I have had no meetings, interactions or correspondence with the business owner in question since my appointment as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment last year in connection with any of my work, and nor has my Department.
Sentiment score: -0.30
My actions demonstrate that we have supported employment and workers throughout our economy. We are committed to achieving a living wage. We are about 3.5% away from it under one metric, which is the survey data for the labour force. Second, we are on it in the CSO data relating to the structure of earnings. I pointed out clearly the number of improvements we have made. We are committed to auto-enrolment, which will come in on 1 January, to protect the futures of workers.
Sentiment score: 0.30
We have banned zero-hour contracts. We have worked to bring in tips and gratuities legislation to protect the most vulnerable workers. We have introduced a sick pay scheme that is ever-present. We were clear in our manifesto before we went into government that, at this point in time, we did not feel we could extend it any further. We have commissioned a review of employment legislation. We have committed to an action plan for collective bargaining in respect of which public consultation is now underway. In all those areas, as well as in the context of additional rights such as that to request remote working, supporting workers and significant increases in the minimum wage over the past number of years, no Government has done more for workers' rights than this Administration and those that preceded it. That is a fact.
Sentiment score: 0.10
It is a fact that the Government committed to an action plan on collective bargaining in its first three months in office. It is a fact that we are commencing auto-enrolment on 1 January.
Sentiment score: 0.14
It is a fact that we have commenced a review of all employment legislation. It is a fact that the Government has worked to protect the most vulnerable workers.
Sentiment score: 0.05
It is a fact that we have significantly increased the minimum wage in the years since the establishment of the Low Pay Commission.
Sentiment score: -0.10
It absolutely is. I have quoted the figure of an increase of 29% since 2022. That is a fact. Of people who are 15 to 19 who are entitled and legally able to work, only a quarter are earning sub-minimum rates. It is a very small number of people. Critically, we have to look at barriers of entry to education, which is very important. The evidence I have behind that has not been available to allow that decision to be taken. The Low Pay Commission was clear that this is a complex issue. It said that in its report. I am going to examine the matter further. In connection with the work, the Cabinet has decided to make a decision in 2029, which is final.
Sentiment score: 0.13
I thank Deputy McAuliffe for this important question. It is a matter that will pave the way for a significant future in Ireland for semiconductors and other areas. Important projects of common European interest are becoming increasingly important as a means to enhance the competitiveness of the EU and its member states. The new programme for Government contains a commitment to "Boost participation in Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI) to increase competitiveness and productivity for Irish companies and create more jobs". Ireland needs to significantly step up its involvement in the important projects of common European interest, subject to available funding, and I see SMEs and start-ups as being central to this. We have a great opportunity for our SMEs through the funding of breakthrough research and development, and first industrial deployment projects, to enable scaling up. In other words, we have an opportunity to help to make our most important technologies ready for mass production and we want SMEs rightly involved at the heart of it. I fully support the integration of SMEs into future investments in important projects of common European interest. Officials in my Department are working with their counterparts in enterprise agencies to identify Ireland's priorities for the future. This ensures that the priorities from across industry, including our SMEs, are identified and proposed for consideration at the EU level in the selection of these new important projects of common European interest technologies. My Department is also fully engaged with the joint European forum for important projects of common European interest, JEF-IPCEI, and is a member of working groups on national best practices and facilitation of SME participation. My Department will implement recommendations from these groups and will aim to make more important projects of common European interest accessible for SMEs and support SMEs through the process. In addition to these working groups, my Department is also participating in the JEF working groups, which are tasked with designing new important projects of common European interest in the strategic sectors of advanced semiconductor technologies and Al. Ireland's representation on these groups includes both Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland to help promote the interests of Irish industry as part of the scope of this development.
Sentiment score: 0.65
I thank Deputy McAuliffe and I absolutely agree with him. We are doing that through our new semiconductor strategy, which clearly calls out the role Enterprise Ireland will have in advice and financing access to these projects. One thing I will say is one of the big projects we have had is from Analog Devices which has approximately a €630 million investment through the projects of common European interest. I was looking at one of these semiconductor companies quite recently, which had 814 SMEs on its books that it was working on. This was a large-scale company with services from Banagher to Longford. It was incredible to see so many SMEs linked in. That is why, as part of the review of the national development plan, it will be critical to get more support into our enterprise development agencies to enable companies to access these incredible projects. We know renewables and semiconductors are areas the European Union is focusing on and since the competitive compass that has come on foot of the Draghi report, we will see many areas of opportunity on behalf of the Irish Government. We are fighting very hard for additional funding in this area through the NDP envelope which will be negotiated in the coming weeks.
Sentiment score: 0.19
I thank the Deputy who is quite right; it is an area of huge opportunity. As a country, in the past we have not done enough in this area and having only one project speaks volumes. That is why we are reframing the narrative in connection with this and working with Enterprise Ireland and the IDA to try to ensure companies have the capacity to access these very significant projects. We know renewables and semiconductors are going to be important for the future of Ireland. As I said in my earlier contribution, when you see chips turning up in fridges, phones, electric vehicles, Ireland has one of the best landscapes for this. More than 80 semiconductor companies are linked in with SMEs in our landscape, with more than 20,000 people, and KPMG has been clear we have the capacity to go to 40,000 in the next decade and beyond. When we see we are dwindling in Europe - we have only 8% of the chip market while Asia is manufacturing 80% - we have the building blocks here and products like this to drill down, as the Deputy quite rightly pointed out, other components in our SME supply chain. I would push this as part of the NDP review because this is how you sustain really good employment and enhance our SME sector right across the economy.
Sentiment score: 0.40
I propose to take Questions Nos. 14 and 25 together. I thank the Deputy for his questions. Companies can be struck off the companies register on either a voluntary or involuntary basis. Voluntary strike-off is proceeding as normal, with companies meeting the criteria being struck off on an ongoing basis by the Companies Registration Office. Involuntary strike-off by the CRO arises when companies are not meeting the requirements of the Companies Act 2014 with respect to registered directors and the annual filing of returns. Due to difficulties with the enforcement module of the CRO’s IT system, the CRO suspended its involuntary strike-off programme early in 2024. Involuntary strike-off has since recommenced on a curtailed basis, as the underlying IT issues have still not been fully resolved. The primary operational issues that have arisen as a result of the IT problem are that the involuntary strike-off process currently needs more manual checks put in place than with a fully automated process, and as a result, fewer companies have been struck off. The CRO continues to monitor companies for compliance with their statutory filing obligations and to enforce filing obligations under the Companies Act 2014. All annual returns filed late are subject to a late filing fee of €100 for the first day and €3 per day thereafter. Where appropriate, a company filing a late annual return also automatically loses its audit exemption. The late filing fee regime is operating as normal and the CRO received a total of €9.7 million in late filing fees during 2024. The current involuntary strike-off programme is focusing on companies that have no registered directors, which is a breach of the Companies Act. When the programme has been completed, the focus will move to companies that have failed to file annual returns and those that have failed to register beneficial ownership information with the registrar. The CRO has spent a total of €313,567 to date in 2025 on support and maintenance for its IT system. The sum is in respect of the total cost of support and maintenance for the first quarter of the year for the CRO and also the offices of the Registry of Friendly Societies and the Central Register of Beneficial Ownership of Companies and Industrial and Provident Societies, and includes the cost of fixing bugs that arise.
Sentiment score: -0.06
I wish to clarify that legal obligations still remain on the part of companies. We received approximately 560,000 submissions last year, so any company that is not complying with the Companies Act will be prosecuted. I want to be very clear on that; their obligations still remain. Regarding how it happened, as far as I understand, it was noted when the CRO was going through an involuntary strike-off methodology that two or three rounds of strike-offs did not appear in the CRO gazette, which they are obviously obliged to do. That was noticed by the CRO, and then it had to go through them manually, which caused a significant issue and a delay with strike-offs. I agree with the Deputy. We need to be efficient in this area. I have asked to meet the Companies Registration Office to get more information on the issues at hand but I assure the Deputy we will get to the bottom of it. Critically, the number of submissions we are receiving through the CRO is at record levels and all obligations and legislative requirements still remain on company directors and their companies, across all the offices of the CRO.
Sentiment score: 0.22