Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will share time with colleagues.

This budget helps build the republic of opportunity we are working towards. It is a fair budget, one that rewards work through tax reductions and breaks down barriers through targeted investment in public services, as well as charting a course over the next few years to provide certainty to families and businesses. The choices the Government has set out in the budget strike the right balance between maintaining the stability of our public finances and improving our competitiveness, supporting enterprise and supporting job creation. This ensures we have the resources to deliver on important public policy objectives in the areas of housing, child care, health and education, along with all public services. Improvements in these areas also improve the general business environment and make Ireland a more attractive place in which to do business, laying the foundations for future jobs growth.

Our headline economic figures are very good, with unemployment down to 6.1%. Four out of every five jobs created are outside Dublin and we want inclusive and regional growth because job creation makes a difference to every individual, family and community. The previously high unemployment figures had a devastating impact on individuals and the reduction in the figures, from a high unemployment rate to normal employment and then full employment, has made a qualitative difference to individuals' lives. The enterprise agencies in my Department, namely, Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and the local enterprise offices, have helped to add 70 quality new jobs every day since 2015 and have delivered a net 50,000 new jobs in the years 2015 and 2016 combined. However, there is no room for complacency and we need to remain vigilant, particularly in view of the various external challenges of which the Taoiseach spoke earlier today, above all Brexit, given the reliance some sectors have on the UK market. We have to make sure there is diversification and at the heart of this budget is help for SMEs to compete, innovate and trade to deal with the challenges of Brexit. We have to help them diversify so that they can trade in the new environment. We have funding of €871 million, €48 million above the published ceiling of €823 million in the Department's Revised Estimates of November 2016 and July 2017. The Department's capital budget has also increased, with a record capital allocation, which is important because if we want to respond to the challenges we have to keep investing in the areas I have mentioned.

The Minister for Finance announced a €300 million Brexit loan scheme to ensure there is affordable finance for Irish businesses currently or potentially impacted by Brexit. Again and again businesses say to me that access to credit is a concern and we want to ensure that viable firms who are experiencing temporary difficulties have access to finance at a good rate. The new scheme will be open to all trading SMEs and large firms employing fewer than 500 people and will see a sizeable reduction to approximately 4% in interest rates charged for lending. The total Exchequer funding for the scheme will be €23 million, with my Department contributing €14 million and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine contributing €9 million.

I have also asked my officials to progress, with the Department of Finance, the SBCI and the EIB, the development of a longer-term loan scheme together with a new business advisory hub service to focus on business development that will allow enterprises to position themselves for a post-Brexit environment. There also will be supports for businesses which use that hub. There is an extra €3 million in current funding to ensure we have extra staff in all the agencies and in the Department to work on Brexit-related issues. It will bring the total up to 100 and will mean we have a joined-up response to Brexit.

We are also improving the budget for the Health and Safety Authority in 2018 to enable it to meet the challenges to its regulatory functions it will face post-budget. I brought together all the agencies of my own Department recently to discuss Brexit and look at the different challenges that will arise and there are huge differences in regulations and standards which will need to be considered.

The capital allocation for Enterprise Ireland is €63 million in 2018 and it will also utilise its own resource income, ORI, to support a range of enterprise development initiatives next year. Typically, its ORI is in the region of €65 million but at the end of 2016, EI clients were directly supporting 201,000 jobs. EI's strategy is to both grow and maintain jobs in the face of Brexit with a target to support 60,000 new jobs in 2020. It will continue to support exports to the UK while growing and diversifying outside the UK. In this context exports have grown from €21.6 billion in 2016 to €23 billion in 2017 and are expected to be €26 billion by 2020. It is a very ambitious strategy that also incorporates a eurozone export strategy with a target to double such exports by 2020. A new regional investment fund for proposals, with funding of €25 million, will go ahead in January and will be very important in supporting regional development. Attracting FDI to the regions is an integral part of our growth strategy and the IDA continues to work on that.

Another very important element in supporting research, innovation and development is Science Foundation Ireland which supports the various research centres around the country. The number has grown from 12 to 17 since the beginning of 2017 and we announced four last month - one extra and three we would like to fund. We are joining the European Southern Observatory in 2018, the benefits of which are very significant and include the creation of advanced enterprise-relevant skills in areas such as data analytics software.

The tax package will also enhance our competitiveness and the USC reduction, the KEEP and the new share-based remuneration scheme are very important. We have also retained the 9% VAT rate which other parties, such as Sinn Féin, wanted to abolish for hotels. Businesses need every support they can get at this difficult time as they face currency fluctuations and general business uncertainty. This budget provides a platform for the next stage of our enterprise and economic development.

It strikes the right balance between maintaining the stability of our public finances, improving Ireland's competitiveness, supporting job creation and delivering the public services our citizens deserve.

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