Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. As he is aware, the Labour Employer Economic Forum, LEEF, was established to bring together representatives of employers and trade unions with Ministers to exchange views on economic and employment issues as they affect the labour market and which are of mutual concern.

The Government has not been prescriptive about what organisations have a seat at the LEEF but has left the decision to the lead representative bodies in the respective areas. The labour delegation is organised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and generally contains representatives from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Fórsa and the Nevin Economic Institute. The employer delegation is organised by IBEC and generally contains representatives from IBEC, Chambers Ireland and the Construction Industry Federation.

The Minister notes the strong programme for Government commitments to the broader question of social dialogue. As a Government, we are interested in new models of sectoral engagement and will utilise public consultations and citizens' assemblies, while strengthening existing mechanisms such as the national economic dialogue and the LEEF.

I will address the second part of the question, which relates to access for SMEs to Department of Finance officials. I have inquired with the Department of Finance and I am informed that officials engage with business representative bodies on an ongoing basis and have attended various events in this regard over the years. The most recent of these engagements was a meeting of the SME and State bodies group that was jointly chaired by the Tánaiste and the Minister for Finance on 10 July 2020, which was also attended by all the business representative groups as well as officials. This is a programme for Government commitment and is focusing on the challenges facing our SMEs as the economy reopens.

In addition, the Department of Finance conducts a survey of more than 1,500 SMEs, the largest of its kind in the country, on a biannual basis to understand issues facing SMEs, especially relating to access to credit and related matters. Finally, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform also indicates that representatives of ISME have been invited to and attend the national economic dialogue every year since it started in 2015. All organisations are welcome to make pre-budget submissions to be considered as part of the budgetary process.

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