Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)

I thank the Deputy for his question. He has been to the forefront in engaging with me in connection with Intel and it being significant in his locality. While I note comments by its chief executive, Intel’s Fab 24 is the most advanced manufacturing facility in Europe. We in Ireland are proud to have Intel here. As a Government, we will do everything we can to support it into the future. The new 7 nanometer, nm, chip it manufactures there is the lowest chip in Europe.

9 o’clock

In the wider context, at this point, we have only 8% of the market share in semiconductors. If we look at our economy advancing across products like fridges, phones and electric vehicles silicon chips are everywhere. I see a very bright future for Intel and we will work very closely with it. As the Deputy quite rightly pointed out, it is so important we get our competitive action plan right to the heart of Government by July. We have now established a small-business unit in the Department to make sure we are protecting family businesses, with which I know the Deputy has worked closely in his profession as an accountant. We are very focused on reducing costs, sustaining businesses to keep them viable and keeping good conditions for workers.

See this speech in context