I thank the Chair for giving me the opportunity to speak in advance of Deputy Boyd Barrett. I hope I will be as entertaining. I want to welcome members of Daingean Development Association who are in the House for a tour and who may be in the Public Gallery at some stage today. I acknowledge the work they do consistently in the town. They have a festival scheduled for 14 June and anyone who might want to attend-----

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Yes, I will be there or thereabouts.

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To get to the nub of the matter in relation to the Industrial Development (Amendment) and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2026, I will begin by acknowledging the work of the Government in relation to enterprise, tourism and employment in recent times. I welcome the constant references to simple, lighter and faster in terms of how we do business. We need to reflect that more and more in terms of what we see and in being competitive, not just in our domestic market but on the international stage and in how Ireland reflects itself right around the world. I listened to various contributions in recent days in this Chamber and heard Deputies comparing Ireland to the 1980s, a time of high interest rates and unemployment when people did not see a future on this island. We have moved on considerably from that. We now have more people in employment today than we had living here 50 years ago. We are an island that is at the heart of Europe and the centre of the world. If we look at our trading and relations with America alone, over 200,000 people wake up every day and go to work in Irish companies that have invested in the US. Where once that was one-way traffic into Ireland, with investment on these shores, we are now seen globally as a serious player in relation to investment, innovation and development. Long may that continue. As a TD for Offaly and someone who has spent a lifetime involved in small businesses and international businesses, I have seen the variance in what it takes at the smallest of business levels, where it can be very difficult to know where the next cheque is going to come from, in terms of payment, or whether there is going to be enough turnover at the end of the day to actually make things work tomorrow. That is a severe stress. There are small, microbusinesses that still deal with those issues and concerns today. One of the issues I have highlighted in recent times is that businesses today have to close for two days a week in order to be viable for seven days. We have to get to a stage where there adequate supports for them from an environmental and digital perspective, or whatever the case may be. This week the Minister, Deputy Burke, and I attended the AGM of the Vintners' Federation of Ireland. Whether they are butchers, bakers, candlestick makers or publicans, people are under real pressure in relation to energy, insurance, the cost of labour and making ends meet. There are proposals in relation to excise on kegs of beer that should be considered in advance of the budget. We have seen the benefits of enterprise supports, particularly green energy supports which are really helping business to transition at every level. It is important that we continue them and have a level of dynamism in our engagement with businesses. We need to make supports available without bureaucracy or a cumbersome approach. When we talk about the IDA and Enterprise Ireland, it is important to also recognise the essential involvement of the local enterprise offices, LEOs, and the county councils. There is a shared ownership of our LEOs between Enterprise Ireland and our county councils. The work they have been doing has been commendable but we cannot take it for granted. This Bill in particular sets the scene in relation to legislative changes that are necessary in the context of the rapidly changing and evolving global economy to ensure that foreign direct investment continues on a balanced regional development basis. This morning I attended the Bord na Móna energy conference in Tullamore in County Offaly in my constituency. It was great to hear about a level of innovation that has seen the company go from brown to green in less than a decade. Ten years ago, we were talking about redundancies in that company and facing a cul-de-sac and an end of the line in terms of where it was going. Today, we are seeing innovation, progress in the whole area of renewables, digital technology advancements and the ecosystem all of that creates. We are seeing large multinational companies, but also start-ups that were former employees of the likes of Bord na Móna, taking advantage of this green opportunity. It is exciting but we need to be ready for it. I see this Bill playing an important role in that regard. Historically, grants were really about a company's turnover, how many more employees it was going to bring to the table and how much more activity would be seen in the village, town or area. We need to change the dashboard slightly in that regard. That is what the Bill does in its focus on sustainability, efficiency and emissions and also recognising the whole area of artificial intelligence and how it is playing such an important role in businesses today. Another area of action is accelerating decarbonisation. Looking at the grants that have been introduced in recent times, we can see an effort to ensure productivity and climate actions. It is important not just that we have the dashboard but that we report on this on a regular basis. Taking the example of local enterprise office grants, we can consider whether there are particular sectors that are ahead of others in the take-up of those grants and whether there is something we need to do to address a situation where there may be sectors lagging behind. That is something we need to monitor. External consultants are very much necessary. We cannot expect every business to have all the expertise under its own roof. External consultants are essential in giving advice. Sometimes, however, when consultants come to the table, they give all the advice in the world but they do not actually push the business on one inch. We need to figure out how we can integrate them more into the fabric of a business rather than just have them come in for half an hour or two hours of mentoring or whatever it is. There should be a responsibility or onus on them to come back six or 12 months later to see how the measures they put forward have been introduced to the business and whether they have resulted in effective change. Establishing and investing in jointly owned subsidiary companies with third parties such as the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, ISIF, would allow Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland to work together to deliver critical industry and commercial property infrastructure. That is vitally important and it needs to be done on a balanced regional development basis. We cannot be all things to all counties or regions but we definitely need to establish key priorities for each region and each county. In my county of Offaly, we have a very ambitious plan for where we want to go with specific sectors. We want to ensure not only that we deliver for the county in that regard but, on the back of that, we see enterprise parks established in each municipal district. It is not just about generating commercial rates for the county; it is also about generating employment. It is important that we get the mix right. Enterprise Ireland, the LEOs and the county councils are integral stakeholders in leading this. Fundamentally, many businesses want to expand and diversify but the capital outlay involved in such an expansion plan makes the whole thing unfeasible. We need to see the likes of ISIF coming in as a financial pillar to support that type of growth. Measures to modernise and streamline our engagement with enterprise projects in defence, security and resilience would be welcome. This is a reality of the world we live in today. Twenty, ten or even five years ago, there was hardly a debate in this Chamber around defence. The reality now is it is front and centre in all our minds. We live in a period of significant geopolitical risk and we cannot take defence for granted any longer. Action in this regard is very much welcome. Whether it is a small or larger business, LEADER funding has been critical to the development of many micro-businesses, particularly in rural areas, over recent decades. If EU funding is lost as part of CAP negotiations, we need to find a new home in which LEADER funding can sit. It can give the impetus to ensure that where there are opportunities, particularly in rural areas, they can be followed up, materialised and go on to make a real, tangible and material difference in communities. Foreign direct investment companies and the jobs they bring to Ireland make the front-page news. Sometimes, we overlook and almost take for granted the level of employment provided by small businesses. Incrementally, every year, such companies might add two or three more jobs until, within a decade, they are providing 50, 60 or 70 jobs. Such companies are key pillars of local economies. They are built up over time, have sponsored sports clubs and cultural events and are supporting their communities in many different ways. This is an important Bill. It cuts to where we need to be in terms of the objective of doing things in a simpler, lighter and faster way. It ensures efficiencies and that we can push on with our competitiveness. Every business owner wants a commitment from the Government that we will try to reduce red tape, bureaucracy and the cumbersome aspect of many online grant application forms. We need to ensure the supports are readily available in a manner that supports businesses rather than putting an additional burden on them. That must be the fundamental approach. I welcome and support the Bill. I acknowledge the ongoing work in this area by the Ministers of State, Deputies Dillon and Smyth, and the Minister, Deputy Burke. The legislation is progressive and it is badly needed. It will be very much welcomed by the enterprise sector from the perspective of looking to remaining agile, competitive and fit for purpose both on the global stage and in every village, town and city across the country.

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