All are very welcome to the sixth meeting of the Select Committee on Enterprise, Tourism and Employment. Before we proceed, I have a few housekeeping matters to go through. I advise members of the constitutional requirement that they must be physically present within the confines of the Leinster House complex in order to participate in public meetings. I will not permit a member to participate where he or she is not adhering to that constitutional requirement. Therefore, any member who attempts to participate from outside the precincts will be asked to leave the meeting. In this regard, I ask members participating via Microsoft Teams to confirm, prior to making their contribution to the meeting, that they are on the grounds of the Leinster House complex.

Apologies have been received from the Leas-Chathaoirleach, Deputy Brennan. As regards speaking arrangements, I will invite the Minister to speak for approximately ten minutes, after which I will allow members to make general comments for up to eight minutes.

We do not necessarily have a speaking rota for select committee meetings so if members indicate to speak, they are welcome to do so. Committee members may substitute within their own party or group. Members who are not members of the committee or substitutes may speak only after committee members or substitutes have spoken. Is that agreed? Agreed.

We will now deal with the Revised Estimates 2026, Vote 32, for the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment. Parliament has a functional role in holding governments to account by scrutinising budgetary decisions and performance. There are four budgetary milestone engagements through the year providing for year-round scrutiny by sectoral committee. Item A is the Revised Estimates Volume, REV, in February-March; item B is the public service performance report, PSPR, in May-June; item C is the mid-year expenditure report in July or September; and item D is the Supplementary Estimates in October-November.

Today, we are considering the Revised Estimates, Vote 32, Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, which stand referred to the committee. The total funds available to the Minister in 2026 amount to €1.612 billion, not including Supplementary Estimates, which may be considered later this year. In relation to the Revised Estimates 2026, Vote 32, the gross total stands at €1.391 billion; own-resourcing of Government agencies stands at €200 million; unused capital appropriation for 2025 is €21 million; and total funding available is at €1.612 billion.

I welcome the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Deputy Peter Burke, and his officials. The committee deeply appreciated the comprehensive briefing materials provided by the Minister's Department in relation to today's discussion. This has been circulated to members. I propose we publish the opening statement and the overview brief provided by the Minister on the committee's website. Is that agreed? Agreed.

I invite the Minister to make his opening statement.

I thank the Cathaoirleach. I thank members for the opportunity to present my Department’s 2026 Estimate to them. My officials have provided the committee’s secretariat, as outlined by the Cathaoirleach, with a briefing on the details of our Estimate, which hopefully will be of assistance to them all. The economic environment in which the 2026 Estimates are being presented has changed significantly from previous years and continues to evolve at a rapid pace. It is incumbent that we take all the necessary measures in our control to ensure that we meet the challenges presented by this change so that we continue to compete in the new geopolitical reality.

The programme for Government commits to delivering a strong, stable and sustainable economy, including by improving our competitiveness, protecting and growing quality jobs, supporting businesses to succeed and preparing our enterprise base for new challenges and emerging economic trends. My Department is playing a key role in delivering on the programme for Government. We have already set out the pathway to deliver this by launching a number of important initiatives. Specifically, I launched the Government Action Plan on Competitiveness and Productivity in September. This plan is focused on enhancing our competitiveness and productivity performance and identifies 85 separate actions to do so.

I published the Action Plan on Market Diversification in August. This plan will bolster Ireland’s economic resilience by expanding global trade opportunities for Irish businesses. The action plan was jointly developed with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. It includes over 100 actions designed to respond to the trade challenges facing the country, and the business sector in particular.

I also launched Ireland’s new national tourism policy statement in December. The policy statement will strengthen the tourism sector in important areas, such as sustainable regional development, increasing employment and promoting year-round, inclusive and environmentally conscious tourism. The statement includes over 70 discrete actions, which will be delivered by tourism bodies and supported by my Department.

These three initiatives are some of the central ways in which my Department will help secure our economic future, as envisaged in the programme for Government. We are delivering these initiatives from a position of strength. The Government’s economic policies have secured consistent growth, with modified domestic demand increasing by 2.3% last year. There is a virtuous circle at play here where economic growth is supported by investment in the enterprise sector, which in turn generates significant return on investment through jobs and taxes.

A key pillar of my Department is employment. I am pleased with the increasing levels of employment we have seen in Ireland, with the total number at work exceeding 2.83 million and over 56,000 jobs added in 2025. It is also the case that more than 585,000 people are employed by clients of our enterprise agencies, Enterprise Ireland, the IDA and our local enterprise offices, with many more indirect jobs created as a result of this base. This strong performance has supported the creation of stable public finances, which yielded a budget surplus for 2025 as well as a continued reduction in the level of gross general government debt.

The Estimate I have the pleasure to present to the committee today provides my Department with a total of €1.39 billion in gross Exchequer funding for 2026. This is broken down as €629 million in current funding and €762.2 million in capital funding. In addition, the Revised Estimate also provides my Department with a further €21.3 million of capital appropriations from 2025 that are carried forward for use this year. In addition to Exchequer funding, a number of agencies generate income from equity and property-related investments which, subject to sanction, they can retain to support their programmes. Approximately €200 million is expected to be generated this year. Accordingly, the total funding available to my Department and its agencies in 2026 is €1.6 billion.

As the committee will be aware, my Department’s Vote is broken down into four distinct programmes. Under jobs and enterprise development, €762.7 million is being provided to support jobs and enterprise development in 2026. This includes some €42.5 million in funding in respect of a number of enterprise innovation programmes, which were previously funded under our enterprise, innovation and commercialisation programme, but were considered more aligned with the entrepreneurship and scaling focus of the Department’s jobs and enterprise development programme.

The IDA is being provided with an Exchequer allocation of €297.2 million for use on its programmes this year. This represents an increase of €19.1 million on the funding allocated to the IDA in 2025. This year will be the second year of implementation of the IDA’s five-year strategy. The agency’s focus will remain on winning investment for Ireland, building partnerships with client companies and supporting them to grow, transform and further embed themselves in the Irish economy. The IDA will continue to promote Ireland as a world leader in foreign direct investment opportunities and is aiming to secure 1,000 total investments, with 55% of these to be delivered outside Dublin; to secure €7 billion in new R and D investment; and to upskill 40,000 people. The allocation will also ensure that the IDA can continue to deliver its regional property programme, which is completing 23 projects in 21 locations across eight regions. Over the next five years, the IDA will aim to complete six buildings currently under construction or in planning or procurement stages in Cavan, Letterkenny, Drogheda, Mullingar, Longford and Castlebar.

Enterprise Ireland will receive a total of €275.9 million to fund its enterprise development activities in 2026. This represents an increase of €77.4 million on its 2025 allocation, albeit some €42.5 million of this relates to the transfer of enterprise innovation programmes, as I mentioned, which were previously funded under the Department’s enterprise, innovation and commercialisation programme. The funding provided to Enterprise Ireland will enable it to continue to deliver its strategy from 2025 to 2029, Delivering for Ireland, Leading Globally, by accelerating sustainable Irish business to start, compete, scale and connect. Key elements of the strategy include expanding employment and exports as part of its multiyear target of 275,000 jobs and €50 billion in exports by 2029. The strategy will also accelerate start-up creation, productivity growth, research, development and innovation, RD and I, investment, and sustainability improvements, as well as enabling scaling firms to move into international leadership positions.

Funding of €60.28 million is being provided to support local enterprise offices, LEOs, in 2026. This funding will be targeted at delivering up to 3,500 net new jobs in 2026, of which 80% are expected to be created outside Dublin. The LEOs will also support over 9,000 clients on individual mentoring assignments.

The success of the LEOs is demonstrated by the fact that they now support businesses employing more than 40,000 employees in communities across the country, with more than 82% of those jobs located outside Dublin.

The funding provided through the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland's, SBCI, loans scheme programme has given companies access to finance through my Department’s future growth loan scheme and the growth and sustainability loan scheme. Both schemes have provided small and medium-sized enterprises with vital access to long-term credit for strategic investment, growth, resilience and environmental sustainability purposes that would not have been available otherwise.

The Department is engaged with the European Investment Bank, EIB, on expending the growth and sustainability loan scheme. The EIB has indicated its willingness to provide an enhanced guarantee facility to support the expansion of the scheme. The €11 million allocated in the Revised Estimates will allow the Department to make its initial contribution to the cost of the expansion of this scheme. The Department, together with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, is working closely with the EIB and the SBCI to finalise agreement on further expansion of the scheme.

The Revised Estimates provide a token allocation of €1,000 in respect of the humanitarian relief scheme as it is not possible to estimate in advance the amount of funding that will be required to meet the cost of particular flooding events. I have, however, secured agreement from the Government for an allocation of €3 million to be provided to my Department by way of additional funding to support the humanitarian relief scheme, including the enhanced scheme that I recently announced, in respect of the flooding we have already experienced this year. This will ensure that eligible businesses affected by the recent flooding are supported. I understand the Red Cross has already paid out a number of claims in respect of these events and will continue to work closely with those affected.

Funding of €200.3 million is being provided to support my Department's enterprise innovation and commercialisation programme in 2026. A total of €130.6 million is being provided to the Department’s science and technology development programme this year. As advised, €42.5 million in funding previously allocated to this programme has been allocated to the jobs and enterprise development programme on the transfer of a number of enterprise innovation measures to the programme.

The funding being provided to the science and technology programme will ensure that Enterprise Ireland can continue to spur innovation in companies through enabling collaborations between industry and third level, driving involvement of companies in technology centres, facilitating the transfer of commercially valuable technologies to Irish enterprises, and increasing the number of high-potential start-ups that are created from research.

Specifically, in 2026, Enterprise Ireland will commence the scaling of its technology centres which will involve the provision of additional funding of €45 million over the next five years to centres such as Irish Manufacturing Research, IMR, and CeADAR. Enterprise Ireland will also roll out phase 2 of the European Digital Innovation Hubs 2026-2029, as well as establish a new food technology centre to replace the three existing food centres, namely, Meat Technology Ireland, the Dairy Processing Tech Centre and Food for Health Ireland.

A total of €17.2 million in funding has been allocated to the subscriptions to the international organisation programme in 2026. This will mainly support the work of the membership of the European Space Agency, ESA. Additional funding of €17.5 million was provided to the ESA programme through the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment's Supplementary Estimate last year. This additional funding was to help meet the cost of commitments given at the ESA ministerial council for the period 2026 to 2030. The €60 million in funding provided over 2025 and 2026 will grow ESA contract opportunities and technology and product development by Irish-based companies, in supporting their competitiveness and growth within the evolving space sector.

A sum of €31 million in funding is being provided to the disruptive technologies innovation fund, DTIF, programme. This will ensure that a further call can be funded and launched. To date, there have been seven funding calls under the DTIF programme. Over 130 projects have been allocated total funding of over €500 million, under these calls, which has acted as a catalyst for collaboration among 500 partners, including SMEs and multinationals, from our excellent research and industry sectors.

The funding to support the Department’s regulation programme is being increased by €14.3 million to €152.1 million in 2026. This funding will ensure that our regulatory bodies, including the Workplace Relations Commission, the Health and Safety Authority, the Corporate Enforcement Authority, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, the Companies Registration Office, the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority and the Low Pay Commission, can continue to carry out their vital statutory functions. The continued effectiveness of the regulation programme is key to ensuring a stable, proportionate and innovation-friendly regulatory environment for the benefit of businesses, workers and consumers. The additional funding provided will enable these bodies to take on the additional responsibilities they have assumed following the enactment of recent domestic and EU legislation.

One new significant initiative under the regulation programme is the €1.5 million in funding being allocated to establish the national artificial intelligence office. The office will be a focal point for artificial intelligence in Ireland, encompassing regulation, innovation and deployment. The office will be the central co-ordinating body for the EU AI Act, working closely with the 13 sectoral market surveillance authorities. It will create a clear operational framework and expectations and lead on the overall governance and co-ordination of the implementation of the AI Act. It will also establish a technical pool of expertise from which market surveillance authorities can draw. Finally, it will drive AI innovation and adoption through the establishment of a national regulatory sandbox. The €1.5 million in funding provided in the Estimate will support the start-up phase of the AI office and will be targeted at recruiting key personnel, including a chief executive officer, to lead the office.

In the Revised Estimates, we have allocated a total of €276.1 million in funding to support the tourism programme this year, which represents an increase of €35.7 million on the 2025 allocation for this programme. Increased funding of €102.8 million is being provided to Fáilte Ireland. It will ensure the agency can continue to deliver on its important mandate and enable it to roll out a number of new initiatives, including the development of a new culinary tourism strategy, the launch of a new culinary destination marketing campaign and the establishment of the new short-term lets registration system. It will also fund a new domestic marketing campaign. Fáilte Ireland will launch ten new destination experience development programmes, which will bring the total number of these programmes to 33.

An increase of 7% in funding is being provided to Tourism Ireland. This will ensure the agency has the necessary resources to continue to successfully market the island of Ireland overseas. In this regard, Tourism Ireland's activities in 2025 helped to deliver over €6 billion into the Irish economy from overseas tourism to the island of Ireland. Tourism sustains about 300,000 vital jobs in communities across the island.

Funding to the overseas tourism marketing fund has also been increased to €71.4 million in 2026. The increased funding will be directed at increasing the value of overseas tourism by 6% year on year, as envisaged in the tourism policy statement; driving global demand by expanding high-impact campaigns promoting a year-round calendar of compelling reasons to visit Ireland, from St. Brigid's day through to autumn cultural events and winter breaks; growing key markets, including by strengthening Tourism Ireland's presence in the US and Canada, and expanding into newer markets; and delivering sustainable value-adding tourism by focusing on high-value visitors, extending the season, regional spread and environmentally conscious travel.

A sum of €31.5 million will be provided to tourism product development. This will enable the launch of Tourism Ireland's investment fund by Fáilte Ireland, the completion of ten watersports facilities by the end of 2026 under Fáilte Ireland's platform for growth investment scheme, and the completion and opening of new tourism projects, including new trails in Connemara National Park; Shannon discovery points; Carrowmore visitor centre in Sligo; and the Inis Mór visitor centre in Galway.

The funding being provided to meet the administration costs of the Department is being increased by 18% to €72.717 million. This includes discrete funding of €4.7 million in respect of delivering a successful EU Presidency. In this regard, my Department will work across five separate EU Councils and service in excess of 20 preparatory bodies and working parties as part of our obligations under the Presidency.

We have established a dedicated Presidency planning team, which is leading on the policy and operational preparations, working across the Department and Government through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade-led interdepartmental group on policy priority planning and the interdepartmental group on operational planning.

A successful Irish Presidency, given the opportunity it offers to influence policy and legislation not only in the six months of the Presidency but also in the long term, is a key priority issue across all Government Departments. In my area of responsibility, a key focus will be on competitiveness and progressing the establishment of the European Competitiveness Fund, which will be an integral element of the next multi-annual financial framework, MFF. Other key priorities for my Department will be in the areas of proportionate regulation, digital simplification and fairness, development of a life sciences sector strategy, strengthening the Single Market and ensuring a safe chemicals regulatory regime.

I hope I have given the committee a flavour of how my Department and agencies will use the moneys allocated by central government this year. I look forward to discussing same with the members. Go raibh maith agaibh.

I thank the Minister for his comprehensive overview of the Department's work in respect of the Revised Estimates. Artificial intelligence comes under the remit of his Department and it is very interesting to hear what the State is doing to prepare for potential shifts in employment. I have just returned from a few days in California, where I had an opportunity, of my own volition, to speak to people working in AI. Some of them spoke about the possibility of displacement as high as 50% in the white-collar workforce in the United States over the course of the next five years. In the context of the Irish economy, we need to look at preparing for a very significant swing in employment styles. We are aware of the strength of the service economy here, with many international law firms and financial services firms based in Dublin and other cities around the country on the back of our having such a strong multinational sector. We must ask the question as to how significant this risk is and how the Department can prepare for it.

Is the Minister concerned about this? Does he think the country is ready for what may happen? It is not a doomsday scenario but when it comes to the changes AI will bring, with platforms like ChatGPT, Claude and others growing exponentially in terms of their usage, we must consider how that may impact on the future job markets. It has been raised here, I believe by Deputy Conway-Walsh when we were speaking about the impact on young graduates seeking employment, that we are starting to hear a lot more that people coming out of university are quite concerned about obtaining high-quality graduate internships and graduate placements. Another issue that has been reported on quite heavily is relevant to Ireland's reliance on Silicon Valley. The trend generally seems to increasingly be that the more qualified somebody is, the more at risk he or she is of losing out as a consequence of AI and what it can do for companies to help lower costs, etc. I would like to get a sense of the thinking of the Department and the Minister in this regard.

With every point of change in society and life comes a huge amount of opportunity. We saw that with the pandemic and the various other challenges our country has faced, particularly Brexit. Just like electrification decades ago, general-purpose technology will provide a huge opportunity for the economy.

In terms of what Ireland is doing and where we are trying to place ourselves, the first point is that we are really working on upskilling and training. We have had a number of reports through Government agencies and the Department of Finance. They really show the sectors that are exposed right across the economy but they also show a huge opportunity. With IDA Ireland, for example, we set a target over the new five-year strategy for the agency to train 40,000 people from its client base of a little over 300,000. In the first year of that five-year strategy, we have reached 33,000. That shows the demand there is for training. This is not normal training; it is transformational training that really embeds those companies into the AI process and will cement those jobs into the future. The national skills observatory, which the Minister, Deputy James Lawless, is working on, will be another key tool. It will provide a repository for skills that will ensure we can protect against obstacles for the economy, offer training and really harness the benefits that are presented.

One of the challenges for me as Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment is that, every week, I receive notice of all the various redundancies right across the economy. We can see a commonality in the trend whereby jobs are being challenged by the advancement of technology and artificial intelligence. Equally, however, we can see the huge amount of recruitment that is going on because of that investment. For example, in 2025, I got more than €1 billion of research and development investment, with AI at its core, through the Cabinet. That is very much embedded in the fintech sector, which was an early leader, and the life sciences sector. Our job is to ensure our workforce is skilled, able and ready to absorb that opportunity.

At this point in time, if we look at the digital sector, we are one of the leaders in Europe for ICT graduates, with 7% of our graduates in that area, which is double the EU average. We have double the EU per capita average of STEM graduates in the 20 to 39 age category. That gives us a unique advantage over our European colleagues. Looking across the globe, we are third in terms of having a skills base that is equipped to deal with the AI opportunity on a European basis. There are challenges here but we respond by providing transformational training and getting the national skills observatory going and, obviously, the AI office will be key in developing businesses and showing how complementarity can be worked across the economy to support existing jobs and give people time to work on other areas of opportunity for businesses. That will free up time to enable businesses to expand and enhance their operations in other areas.

I appreciate that answer. I am in no way coming at this from a perspective of malice but I ask again whether the Minister is concerned about these developments. Without discounting the various recessions we have had, is he looking at this issue in the context of 40 to 50 years of continuous economic growth in respect of FDI and having a workforce that is now north of 2.7 million, if I am not mistaken?

It is 2.8 million.

Is the Minister worried by what he sees happening in the United States and what people are starting to say? As I said at the start of my contribution, some estimates from very reputable companies are pointing to potentially a 50% reduction in the white-collar workforce there. What are the ramifications of that for us here in Ireland?

There will always be challenge, and I acknowledge the challenge in this regard, but I am absolutely convinced the opportunity is greater than the challenge. Job availability in the AI space has doubled in Ireland over the past year. That shows we have the skills base to meet the opportunity. We have to focus on that. We also must focus on training people. How do we protect the vulnerable cohort of workers? We do so by offering them transformational training. That is what we need to focus on, through the national skills observatory and through the client base of Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland, which, as outlined in the figures, is quite substantial when we look at the whole employment market. There must be continuing work in that regard. As I said, we are number three in Europe in terms of having the required skills.

I think the opportunity is going to be far greater than the challenge. It is not something I fear every day. There are concerns about the investment side of artificial intelligence. The issue of share price and trying to monetise that investment over a period of time will be a very significant challenge, but I can see a huge amount of opportunity, particularly when we observe how many companies have really revolutionised how they do their business and are employing more people on an open-book basis. The challenge will be in how quickly we can train people, including those currently in the workforce, to acquire the required skills. We must ensure our tech centres and tertiary education centres are producing graduates with qualifications that are pertinent and relevant to the advancement of AI, which is happening so quickly. That is going to be a key challenge for my Department, working with the Minister, Deputy Lawless. We are well placed to capture a lot of that opportunity.

I thank the Minister.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as bheith anseo. Two weeks ago, Jack Dorsey announced that 4,000 jobs are to be cut from the workforce of 10,000 at his company, Block. An announcement was made recently that Block is to open a new office in Dublin that would employ 300 people. That is really exciting and very positive. Has the Department received any insight into how the almost 40% reduction in employment at Block will impact on the Irish arm of its operation?

We have received an early warning report in respect of that company. Obviously, early warning reports are confidential, so I cannot give any numbers at this time.

I appreciate that and it is important to acknowledge the open line of communication that exists between the Department and Block. However, I read the post on X that outlined the thought process behind this decision to make such a sudden cut in jobs in one company. That process was stark and it is reflective of something that I said last week at the committee, which is that Ireland has done an incredible job of educating people and building up knowledge workers. We have a really strong base of knowledge workers and the Minister is right that there will be a huge amount of opportunity over the coming years with AI. It will be an accelerator of trade and commerce.

However, the disruption that may be caused in the interim could be something we have never seen previously in terms of the speed at which this change is coming. I am concerned there is not an awareness out there of how powerful and how quickly moving are these technologies. The Cathaoirleach outlined very well what we are hearing from the people who are working with this technology day in, day out. In every company, everyone at C-suite level and everyone in management is being told not to hire any more people.

Their job is very clear. It is to use the existing technologies available to them become more efficient. Why would we need to take on more of a headcount when we have AI to do these roles? There is an expectation being put on management to become far more efficient, which is always good for commerce and trade, but it is going to cut out opportunities from our young people who are graduating and coming out as graduates. Over the next few years, when opportunities may shrink for graduates, how does the Government plan to make sure graduates still get that learning opportunity so they can eventually make it to a management position where they can orchestrate AI as well?

I absolutely see more opportunity. When we speak about companies that are not taking people on, if we look at the IT sector and across science and technology, companies in Ireland are looking for hundreds of employees right now in the AI space. There is a huge recruitment drive. Notwithstanding that, cohorts of workers are vulnerable. That was very much highlighted by the recent Department of Finance report. That is why I am saying that through our National Skills Observatory and through our training, we have to work to ensure we are upskilling them. The key point about IDA Ireland was that figure of 40,000 people over five years, with 33,000 in year one who are trained. It is transformational training.

Where are the opportunities? I am very clear in my mind where they are. AI is going to bring a huge amount of additional growth to the life sciences sector. We saw in Athlone this week €430 million being spent on a centre that is really going to transform its manufacturing process because of the demand globally for a particular medication. We have about 100,000 jobs now in the life sciences sector. We are bringing forward a strategy this year. I see massive growth in the semiconductor space, again, at the heart of artificial intelligence. There are 130 companies in Ireland in that space. We have €13.5 billion in exports, and we can grow it to about 40,000 people over the next 15 years. Again, that will provide a huge opportunity. Then, our fintech space, so many Irish companies like Fenergo are at the cutting edge of-----

I appreciate what the Minister is saying about the hundreds of jobs that are being created in AI. As he can imagine, however, AI is a very new technology. Even from an education point of view, education around AI is probably non-existent at the moment. AI is evolving. I am more concerned about the thousands of people who are not aware of how AI could displace them. It is about educating people and getting them prepared to use AI and upskill with AI and become more proficient. The Minister is correct that there are more opportunities.

He mentioned the semiconductor space. He will be aware that bordering my constituency in Oranmore is one of the largest potential sites for a chip manufacturing plant. It was reported in the Business Post around March or April last year that the Minister intended to bring a memo to Cabinet for a multibillion euro investment in sewerage, an offshoot of the motorway, a rail stop and acquisition of the lands. The Defence Forces range and the IDA lands are in Oranmore. Could I get an update on where that proposal is at? Did that memo ever make it to Cabinet?

We are working on having three next generation sites at a scale of between of between 500 acres and 1,000 acres that are utility-rich and capable of having the next Analog Devices or Intel into our economy, particularly in relation to the chips Act as we revise it now. President on der Leyen set out a 20% global production target for Europe in chip manufacture and we are not nearly meeting it. We are at about 6% or 7% at the moment. Some 94% of advanced chips are manufactured in Taiwan. That presents a huge risk to the globe let alone Europe and Ireland. That is why we have come forward with our first next generation site in the west. We will be bringing a memo shortly. There have been ongoing negotiations with the Department of Defence in relation to the particular site with regard to a subsequent site that is being offered as a swap. That is coming to a conclusion, so, hopefully, we will be in a position within the next month or month and a half to come forward with a memo to Cabinet, which will formalise the decision. Then, we will have to put in the infrastructure and ensure it is utility-rich and that it can be marketed for one of those very sizeable companies. We are attracting huge investment through the Important Project of Common European Interest, IPCEI, process now. We saw what Analog Devices did in relation to its first one, which brought millions of euro in investment and 600 sustainable jobs. It is bringing about 50 new patents into the marketplace. That is what we want to do in Galway.

I appreciate that update. I wish the Minister well in pursuing that because it will be transformative for the west from a jobs, investment and development perspective.

I thank the Minister and his team for coming into us today. The size of his Department has grown hugely since the addition of tourism to it on the formation of this Government. I want to compliment him and his Department on all the work they have done right across enterprise, tourism and employment.

He mentioned in his opening statement how being competitive is a huge issue for us and how we must make sure we remain competitive on the global market. Quality of jobs and improving the quality of jobs to match the graduates we have coming out of colleges is a huge issue as well. He also mentioned as part of his opening statement that we must we look at promoting business, both at home and abroad. We might look at the IDA and the work it has done in the last year under challenging circumstances with tariffs and the USA and instability right across the world with wars and so forth. The fact that it brought home 380-odd projects in a time we would think it would find it hard in the business climate is a fantastic endorsement of the work it does. This will create an extra 15,000 jobs, adding to the 312,400 that have already been created through foreign direct investment, FDI, companies right across the country. If we put a conservative multiplier on that, for every one job that is created by a FDI company, another four are created in the local economy. That brings us to over 1.5 million, which is over 50% of our workforce of 2.8 million we have working in the country, which is a sizeable number. We need to make sure we look after them. That is why competitiveness on the international stage is hugely important.

We might look at the work Enterprise Ireland does and the 400,000 jobs we have created in the United States and other jobs created across the world. Then, we can look locally at the local enterprise offices, which have come under the Minister's remit now through Enterprise Ireland, and the work they do. We have Local Enterprise Week events right across the country. In County Offaly, we have huge events going on. I attended the young entrepreneurs enterprise event yesterday. I was heartened to see the young people and the businesses they have created. These are small businesses that will grow. It is not alone just to see them, however. It is what we have created in this country and the entrepreneur environment in which people can actually operate.

Then there is Fáilte Ireland and the work it has done, but I do not want to go on about this. As spokesperson for our party for small and medium-sized enterprises and retail, my question to the Minister is with the €13.39 billion the Department has got, what moneys will go into looking after small and medium-sized business that are struggling at the moment? Some of them are in retail and others are very labour intensive. They have been hit over the past number of years with a 40% increase in the minimum wage. They have also been hit with five sick days and then on top of that the auto-enrolment. A lot of those businesses are struggling. Can the Minister give any targeted supports to those businesses going forward?

I thank the Deputy. I appreciate all his work. It is good to note in the midlands that we have very solid growth. Between quarter 4 of 2024 and quarter 4 of 2025, we have had very significant growth of about 16,100 jobs. We should never forget that is 16,100 families with an additional income going into them. The critical thing about jobs is that people get that opportunity in life to realise their ambition and meet some of their aspirations. It is, therefore, incredibly important that we continue growing those high-value jobs the Deputy has quite rightly outlined.

We have a very significant budget of about €47.8 million for our LEOs, which are working very closely with businesses. We have to consider how we are assisting businesses with costs. The best way we can assist businesses is to not take money off them in the first place. We are looking strongly at our climate for business toolkit. We are looking at how we can reduce the energy costs per month that a business has. That is a very simple method that any business can use, linking with their local enterprise office. That will plug them in then to a suite of supports on the energy efficiency programme.

I have seen very strong case studies showing how you can reduce your energy bills very significantly. In some cases, they can be reduced by €1,200 a month which I saw in respect of a deli business in Donegal. They are very significant reductions.

The other thing to look at is how to grow revenue. In the digital space, we have lots of supports through our grow digital and our voucher schemes to help businesses grow their revenue. I am very keen to say that IDA deals with foreign direct investment, Enterprise Ireland deals with the indigenous economy, which is exporting, and LEOs look after our smaller businesses, trying to find the highly productive ones that could add new scale into our economy. Then we have to look at the tax code as well to see how we help the smaller businesses that may not fit into those categories. We will be working closely with the Minister of Finance as we respond in budget 2027 in those key areas because the Deputy is quite right to say costs have gone up. In April, we are looking forward to getting the cost of business advisory forum report. That will be important for all the different regulators in the landscape, their interoperability and how we can get structural change and reduction in the administrative burden for our SME sector. One thing I am always very clear on is that our small family businesses employ two thirds of people across our country and drive so much of that economic activity in our economy. We are very focused on getting that report and making structural change in some of the key areas. I think we have our last meeting in March and, hopefully, we will have a report to go to Cabinet by the end of April.

Some of those retail stores and small family businesses the Minister talks about are part of the fabric of society in towns and villages across the country. We notice across the county that town centres have been decimated as a result of Internet shopping, something we really have not grasped as a nation, or has not been grasped across the world. What scheme does the Department have in place to enhance town centres across the country, to bring life back into them and to bring retail back into them that will survive and thrive and will not just be a lot of the mixes we have in our town centres at the moment which are not what we would like. There is a lot of repetition. I believe in some cases local authorities are finding it very hard to get rates.

We have done a number of funding initiatives through our remote working hubs which have helped significantly in terms of bringing life into buildings. Edgeworthstown was one very keen example with the co-works hub that has worked very well. We are working with the Department of Finance which forward the living city initiative and other tax schemes in budget 2026 to try to encourage living over the shop to get residents back into our town centres again. The Department of housing has come forward this week with a new scheme which is the successor to the URDF programme. Again, this will be looking at rejuvenating and regenerating town centres. How do we make them more amenable to investment and how do we put in the infrastructure that is needed in some cases? A very significant pot of money is available. The previous one was about €2 billion, so this is a successor to that. A lot of projects in the previous one are still at design phase, which concerns me a bit because we allocated funding to that scheme in 2020 and 2021 and considering construction inflation, we need to be watching those key areas. It is more aligned to the work the Department of housing is doing and the work the Department of Finance is doing on tax. We are supporting people with remote working and giving that agility through co-works and e-working centres, which are providing a lot of options. We can see from the Edgeworthstown model that it is sold out now; it has no more space.

I agree. That work is fantastic but provincial towns across the country have been ripped apart. Town centres are no longer what we believe town centres should be. In a lot of cases the doughnut effect has happened with the shopping or the retail centre ending up on the outside of the town. Do not get me wrong, they create employment too but we want to bring life back into our town centres and bring it back to something that we all remember when we were growing up. While the initiatives the Minister mentioned are very important, we need to look at this from outside the box. We also need to put in tax incentives to be able to get developers to come in and to be creative in what they provide. As the Minister said, we need not only to put living spaces above those shops, we also need to build apartment blocks in order to bring more footfall into the town centres, so that we bring life back in and it creates business from there.

I have a final question on a topic the Chair touched on, which is AI. A lot of small and medium-sized companies, especially in retail, do not have the funding, or are not really aware of what AI is or how it will affect them going forward. Are there any proposals or schemes within that Estimate of the €1.39 billion to provide them with help to negotiate the AI situation that is coming along? Like the Minister, I believe there are huge opportunities here. While there are things that are bad about AI, there are also things that are very good and there are opportunities for Ireland Inc. to benefit from.

In budget 2026 in relation to apartments, the 9% VAT rate should bring viability back and help with apartments in more regional locations. The density and the changes the Government has undertaken regarding the development rules around large-scale apartments will hopefully help as well. There are a lot of components that make up the vibrancy of a town centre, from the local authority, the planning piece, the local development plan, where you have development and how you protect the town core. There is also the tax policy, with the addition this year of a number of towns to the living city initiative and the over the shop initiative. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is looking at the URDF. We hope that should put us in a better space in this Government term in relation to our town centres.

I agree with the Deputy about artificial intelligence. We have set a target that we are trying to get 90% basic intensity for digital services into our businesses by 2030. That is in the White Paper on Enterprise. We are working on a successor to it on a more medium-term horizon with Enterprise 2035 that we are looking to craft. There are a number of specific programmes available in this budget, like grow digital and the digital for business consultancy. Those are there to help businesses embody and get upskilled with artificial intelligence.

Looking at the CSO data, there has been a significant increase, even though it is from a low base, of companies and small businesses using artificial intelligence. Many of them know that their competitors are now using it in some form. As I said at outset, general purpose technology reaches into every single sector and no sector is immune. Just like electrification when it came to these shores, it has that transformational impact. That is why the Government has to be very much to the forefront to support them and ensure that businesses are aware. Our AI office will be key in developing the business model and supporting the application stage. That will be very important. We need to get a regulatory sandbox for those businesses that are more at the front of the innovation curve and looking to expand and find new methodologies. For our core businesses, we have a lot of programmes through the LEOs that we will continue supporting them with.

I am going to go back to something I have raised at previous joint committee meetings with some officials from the Department, and it relates to a strategic overview of policy geographically. I note that 80% of the LEOs, as the Minister said, are dispersed around the country, which is good to get local jobs stimulated everywhere, and that ever so gradually, the foreign direct investment is moving a little bit away from Dublin. However, it still accounts for over 50% of all investment coming in, even though Dublin itself is 28% of the population, and the greater Dublin area, including the three counties around it, is 40% of the population. We need a shift in thinking because one of the key factors in discouraging inward investment relates to transport, lack of accessible public transport, gridlock, energy constraints and above all a housing shortage. That is especially apparent in the big cities like Dublin and Cork and even areas like Galway to which software companies are moving. Galway is also quite saturated, as is Limerick.

I mentioned before that perhaps 20% of software and IT companies employ staff from the EU or outside the EU but they are the ones with the high incomes who can compete for limited housing in Dublin and push up the prices. From that perspective, but also in terms of general jobs policy, would it not make sense to focus on the triangle between Tullamore, Mullingar and Athlone, or the square if Portlaoise were included? I looked at Silicon Valley and at how big it is. It is much bigger than that area but most of the employees concentrated in Silicon Valley are in a very narrow region of about 50 km.

It is of comparable size. I think it is a 150 sq. mile area, whereas the triangle is 130 sq. miles. Basically, if people who live in the greater Dublin area are looking for jobs, they are stressed out of their minds trying to get to work across the city because of gridlock and congestion. The software companies want to come to Dublin, but it makes a lot more sense to come to a new hub. My personal view is that I would love to see a brand new city built somewhere in the midlands. In the absence of that, if we can have people working from home in any of the small towns and villages surrounding this so-called golden triangle, they can go into their companies two days a week or work from home and we can have hubs in the larger towns. Equally, we have had a discussion about over-the-shop dereliction in places where people need to live.

There is a lot to be said from a policy perspective about employing greater Dublin workers in the midlands area. I would be looking at counties like Wexford on the Euro route, where there is a higher unemployment rate, and also at towns like Sligo and Carrick-on-Shannon, as well as rural areas like Donegal and the Gaeltacht. We had a discussion last night about trying to get people to come back to the Gaeltacht and creating more housing there, but they need to have jobs. IT companies are not always suited to the Gaeltacht, but if the people in the Gaeltacht could work from home and commute within half an hour, it would make a lot of sense.

I was looking at the distances. To get from Roscommon town to Athlone by train takes half an hour, and from Athlone to Tullamore takes half an hour. There are a lot of synergies there. To get to Portlaoise from west Dublin and north Kildare is quite easy. We should be looking at improving the quality of life for people, making those areas more attractive for companies and disincentivising them to locate in the Dublin area. I would be interested in getting the Minister's opinion on that.

There is a separate but related issue. The data storage companies are putting a lot of pressure on our grid at the moment. They need to have renewable, self-generated capacity. Deputy Barry Heneghan and I have raised the issue of private wires in the past. With regard to locating these types of factories on the west coast where there is offshore wind, and in the Shannon Estuary where there is potential tidal power, are we seeing a big push to try to move them to the west of the country so that they are closer to where the electricity is generated? This is tied in with things like green hydrogen and battery storage.

We should definitely be reorientating away from Dublin. I say this as a Dub. Companies can still employ Dubs. If they are going to have to drive or take the bus or train for half an hour or 50 minutes, they might as well go westwards rather than being stuck in gridlock in the city centre area.

Deputy Clendennen, Deputy McCormack and I would be very happy with the Deputy’s policy of keeping everything in the midlands.

Especially in Mullingar.

Yes. I understand why it is so important to have balanced regional development. We need the national development programme to underwrite that with capital to support growing areas to have the necessary infrastructure and attract investment. When companies come here, or if it is an indigenous company starting out, investors make those decisions based on the value of the proposition in front of them, what infrastructure can absorb the investment that they want to make and, critically, where they feel they will have the best opportunity for their employees. We are very focused on trying to get that balance. We see a very strong semiconductor and tech sector in Cork. In Galway, we see medtech, with many of the global leaders there. In the midlands, there are many from the life sciences sector. We are working through our large-scale, next-generation sites to try to advance that regionalisation further. The IDA is firmly focused on increasing investment outside Dublin, and we want to keep the investments growing outside Dublin at this time. We also see that Enterprise Ireland has hit over 60% of its employment targets in the regional areas. There is a lot of opportunity there.

In the next decade, the €275 billion in the national development plan will be key to ensuring that those regional growth centres that have been highlighted around the country get the capital investment that is necessary for them to grow and attract investment. There are a lot of pieces in the jigsaw that bring the investor to making the decision to locate in a regional part of the country. I am very much an advocate for that type of investment. We need to have employment growth in all regions. Incidentally, that is what we have at this point in time. All the regions that are covered have seen employment grow significantly in the last year, and we want to keep up that pace.

In relation to data centres, a number of events happened in chronological order in the last six months. Just before Christmas, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, published its paper, which gave certainty to the sector. It said clearly that, first, any new data centre connections must have an 80% corporate purchase power agreement for renewables signed and delivered for that connection. It also stated clearly that they needed to have 100% of their demand in dispatchable gas generation to ensure they were not going to place an additional burden on the grid.

We have brought forward our large energy user policy, which is plan led. It looks at areas right around the coast and the regions, which, as the Deputy rightly points out, have the capacity. We are also bringing in our energy park model, where there will be large-scale renewable generation power right next to a large energy user, matching the two. We have published private wires legislation, which will give an option and give that agility to connect. We have brought all of those components together.

Outside of that, we have price review 6, or PR6, the new capital infrastructure programme worth almost €19 billion. When we consider that its predecessor was about €8 billion, that shows the work that is going to be carried out over the next five years to ensure that we bring 500 new pieces of infrastructure and equipment into the grid. We are increasing our generation capacity. We will be bringing 2 GW of connections for large energy users. We also have a plan for the 300,000 homes that we so badly need in society, as well as the large-scale projects, from healthcare to the metro, that will need significant power. All of those components make up a strong energy story, notwithstanding that we are constrained at the moment, and we have to be honest about that. However, we have a strong plan for how we can get to a better place.

I see large energy users as a key tool to finance the green transition. However, if we have so much renewable energy in the west and east, it is no good talking about it. It has to be financed and delivered. If we do not have large energy users to use that and book that value for our citizens here in Ireland, then we are at a loss. If we are relying on international markets for export and to finance that, it will become a far more distant challenge. If we can ensure we have the users and the capacity here, we can have that living goal of bringing together the digital transition and the green transition, hand in glove, with one financing the other. I think that will get us to a special place, as a country.

The Minister rightly talked a lot today about competitiveness and the viability of businesses, and rightly so when he has a budget of €1.6 billion, but I want to talk to him about the here and now, in particular the most recent geopolitical shock to energy prices and the impact it is going to have on the viability of the small and medium businesses that he has talked about. My first question is this. Given the price gouging of some energy businesses regarding oil, petrol and diesel, what message does the Minister have for them? I understand that the Minister has written to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC, but does the CCPC have the necessary powers to be able to stop the price gouging in this and other cases?

I met the CCPC on Monday and received a comprehensive presentation from it, particularly on the challenges in this sector. Critically, I pointed out that in the pass-through market for electricity right now, the retail price was about three times the wholesale price, which is very challenging, particularly when it is the highest in the EU context. I have asked the CCPC to carry out an investigation in this regard. I wrote to it subsequently to point out, notwithstanding the huge disruption in the Middle East, the stocks that we currently have in this country and the fact that the majority of our oil is coming from the North Sea, Norway and that direction, and to ask about the increases that had been visible.

We have received many communications from our constituents about home heating oil and price increases at the pumps. The CCPC will conduct an investigation into that; it has the power. We are giving it additional power later this year in relation to administrative fines and penalties. It has significant power where there are anti-competitive practices involved. It got a jury conviction last year, which shows it can use criminal law to achieve its targets and ensure fair competition in the marketplace.

This is happening right here and right now. What can it do now? Can it go out and do inspections? What form would those take?

Absolutely. It has the authority to conduct an investigation to ensure there is no malpractice or breach of competition law. I would say to anyone who is increasing prices that we are watching. We are very well aware of the stocks available in the country, of where stocks come from and of their passage into our country. We will take action. I gave the CCPC the necessary resources in budget 2026 to ensure it is in no way challenged in that regard. We appointed a new member of the commission recently, who also presented to me on Monday, to ensure it is well-equipped to meet this challenge.

It is deplorable that price-gouging is going on at this time. We all know of it in our constituencies and outside of them. I want to talk about the businesses themselves. I welcome measures such as the energy efficiency grant and the business energy upgrade scheme that are in place. They are very important to businesses. Has the Minister thought of what immediate supports can be given to businesses that are struggling to stay open or will struggle in the next few weeks as their energy bills come in?

We have introduced a number of viability measures in 2026. For the hospitality sector, we have reduced the VAT rate from July. That will be about 4.5% on their margin. We are asking for 7% growth in the sector. We have reduced the VAT rate on oil and gas from 13.5% to 9% at a cost of about €250 million per annum to support the sector in the challenges it faces. A number of grants are in place, many of which are available on the national enterprise hub. I always say to businesses that I am aware time is their most precious resource and that we have 250 supports across 39 State agencies available to support them in growing their income and reducing their costs. Those are the key ways to make a business more sustainable.

Are any supports in place that were not in place this time last week as a direct response to the geopolitical challenge?

Not since this time last week, no.

Is that something the Minister would consider if he is getting feedback from businesses or their representative organisations that they are struggling for viability or cash flow?

We will respond to every challenge but we have to be careful to ensure it is sustainable and that we keep viability in businesses. We are at record employment now. I will introduce a significant loan scheme to succeed the previous three loan schemes in the Department, which are currently fully utilised and which supported over 200,000 jobs. We are working closely with the Department of agriculture and the EIB. That will be pretty significant. Hopefully, within the next two weeks we will have that to support working capital in businesses. That will be a good asset.

I know from talking to businesses that SME lending has been a big challenge. Incidentally, it is an area I spoke to the CCPC about. There are significant differences in practices across institutions and I want to support businesses more on that.

We will be watching closely. We work with businesses every day of the week and meet many of them. Economically, we are in a strong position, notwithstanding the geopolitical challenge this huge destruction in the Middle East presents. Neither the Deputy nor I knows how long it will last, how long the Strait of Hormuz will be closed for or what disruption that will cause to the price of oil. It has not hit $100 per barrel yet. That will send shockwaves through the sector when it happens. We will stand by them and support them. In the past, the Department has supported businesses significantly with energy through the increased cost of business grant. We will keep a watching brief.

I ask the Minister to have ready the temporary business energy support scheme, similar to the one that was introduced previously, to support businesses here and now.

The Minister referred to the EU Presidency in his opening statement and the opportunities around that. I particularly want to ask about the threats to subsea cables and the impact that could have on businesses. What work is he doing with businesses to ensure their security and resilience in the event of something happening? It could happen outside the EU Presidency but having the Presidency makes us more vulnerable.

In terms of threats to the State, the Minister for justice, Deputy O'Callaghan, and the Minister for Defence, Deputy McEntee, have met with the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces and the Garda Commissioner to respond collectively and ensure they are co-ordinated throughout the challenge the Presidency presents from a security perspective.

I am focused on delivering the transformational change for businesses that the Presidency can deliver. I will be looking at a number of areas, including the revision of the chips Act. That is due for May but it may come into our Presidency. There is the biotech Act. The digital omnibus will be very big for our country, as will the Single Market. We have inhibitions there at the moment and are trying to do a huge expansion of it. We will be watching and safeguarding our country in the European competitiveness fund, a €409 billion fund from the European preference policy. That is a challenge as many big countries are trying to almost bring a protectionist model into Europe when we know how much we get by leaning into the globe, expanding free trade agreements and working hard on that. The industrial accelerator Act is another one we could be negotiating at that point. It is due to be published today but we have heard three or four different publication dates for it. The multiannual financial framework will be the big ticket. There is a huge challenge in negotiating it. While the threats will mainly be faced by the Department of Defence, security services, intelligence services and An Garda Síochána, my focus will be on delivering strong simplification and revolutionary measures for businesses. If we can do that over the Presidency, we will be doing well.

In terms of cybersecurity, is the Minister in his role as Minister for enterprise satisfied? Businesses, particularly small and medium businesses, may not have the resources to build up resilience. These businesses could be wiped out overnight if they are not prepared to withstand what may come. We work on that in the Joint Committee on Defence and National Security but there is a particular role for the Minister and his Department in ensuring businesses across the board have cyber-resilience.

We are working with businesses through the cybersecurity grant to build up resilience. Enterprise Ireland has a specific grant for businesses it works with. Every business has to stay abreast of the threats. There are support mechanisms through digital services in LEOs and through Enterprise Ireland. IDA Ireland works closely with its multinational partners. We have a huge amount of support there for businesses but businesses must have their audits done and be clear on the threats that are there. We all know them and see every day as consumers that people get duped online by entering into purchasing agreements that transpire to be something they did not realise they were. We all have to be very aware of this. We support businesses in ensuring their resilience is built on.

Has the Minister modelled a scenario where subsea cables were cut or damaged? What would happen to businesses?

That is not my area. That is between the Ministers, Deputies O'Donovan and McEntee. It is not my purview to model infrastructure off our coast.

It is very relevant to businesses.

It is relevant.

We will agree to disagree on it. What is the take-up of the cybersecurity grant the Minister mentioned? Has he done an analysis of the take-up? Is it being taken up by small businesses?

I will have to come back to the Deputy with the numbers.

It would be interesting for the committee to have that data and a breakdown of the businesses applying for it to see if we can identify any gaps where we need to do something further to assist businesses.

We will send that on. That is no problem.

I know the Cathaoirleach wants me to stop now.

To be fair to Deputy Conway-Walsh, she raises a very pertinent point about the conflict in the Middle East. It is important to acknowledge the work of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Irish ambassador to the UAE, Ms Alison Milton.

Of course, Enterprise Ireland has offices in Dubai. Its staff do great work and I hope they are all staying safe. It is a very uncertain time.

I thank the Minister and his officials for joining us today. I will start by putting on record where we are at as an economy and a country. We have a record 2.83 million people in employment. We are one of the most economically productive countries in the world. We are now seeing progress on the acquisition of further land for the IDA and investment at local level in relation to our local enterprise offices and Enterprise Ireland.

One of the challenges for smaller businesses or microbusinesses is the issue of economies of scale. I note that the paper the Minister has provided mentions the return of financing for the likes of SBCI and the future growth loans scheme. I think the amount agreed for this year is €11 million. I encourage the Minister to try to continue to increase that because it is a very welcome and worthwhile scheme. Some €11 million is allocated in the Revised Estimates but the scheme is very necessary. There is still an element of concern around personal guarantees or company guarantees when businesses go to the banks. The backing of the SBCI can go a long way in helping with that. We talk a lot about grants in this room. I understand that completely but small businesses must also have finance available to them. The Minister may wish to comment on that.

Deputy Conway-Walsh mentioned the CCPC. The Estimates provide €29 million for that commission. Its annual target is 40,000 engagements but the outturn last year was 53,000. Considering that it is going to get more powers and considering the current debate regarding fuel, should the commission be allocated further resources at this point? Let us look at what is happening in relation to oil at the moment. The price of Brent crude oil on global markets has increased by an estimated 26% but businesses have been in contact with me this morning to tell me that, in that same period, which is the last 30 days, their quotes or bills have gone up by approximately 50%. It is totally off pace with what is happening in the global and domestic markets. We have to supply more resources to the CCPC if we are going to address this. Those are just two points to start off.

I thank Deputy Clendennen very much. In relation to our credit guarantee schemes, we have had three such schemes to date. Approximately 15,000 loans with a combined value of €1.2 billion went through these three schemes. This maintained about 210,000 jobs, as I told a previous speaker earlier. The scale of the scheme we will come forward with in the coming weeks will be quite significant. It will be in the hundreds of millions of euro. The €11 million is just an initial drawdown to ensure the scheme does not run out of funds. We will have a very significant scheme coming forward in the next few weeks. That will be the fourth such scheme for businesses. It should also be remembered that we have increased our microfinance loan limits to €50,000. Loans from €2,000 to €50,000 are available to our smaller businesses to assist them with working capital, which is very important. As the Deputy has quite rightly pointed out, capital is the lifeblood of our businesses. We need to ensure these businesses are resilient.

In relation to the CCPC, we have increased its resources for 2026. We have had successive increases in each of the last three years. One of the challenges has related to the private sector, competition and getting people in. Recruitment has been a challenge. We got a new commissioner - a new member - in recently. That will be a very significant addition as regards our outturn for 2026. We are bringing forward a new Bill. Consultation finished on 22 February. This will give enhanced powers to the commission in respect of administrative fines, bid rigging and scanning procurement processes to ensure there are no anti-competitive practices prevalent within them. We will continue with that resource building and the provision of increased powers because a key commitment in the programme for Government is to give the CCPC more power. We are committed to doing that. The Bill will be on the priority legislation list in the autumn.

That is very good. I thank the Minister. My next point is geopolitical. Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the Gulf region in general have been considered a tourism hot spot for a long time. From initial reactions, there may now be a concern about travel to the Middle East for the foreseeable future. The longer this goes on, the more uncertainty it is going to create. Without meaning to sound ruthless or insensitive, do the likes of Fáilte Ireland need to put plans in place to encourage visitors or tourists who were considering the Middle East to look at Ireland as a contingency? I appreciate it is early days but that may be something we need to look at. It is something for the Minister and his officials to bear in mind.

We have a lot of work to do in relation to tourism across 2026. We will be coming forward with our new capital plans in the next couple of months. Those plans will look at how to develop businesses, from attractions to stately homes and offerings in different localities, to make them digitally aware and to ensure they have strong competence in getting picked up on search engines. As I have pointed out before, when people research our country, more than 70% do all of their bookings online. Of that 70%, 30% use artificial intelligence to map out their itineraries. We have to ensure our attractions, hotels and other offerings are digitally upskilled to ensure they get picked up. We are going to put a lot of money into that across 2026 and 2027 to support businesses.

We launched a new marketing initiative with Fáilte Ireland yesterday. We want to grow the value of domestic inbound tourism - domestic visitors going around - to €5.8 billion. We have a lot of work to do in that regard. We are lengthening the season and coming forward with a culinary strategy. That will attract a lot of visitors who were going to go elsewhere. We also have to work on our value proposition across 2026. That will be important.

That is very good. To pick up on Deputy Gogarty's last point, I do not know if we need a new city. We can definitely build on what we have, but I appreciate his ambition for the midlands. His sentiments are very much welcome. Yesterday, Novo Nordisk announced investment of almost €500 million in the region. In respect of renewable energy in my own county, you are looking at billions of euro. We have the same opportunity with the likes of data centres and energy parks.

I will refer to an area I have raised here in the past. I appreciate the functions and responsibilities of the IDA in relation to land, but we are missing a trick at a lower level. Our enterprise parks in Offaly are either full to capacity or non-existent. This is something I have raised here before. Where you have local enterprise offices as a function of both Enterprise Ireland and the local authorities, there should be some sort of discussion about ambitious goals or objectives as regards the further development of enterprise parks. They can raise revenue for local authorities by means of rental income, commercial rates and so on. We are not seeing a huge surge of investors coming forward to take on such ambitious projects in Offaly. Considering the skills and experience it has, the local authority is set up to do so, but this probably needs to be driven forward by Enterprise Ireland, considering how local enterprise offices currently sit between the two. I ask the Minister to take that into consideration.

Deputy Clendennen has consistently raised with me the issue of enterprise parks and putting that key infrastructure in. The Department was working to put together a pilot project with our local authorities that could deliver significant space for manufacturing and smaller units to get companies started.

We would be happy to pilot that in Offaly.

We will work with the Deputy on that. It is something I want to bring to fruition in my time in the Department of enterprise. Some of the local authorities have developed such spaces and the demand is very significant for that type of unit. The IDA has 23 projects coming forward across the eight regions. It is also working with Enterprise Ireland separately from that. We have to be cognisant that we have some good buildings becoming available for our bigger clients, like those occupied by Leprino Foods in Portlaoise, Cardinal Health, and BD up in Drogheda. There is a lot of work to do to fill those properties that are becoming vacant. However, it is critical that we have that type of unit for our smaller enterprises. We have to do a lot more on that. I absolutely accept that. I hope we can deliver a programme to assist in that across the next couple of years. That would involve working with local authorities and managing the risk on their behalf in some way.

We are delighted to be joined by a guest, Deputy Louis O'Hara. Would the Deputy like to take the floor?

Go raibh maith agat, a Chathaoirligh, and thanks for facilitating me. On Fáilte Ireland and the capital expenditure from the Minister's Department for the year ahead, we are heading into another tourist season where Dunguaire Castle remains closed. This is an issue the Minister is aware of and has engaged with Galway County Council on. The fundamental issue here is that in order to be in a position to acquire the property from the Shannon Group, the council needs financial support from the Government to bring the castle up to the required safe standard to open to the public. It is an iconic landmark on the Wild Atlantic Way, on the edge of Kinvarra village. A huge number of tourists pass by the castle. They can stop, walk around and take photos but they have not been able to go inside for the last number of years. As we go into the summer, there will be busloads of tourists passing by that site every day. It is a huge loss to the local area and there is a lot of frustration that the castle has been left closed, especially given funding was provided to other local authorities to acquire some of the Shannon Group assets that were sold, like Bunratty Castle in Clare and so on. Will the Minister give an assurance that this issue will be resolved? Is consideration being given to providing the necessary funding to Galway County Council?

I thank the Deputy. I met the local authority a number of weeks back in connection with this asset, which is quite exceptional due to its location. I absolutely understand what it can mean to the community in that part of the country. I outlined at that time that Fáilte Ireland cannot foot the full capital acquisition and subsequent development cost but we would be prepared to commit and contribute if other parties come on board. The local authority was to come back to me. I will have to check if it has done so but I was waiting for it to get back to me. I would like to bring to the table the local authority, us through Fáilte Ireland and one other Department. I am trying to think of which one it was; it might have been the Department of Transport. I am trying to go through my mental notes as I talk to the Deputy. If we get a tripartite agreement to fund it, I would be open to working with the council then.

Okay. As I mentioned, other sites have received funding in the past and there was a substantial amount of funding, several million euro, for the local authorities in Clare and Limerick, I think, to bring those sites back into use. Why can that not be done in this case?

As far as I can remember very significant capital moneys were put in by other Departments as well. Fáilte Ireland was not the sole funder of those. I am very much open to Fáilte Ireland working closely with Galway County Council to be a funder because it is in our interests to have this as a tourism product. We are pushing at an open door in terms of developing the product but I just need to find a sustainable way we can do it with the local authority and another Department we are looking at. I am not sure what the Shannon Group sits under. I just cannot remember at this point, unfortunately, what the other Department was. I will come back to the Deputy with a note on it. I am open to it, but we just need to see if we can fund it in a sustainable way.

Is that something the Minister expects he may be able to make progress on this year?

I was waiting for the council to come back to me. From memory, the chief executive and the director of services, whom I met, are due to come back to me with a rounder proposal that could bring the other actors into the piece.

Okay. I thank the Minister and urge him to do whatever he can because it is a huge loss to the local community.

Perfect.

On behalf of the committee I express my gratitude to the Minister and his officials for their attendance at the meeting. Undoubtedly we will be seeing you again in the not-too-distant future. I also thank the members of the select committee for their attendance.