Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Chairman for the invitation to update the committee on the Department's work so far this year and what we have planned for the remainder of it. As he mentioned, I am joined by Mr. John Newham, who is in charge of commerce, consumer and competition law; Ms Tara Coogan, who is responsible for industrial relations and workplace relations; and Ms Jill Colquhoun, who is here from the intellectual property side.

Last week was my third budget as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. Over the past two years, we have experienced many ups and downs. From Brexit to Covid restrictions, the war in Ukraine and soaring inflation, it is fair to say that we live in interesting times. The Government has not gotten everything right all the time but we have always sought to protect lives and livelihoods as best we can, and protect jobs and businesses for that reason.

In the round, budget 2023 was about putting money in people's pockets, with specific measures for the most vulnerable and the squeezed middle.

Many businesses around the country are worried heading into the winter. Energy and other input costs are rising. Interest rates are rising too and consumer confidence is waning. The Government has to intervene again, just as we did during the pandemic, to support viable jobs and businesses and, therefore, we have announced five measures in the budget to help with energy costs and sustainability. The first of these is the temporary business energy support scheme, T-BESS. That will provide qualifying businesses, which will be almost all businesses, with relief on 40% of the increase in their electricity or gas bills up to a maximum of €10,000 per month per business unit.

The second is a €200 million targeted Ukraine enterprise crisis scheme to assist viable but vulnerable manufacturers and exporters.

One strand of the scheme will provide up to €2 million for energy-intensive companies. The third is a State-backed Ukraine credit guarantee scheme of up to €1.2 billion. That will assist the wider business sector with liquidity and will help to invest in energy efficiency. This will provide low-cost working capital to small businesses and primary producers like farmers and fishermen. The fourth is a €500 million growth and sustainability loan scheme, which is the successor to the future growth loan scheme. The growth and sustainability loan scheme will provide low-cost, long-term lending to SMEs. Finally, we are allocating €4 million in funding to the local enterprise offices, to include a new grant for micro-enterprises to implement energy efficiency measures, including solar panels, for example.

Turning to other priorities, we are developing a White Paper on enterprise policy which will be published before the end of the year. We have become a prosperous country not because of natural resources like oil, gas, diamonds or gold. Our success as a nation is based entirely on trading the goods and services we produce internationally, our attractiveness as a place to invest and our ability to enter into international free trade agreements, under the umbrella of the European Union, with other countries. I think some people take our economic success for granted. I think they believe that businesses will continue to expand and that employment will continue to rise, no matter what we do. They tend to focus on how we can divide up the cake differently or, in their view, more fairly. It rarely occurs to them that the cake can shrink, meaning less for everyone, or get bigger, meaning we have more to allocate. This is definitely not a time to rest on our laurels, in a rapidly changing world. We will not stay successful economically by standing still. We have to get ahead of the next wave and catch it. That is why the White Paper is so important.

I understand that businesses have been through a lot in the past three years and that many are focused just on surviving the next few months. However, the green and digital transitions are also existential threats and we have to help businesses to take notice and take action and help them along the way. We are already helping out with an €85 million multi-annual Grow Digital fund and a €55 million fund to help businesses move away from fossil fuels. There are more than 20 different energy efficiency schemes available to businesses, but take-up is not what it should be. We have work to ensure that the right incentives are in place and the right information is available to improve take-up by businesses.

In February we launched nine new regional enterprise plans. They will form an integral part of our overall enterprise policy and are aimed at strengthening the regional enterprise ecosystem to drive economic growth and to maintain better standards of living in all parts of the country. Up to €180 million will be made available to implement these plans. It is great to see that employment is growing so strongly now in every part of the country. The border area of Donegal, Leitrim, Sligo, Monaghan and Cavan has performed the strongest over the past two years, with employment there growing by 29%. The south east and the south west were the best performers last year. There are now 2.55 million people at work in Ireland, which is a record high, youth unemployment is close to a record low and female labour force participation is also at an all-time high. Both IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland had record jobs figures last year and their work, along with that of the local enterprise offices and InterTradeIreland, will be crucial to maintaining our momentum on employment.

Regarding housing, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has a crucial role in facilitating accelerated innovation within the construction sector and driving increased productivity. We have established a modern methods of construction group to help the transition from conventional to modern construction methods. We have made additional categories of construction workers eligible for general employment permits, and IDA Ireland is engaging with international construction companies to make them aware of the opportunities that now exist in the Irish market.

Apart from backing business, we are recognising the contribution of workers by introducing reforms to strengthen workers' terms and conditions. We are working to ensure that the pandemic leaves a legacy of a more inclusive and secure society, with full employment, good jobs and secure jobs, making work pay more and rewarding effort. Back in June I outlined proposals to introduce a living wage for all employees in Ireland. My Department is working through the results of the public consultation on this, and I intend to bring a memo to the Government later this month, seeking formal approval for the phase-in of a living wage and a timeline to do so. In addition to this work, the Government has accepted the recommendation of the Low Pay Commission to increase the national minimum wage to €11.30 an hour from 1 January, or €1,600 per year for a full-time worker. In addition, I have prioritised the enumeration of enhanced workers' rights, including a new public holiday, which will take place on St. Brigid's Day or Imbolc; statutory sick pay, which will come into effect in January; the Covid-19-related lay-off payment scheme, which is now up and running and administered by the Department of Social Protection and ensures that people who were laid off temporarily during the pandemic restrictions do not lose out on redundancy rights; the protection of workplace tips and gratuities, which we anticipate to be commenced in the coming weeks, certainly by 1 December; the right to request remote working Bill, which will be published later this quarter; and, as the committee will know, the introduction by the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, of new flexible working laws as well as more affordable childcare.

As Deputies and Senators will be aware, employment permit applications have more than doubled since 2019. I am very pleased that the backlog in processing permit applications has now decreased from nearly 11,000 at its peak to around 2,000. Waiting times for all types of employment permit are now down to four weeks or less. That number should improve further due to the measures employed by the Department, which can now be continued into 2023 due to our increased budget allocation for staffing. The forthcoming employment permits Bill will also help. We are examining European proposals to bring together the employment permit process in our Department and the visa process in the Department of Justice.

To mention briefly some other legislation, the Competition (Amendment) Act 2022 was enacted earlier this year. It is landmark legislation and the biggest reform of competition law in decades. It will enhance the ability of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC, to break up cartels, stop bid rigging and other anti-competitive practices and block anti-competitive mergers. The Consumer Rights Bill, which is being piloted by the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, will enter the Seanad in the coming weeks. It introduces new rights for consumers and will better protect them from misleading and unfair commercial practices. Crucially, it extends consumer rights to the digital area. The small companies administrative rescue process, SCARP, has been in place for less than a year. While take-up has been muted so far, I anticipate that many more companies will avail of it in the coming months. The feedback on the scheme so far has been very positive and its existence alone is an important factor when companies are in distress. The Screening of Third Country Transactions Bill completed Second Stage in the Dáil in September, and the control of exports Bill has been prioritised for publication this autumn. These Bills will strengthen Ireland's scrutiny of potentially harmful inward investments and the export of controlled goods to third countries. It will also ensure that Ireland retains our position as an attractive location for FDI and as an exporting economy.

I thank the committee and the Chairperson for facilitating a number of waivers of legislation from pre-legislative scrutiny. I know we have not always given the committee adequate notice, but I hope members can understand why. The past two and a half years have required us to adapt very quickly to unforeseen events, and this committee has played an important role in helping us to respond quickly to save thousands of businesses and jobs. I look forward to hearing members' views and answering any questions they may have.