Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 9 July 2025

Select Committee on Enterprise, Tourism and Employment

Estimates for Public Services 2025
Vote 32 - Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (Revised)

2:00 am

Photo of Paul GogartyPaul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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I will go as quick as I can. I reiterate the support for the power-up scheme and the ICOB scheme or some incarnation continuing on. I have a question on indigenous innovation. We are way behind on wave energy. For example, we need to develop investment in deep water ports to meet our wind energy target. Is there anything planned for massive capital increases or borrowing for that?

On regional development, I mentioned at last week's meeting that we are getting many companies coming in that are getting software workers from elsewhere in the EU because they need them but they are all focusing on Dublin as much as possible. On one estate I gave as an example, 90% of the people buying the houses at cost of over €550,000 do not appear to have indigenous names. In that context, it is pricing public sectors workers in Dublin out of the market. We need a better regional strategy. That is happening, but the companies still want to go to Dublin.

I wish to ask the Minister two more questions. First, is there scope to give the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission a remit to be a "Pricewatch" for consumers? It is a regulator, but consumers do not have a one-stop shop to say where they are being ripped off on the price of different items in supermarkets. Second, has the Minister ever made submissions on the long-standing issue of multi-annual funding that would allow for better planning? What is his view on that?