Business Supports

19. Deputy George Lawlor asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment the steps being taken to support Irish enterprises facing rising global cost pressures, supply chain volatility and geopolitical uncertainty; and the specific supports being developed for SMEs to maintain competitiveness in the current economic climate. [66780/26]

I ask the Minister about the steps being taken to support Irish enterprises facing rising global cost pressures, supply chain volatility and geopolitical uncertainty, and the specific supports being developed for SMEs to maintain competitiveness in the current economic climate.

Ireland remains one of the most competitive economies, ranking seventh in the world competitiveness rankings. However, significant challenges remain. The Government is committed to ensuring that Ireland's strengths are not taken for granted. In recent years, a range of measures have been introduced to support competitiveness and help businesses, particularly our SMEs, to manage rising costs and adapt to changing economic conditions. The key element of this work has been the establishment of the cost of doing business advisory forum and the publication of the action plan on competitiveness and productivity. The forum's report, published in August, contains 63 recommendations aimed at addressing business costs and pressures across areas such as energy, insurance, regulation, planning, financial services and compliance obligations. Recommendations include measures to improve competition in the banking sector, reduce the reporting burden for SMEs and explore options for lower energy costs for business. The action plan on competitiveness and productivity, published in September 2025, adopts a whole-of-government approach to addressing domestic competitiveness challenges. The plan contains 85 actions, many of which are focused on SME creation and growth. Key measures include the establishment of startup Ireland as a co-ordinated body for the startup ecosystem, the creation of an SME scaling fund to address financial gaps, the Government-wide red tape challenge to reduce regulatory burden, enabling innovation to support SME digitalisation and the adoption of technologies such as AI. The Government is also focused on strengthening Ireland's resilience in an increasingly uncertain global trading environment. As a small open economy, Ireland is particularly exposed to disruptions in international supply chains and global trade. In response, the Government's action plan on market diversification is supporting businesses to expand in new markets, deepening engagement with existing markets and reducing dependence on any single region. Along with this, the Government is promoting the constant application of the SME test across all Departments to ensure the impact of proposed legislation on SMEs is fully considered.

The key to this issue is our indigenous Irish industry. We have seen, particularly in regard to the geopolitical tensions that have been built up through the actions of President Trump in particular, be it through war or through his tariffs that have threatened the whole global economy, that we need to ensure our indigenous industry grows and develops. We need a national competitive package for SMEs. We need targeted energy supports. We also need a temporary working capital scheme for firms hit by supply chain delays or price spikes. We need accelerated capital allowances also, particularly for digitalisation, automation and productivity-enhancing investments. We need to ensure that our indigenous entities and businesses and SMEs are the ones that are our first port of call for supports.

I could not agree more. Our small businesses and SMEs are the backbone of the Irish economy. They account for 99% of all job creation in our communities the length and breadth of the country. We recognise that many businesses are feeling significant cost pressures. That is precisely why this Government, the Minister, Deputy Burke, the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, and I have been proactive in bringing forward the cost of doing business advisory forum, establishing the small business unit within our Department and publishing the action plan on competitiveness and productivity early last year. We have done this in order to drive action and implementation in a structured roadmap, while ensuring that businesses are part of that process. This is about helping Irish businesses to remain resilient and capable of creating and sustaining quality employment. That is really important for Irish indigenous companies. We cannot take that for granted. As a result, we have a strong economy and we have good employment, but we need to continue in that vein.

One thing that we need to focus on is regional resilience measures. For towns like Wexford, New Ross and Rosslare in areas like mine, regional enterprise hubs are vital because they are particularly focused on supply chain and digital adoption. We need localised upskilling programmes, particularly for a county like Wexford in the area of logistics, with the enhancement and development of Rosslare Europort as a port of strategic national importance. We need support for clusters too. In a county like Wexford, these clusters include the agri-tech, med-tech and green industries, which will only grow in future. We also need to ensure that our SMEs have strengthened access to finance and have that ability to grow sustainably. We need to expand the growth and sustainability loan scheme. That would really benefit our SMEs.

I agree with many of the points that the Deputy has raised. Scaling funds are really important. That is why we will bring forward measures to support SMEs and businesses to access finance and capital. Enterprise Ireland is now ramping up the startup Ireland programme. We have invested significantly in recent times in the new frontiers programme, especially in the likes of the south east. We have funded Enterprise Ireland to support local startups and the accelerate programme, which is managed on behalf of Enterprise Ireland in the south east. It is important that we can continue to support new startups and enterprise hubs as indigenous Irish companies are critically important not just because they support foreign direct investment companies, but also because many of them are established outside our main cities and our main hubs. We want to continue to support them, ensure that their export focus can create jobs, and not just in Ireland, and ensure they can expand in the future.