Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on these statements. Businesses are struggling with a cost of doing business crisis, workers are struggling with a cost of living crisis and both need to be supported. Unfortunately, instead of helping both, the Government has put forward a support package which pits business against business and business against workers. It has been clear for some time that supports for businesses must be forthcoming. For nearly a year, Sinn Féin has called for the Government to engage with industry to design a bespoke but time-limited support for those sectors most impacted by public policy interventions and other additional costs. However, the Government’s business support package falls short of what businesses really need.

Sinn Féin welcomes the reopening of the increased cost of business grant. We called for this several weeks ago and it is good that the Minister listened to us and to businesses. Since its announcement in budget 2024, the increased cost of business scheme was beset by delays, confusion and a certain amount of incompetence. The nature of the scheme, the qualifying criteria and the grant rate changed on a number of occasions. Therefore, it was not surprising that businesses were confused and that less than 50% of qualifying businesses had applied before it closed on 30 April. Thankfully, the Minister has listened to Sinn Féin's advice and reopened the scheme so more hard-pressed ratepayers can apply for relief.

Data I received in a reply to a parliamentary question show not only that many businesses have not been able to apply but also that firms that have applied have not had their applications processed and thousands of approved businesses have not received any money to date. Only 17% of businesses have had their applications approved nationally and only 10.7% of applicants have had grant money paid to them. In six local authority areas, including Dublin City Council, not a single cent has been paid out to struggling businesses. Across the whole of Dublin city and county, just 157 businesses have received the ICOB grant. The situation is replicated in Kerry, Roscommon, Cork county, Wexford and Laois. This is a shocking situation for a scheme which was announced six months ago and which was supposed to issue money to businesses in January. Struggling businesses need this money. It should be released to all approved businesses immediately. In addition, the Government and local authorities must engage in a comprehensive communications strategy to encourage further SME take-up of the ICOB scheme before it closes for a second time.

The second ICOB grant for the retail and hospitality sectors is a welcome payment for retail and hospitality businesses which have borne the brunt of business insolvencies so far in 2024. The hospitality and retail industries made up 40% of the total number of insolvencies in quarter 1 of 2024. It is disappointing that the Government has waited until halfway into the year before bringing forward supports for these sectors. In January, many retail and hospitality businesses warned the Government that they would need support to stave off a raft of business closures. There are, no doubt, many struggling businesses in other sectors wondering why they have been excluded from this additional support. That is what I mean when I say that the measures from the Government are pitting business against business. Sinn Féin again calls on the Government to engage with industry to design a bespoke but time-limited support for all those sectors most impacted by public policy interventions.

The changes for the innovation voucher scheme are welcome moves by the Government, but much more must be done to help SMEs with research, development and innovation. Research, development and innovation are core drivers of economic progress. Much more must be done to strengthen and deepen the research, development and innovation capacity of the State and of business. Investment in research, development and innovation will be central to addressing the economic and social challenges in the decades ahead, such as decarbonisation, digitisation and public health. Research, development and innovation will also be central to developing the knowledge-intensive sectors of the future: clean tech, renewables, AI, machine learning and quantum computing, among others. There are two international benchmarks with which to review Ireland's performance in respect of research and development. Unfortunately, due to Government underinvestment in research and development, both indices show fluctuating and worrying performance for Ireland. According to the European innovation scoreboard, Ireland is classed as a strong innovator. However, we are not in the top echelons of innovation leaders like Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden. A similar performance can be observed in the context of the global innovation index, on which Ireland has dropped to 22nd behind fellow European states such as Sweden, Finland, Denmark, France, Estonia and Norway. Ireland's declining and fluctuating performance on these indices is a direct result of underinvestment in research and development by successive Governments. It will take a lot more than doubling the innovation voucher scheme to improve research, development and innovation among Irish SMEs and in the economy more generally.

The failure to properly utilise the National Training Fund to upskill and reskill the workforce has left our SME community at a disadvantage compared with our European peers. The 2023 national skills bulletin, produced by SOLAS, identified skills shortages in science and engineering; ICT; health and social care; construction; other craft; hospitality; and transport and logistics. At the same time, the size of the National Training Fund continues to grow, having reached €1.5 billion, but as it is just being invested in short-term Exchequer notes, it is not fulfilling its purpose. This is a lost opportunity at a time when it is badly needed to fund further skills, education and training. At the same time, the Government budget allocated to research and innovation fell this year. The expenditure Estimates show a planned reduction in spend of 3% for research, innovation and science.

The economy is crying out for a fast-tracking of the reform of the National Training Fund. In particular, any fast-tracking must be aimed at increasing competitiveness and productivity among the Irish SME sector. Increasing productivity, in particular SME productivity growth, is an economic priority. While Ireland is successful in generating and attracting high-growth firms, particularly multinationals, domestic SMEs suffer from productivity issues. SMEs account for 99% of active enterprises and 70% of employment; however, their level of gross value added is only 35%. Recent research carried out by the Nevin Economic Research Institute and trade union SIPTU showed that the average value-added per hour worked by domestic workers here between 2017 and 2019 was well behind peer countries. The report stated that increasing productivity based on 2019 levels by 16% in the domestic market economy would be the equivalent of a €10 billion rise in value-added in the domestic sector. An increase of this scale would put SMEs in a significantly more advantageous position in terms of increased profits, and for workers it would mean increased wages. It is for this reason that Sinn Féin wants the State to invest in and boost innovation and productivity in the domestic economy in order that gap between the FDI sector and the domestic SME sector can be closed.

In order to do this, the State must invest to help SMEs adopt international best practice management skills and constant upskilling of the workforce; SMEs need to be facilitated in improving capital investment and have access to finance through long-term, low-interest, State-backed loans; there has to be greater funding for SMEs to facilitate technology adaptation and improved digital skills; and there needs to be better linkages between multinational companies and SMEs.

The decision to review the statutory sick leave before deciding on any further increases is nothing more than an attack on workers' rights. Sinn Féin has been clear that while Government supports for business are necessary, they cannot and must not come at the expense of workers' rights. Sinn Féin believes there is no reason business and workers cannot be supported in tandem. Pitting business against workers is a time-honoured Fine Gael tradition, and it is not surprising that it is again raising its head as Simon Harris takes control of the party. He is, after all, the Minister who forced nurses and midwives onto the streets to strike for improved pay and conditions. Workers have been forgotten about in the debate about what business needs. Over the past decade, we have seen an explosion in corporate welfare, with business receiving significant additional supports from the Government. Nevertheless, this has not stopped businesses from attacking workers and workers' rights. In recent years, we have witnessed a race to the bottom in terms and conditions of work, falling living standards and a decline in real incomes, and the marginalisation of trade unions and workplace democracy. Half of Workplace Relations Commission inspections uncover breaches of employment law, with withholding of workers' wages by employers rife. Real wage decline has left workers worse off today than they were in 2020, and CSO data shows that more than 145,500 people in work are living in poverty.

Workers and their families deserve good pay and decent working conditions. For Sinn Féin, workers' rights are not negotiable. We believe it is essential to legislate to give workers and their trade unions the right to organise and to deliver a legal right to collective bargaining. Workers need a Government that is on their side. For too long, workers and their rights have been an add-on or an afterthought. Sinn Féin believes that it is time for workers and workers' rights to be front and centre of the political agenda.

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