8. Deputy Shane Moynihan asked the Taoiseach to report on his recent engagement with the US President. [27213/25]

Sentiment score: 0.15

Cuirim fáilte roimh ráiteas an Taoisigh gur ardaigh sé an t-uafás atá ag tarlú i nGaza agus an cogadh san Úcráin leis an Uachtarán Trump agus gur chuir sé teachtaireacht na hÉireann in iúl go soiléir dó. I am also encouraged by the fact that the Taoiseach raised the US Administration's interest in Northern Ireland with the president. I would like to hear more from the Taoiseach about how his administration is actively engaging not only with the Northern Ireland Executive but, indeed, wider Northern Ireland society in terms of economic and social development. I am also interested in the Taoiseach's interaction with congressional leaders in the Capitol. He attended a number of events that were attended by members of the United States House of Representatives and the Senate, not least because Congress will play a very significant role in any future trade arrangements that are put in place with other countries, including the European Union. I would like to get a sense from the Taoiseach of the sentiment there towards the importance of making sure we have a strong transatlantic trading relationship in light of the discussions that have taken place between President Trump and President von der Leyen this week alone.

Sentiment score: 0.52

20. Deputy Shane Moynihan asked the Taoiseach when the Cabinet committee on the economy, trade and competitiveness will next meet. [27214/25]

Sentiment score: 0.00

The Taoiseach and I have discussed in the past the importance of recognising the efforts that go into sustaining and growing a business. As an important thing, it should be a feature of our political discourse. Core to our growth as a country in the future, as Deputy Dolan said, is the growth of indigenous enterprises, those that move from start-ups to scale-ups, and thinking about how we in government can support and assist the environment in which those businesses operate. Therefore, will the Taoiseach consider a number of discrete policy proposals that would incentivise and help that particular environment and encourage innovation? For example, small and medium enterprises are not represented in their own right on the Labour Economic and Employer Forum. Is this something the Government could look at addressing to augment the representation of SMEs, which are vital to growth in the future? Second, will the Taoiseach look at increasing the probability of innovation in our economy and the process around the research and development tax credit? A lot of feedback from businesses in my constituency states that at times it can be onerous to account for the use of that tax credit. If anything, we should be making it easy for companies to access it in order to encourage innovation and the demand-led growth that will sustain the economy and especially our indigenous businesses.

Sentiment score: 0.53