need to look at Corrib gas and see where it was held up, and at what we did with oil 30 years ago with licensing and the pittance that we go out of that. Talking about offshore wind as an asset, whether it is an asset or otherwise, it will not be an asset if the State is purely a consumer and taking a bid price, when we do not know where that bid price will fall. Obviously, it will be a question of the licensing and the award of licences and all the rest. I would say to the Minister, that it is being done in Scotland and there is opportunity for the Government to invest, rather than putting all of our money into rainy day funds in the future, it is raining now in the context of energy and we should be making an investment. We should be making a State investment, and have State equity and ownership regarding offshore wind development.

The future of Ireland fund will be doing that and will be investing in significant projects as it has to do that. There is no doubt but that we have to invest significantly in those capital projects to bring them on stream. I have do not have full jurisdiction it, as the Deputy is aware, as in my Department, I represent business. I try to provide a pathway for businesses through research and through supply chain management so that they have all that they need to ensure that they can deliver. We will be working with the Minister, Deputy Ryan, and others in government to ensure that this is expedited quickly.

I congratulate our new Minister, Deputy Peter Burke. As a Senator representing Roscommon and Galway, we have Athlone in common. We can see how both Westmeath County Council and Roscommon County Council work together to ensure the development of Athlone as a centre for the live sciences. Only recently, Athlone was nominated as a growth town and that is through the Western Development Commission and as well the Eastern and Midland Regional Assembly, right through the regional spatial economic strategies. The Minister mentioned in one of the first lines in his opening statement, how important balanced regional development is. We say this, but the Minister knows what this means for our towns and smaller towns across Ireland when it comes to growth.

Athlone recently celebrated the tenth anniversary of Jazz Pharmaceuticals in Monksland and the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, came down to visit. We have Alexion, which saw a massive investment of more than €65 million come in through both Dublin and Athlone. It is really important to see that the other surrounding towns across Roscommon and east Galway are also supported. I invite the Minister in his new role to come and visit us and to see the IDA business and technology parks in both Roscommon town and Ballinasloe. As a Senator from the area, I am fighting for that balanced regional investment. It is excellent to see large investment coming into our towns but we need to see how it is happening in the likes of Roscommon town and Ballinasloe.

When I link in with my IDA contacts, one of the first things they will say to me is housing. I am delighted to say that we have more than 136 brand-new housing units for families in Ballinasloe town. We have a national broadband plan rolled out by Fine Gael, taking the lead in government regarding driving that across the country. We have broadband. We have housing. What are the other elements that we need to show to be an attractive site? The IDA has worked hard. Dexcom with more than 1,000 jobs, is going to transform the area of east Galway and is absolutely phenomenal.

The other areas I might also highlight are housing and electricity. The new energy efficiency grant, through the local enterprise office, is wonderful. I thank the Minister for the policy document that was issued. That was the green for business initiative, which businesses can apply for absolutely free. They can get an energy audit out, which is wonderful and many businesses have been doing that. I have worked hard to link in with businesses, contact them and encourage them to apply. I often walk about and walk in, knock on the door and ask if businesses would consider applying for this. We are getting great feedback. I am told by the Galway LEO that application levels are up for the green for business initiative in the east Galway area. The next step is the energy efficiency grant. The announcement of the extra €10,000 is crucial. I want to see businesses in the areas that I represent, in Roscommon and Galway, have lower energy bills this winter. It means they can implement those decisions and recommendations to that energy efficiency grant over the summer. The Minister might like to make a comment on that.

The portfolio of the Department of enterprise criss-crosses many areas. I have talked about housing there and I know that is not within the Department's remit. Despite this, when the Department goes out and fights for investment, it is one of the key things that is looked at. How does the Department feed in at a cross-departmental level, with those other areas? As Fine Gael Seanad spokesperson in research and innovation, I support the disruptive technologies innovation fund. It has been crucial in driving competitiveness. We are up there and previously have been ranking. We see the likes of Science Foundation Ireland, the new agency that is coming out to drive investment and the role of Enterprise Ireland within each of our universities and our technological universities, through the technology transfer fund and getting those patents across the line, as well as driving spinouts. There was an article in the Business Post last weekend, about how we want to see more entrepreneurs being driven out of Ireland out of our campuses and universities. I seek the Minister's comments in this regard.

I know the Minister will be working closely with the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan, on that. Our competitiveness is crucial for Enterprise Ireland and the IDA. We have to keep our rankings high. That means investment in our research competitiveness and in research at third level and Enterprise Ireland is doing that. Those are some of the areas I might mention.

I thank the Minister and welcome him and congratulate him. I know he will be working closely with his team. He has an excellent team across the IDA and Enterprise Ireland. As someone who worked in Health Innovation Hub Ireland, knows bio-innovation, is down in Galway and got to see the importance of medtech in the Galway area, I know what we can drive in the west of Ireland. I am asking for the Minister's support for balanced regional development across many areas, and I welcome his comments.

I thank the Senator and assure her she will have my support. For the people she represents it is an important area in regional Ireland. It is good to see the IDA has strongly turned the dial so that 54% of all investments are now in regional Ireland. It is important that continues.

The Senator rightly pointed out the importance of broadband. We now have broadband speeds in the most rural part of the country that are faster than in the heart of Manhattan in New York. That is a bold statement for a small, open, island economy like Ireland to make. We are continuing to grow that infrastructure.

The Senator rightly referred to Athlone and Ballinasloe in terms of the investment needed and happening. In Athlone there are DPD, Sidero and Novo Nordisk. So many good companies are operating and growing there over the past years. As a regional growth centre designated under the national planning framework, NPF, the benefits from that are wider in the regions. We need to continue the investment.

The Senator also pointed out the capital plan, under which there will be flood relief plans in Athlone, improved infrastructure like the greenway and the bridge to County Roscommon, on which she will absolutely welcome further progress. That is very important. There is a €100 million wastewater relief scheme in the town to assist it to grow and attract more investment. It is to have that necessary infrastructure which is vital to a regional growth centre like Athlone. We are continuing to work with the State agencies on that regional balance. The Senator can also see, in the context of Enterprise Ireland, that significant growth in business in regional Ireland is important and it is important to keep that pace.

It is good to hear feedback about our energy efficiency grant. That will be live from next week. Applications can come in under the 25% and €10,000 capital spend. It was obviously announced as part of the SME package. It had to get final approval from the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform and the Enterprise Ireland board. We have already advised the LEOs to take applications on it, by the way. We can now work to ensure businesses can get the benefit of that and taking less money from businesses every month for their utilities. It is about leaving money with businesses as opposed to taking it away from them. Small grants like that can mean a lot, be it for LED lighting in kitchens and refrigeration and all of those areas you can get investment in by putting up between 20% and 25% priming finance. It is important that we continue on that trajectory. I am happy to work with the Senator across all of those areas.

The issue the Senator raised about housing is important. We are funding a research unit in NUIG for €5 million looking at modern methods of construction. That will be important as we continue to build at scale and our housing targets increase. It is incredible to note that, primarily due to the waiver, more than 50,000 units have commenced since 1 January. That is significant evidence that, as a country, we are tackling the housing problem. People do not have to take the Government's word anymore. Anyone who drives around their community can see significant sites around the country where builders are on-site and houses are being delivered. We can say that to executives of multinationals when we are trying to win investment and bring it back to Ireland.

We are tackling the housing crisis. People should not judge us; they should look at the evidence. We can see it before our eyes. The affordable schemes and cost rental are ramping up to ensure we are meeting this demand, and we will build more than 35,000 new homes this year. More than 350 homes are delivered into the marketplace every working day. There are 500 first-time buyers getting the keys to their new homes every week. It is important that we continue on that trajectory because it is an important component of Ireland's value proposition as well as energy security and our talent, which the Senator rightly mentioned with regard to our third level institutions. Approximately 8% of Ireland's graduates are in the ICT sector. That enables us to be the second largest exporter of ICT services worldwide. That is also our value proposition as a country, because our primary resource is our people. The better and more highly skilled workers we have in our country, the better a value proposition we can offer globally.

The Senator is right on all those points. I look forward to working with her and visiting her in the days and months ahead.

Has the Department looked at and formulated a view on the proposal to establish a border control post in Cork? I am told at the moment there are 2,000 containers that cannot be unloaded in Cork due to the restriction of not having a border control post there. I am told some containers are going over to Southampton, England. The contents are then taken by truck to the west coast of Britain and across to Dublin or Rosslare, where they then go through a border control post. Some even go to Antwerp, Belgium. I am told it costs approximately €4,000 per container. It is having a huge impact on trade, and there is a knock-on impact in costs to consumers and businesses here. Is the Department aware of this and has it formulated a view on it? Has it made any representations to the Department of agriculture or Revenue, which I am sure were involved in this. It is a huge issue, and it could be of huge benefit to the country if it could be dealt with.

We will raise that important issue with Customs and Excise and Revenue. We obviously have improved infrastructure post Brexit, which is important to our economy. We have seen significant investment in Rosslare and Dublin Port in particular. I am not specifically aware of the issue but we will raise it with Revenue and Customs and Excise and come back on it.

In his opening statement the Minister said the innovation voucher will be increased to €10,000 or whatever. Last week, representatives of the committee went to meet EY in its artificial intelligence laboratory. It talked about its wavespace project. Would the innovation voucher be applicable to people looking for training in AI or support around dealing with AI? If not, is there another scheme, particularly for smaller SMEs?

It absolutely would. That would be a key target through digitalisation and the White Paper. It is important because there is a significant challenge with AI. The transformation it can have on our economies is incredible. It is important businesses are aware of it, working in it and trying to future proof themselves for it.