Michael D'Arcy (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Ireland has a strong track record in winning foreign direct investment. One of the key pillars of this success has been the growth of international financial services in recent decades. There are now 90,000 people working in the financial services sector. The Government is fully aware of how competitive the global financial services environment is and launched the international financial services strategy 2020, IFS2020, in March 2015. The strategy aims to grow the numbers employed in the sector by 30% net in the five-year period to 2020 and I am pleased to say we are on track. By the end of 2016, there had been 13% growth in employment from 2015. Around 40,000 are now employed directly across 400 indigenous and multinational firms, with a further 50,000 employed indirectly, giving a total of 90,000. The industry is now nationwide, with 30% of jobs outside Dublin in counties such as Donegal, Galway, Limerick, Cork, Kerry, Louth, Kilkenny and Wexford. As part of my role as Minister of State at the Department of Finance with responsibility for financial services and insurance, I have undertaken a number of regional outreach visits and witnessed at first hand the attractiveness of the regions for financial services. Ireland will continue to compete for investments in the international financial services sector. A number of firms have already announced the creation or expansion of operations here. Ireland is a fully committed member of the European Union and we will be the only English-speaking nation and this will be the only common law jurisdiction in the Union after the United Kingdom's exit.

The recent surge in non-life premiums, in particular on the motor side, has had a significant impact on society as a whole as many struggle to afford insurance which is, after all, an essential requirement for day-to-day living. While average motor insurance premiums have begun to stabilise this year, prices increased by almost 70% from 2011 to their peak in July 2016. It is against this backdrop that the cost of insurance working group was established by the Minister of Finance last year. It resulted in the publication of the report on the cost of insurance. The recommendations include the establishment of a national claims information database and a personal injuries commission. Since publication of the report, the responsible bodies have been implementing the actions assigned to them in the detailed action plan. The second phase of the working group which I chair involves considering the impact of the cost of employer's and public liability insurance on the competitiveness of certain business sectors. Given the complexity of the issues involved in the area, it is expected that a final report will be published during the autumn to winter term, rather than at the end of September as originally envisaged.

While the overall fiscal and economic backdrop is positive, nevertheless we face challenges, both domestically and internationally.The Government is addressing these challenges within the available resources, domestically in regard to housing, continued improvements in services, notably in health and education, rewarding work and making the investment necessary to support a growing economy.

On the international challenges, additional resources are provided to address Brexit and to increase our footprint on the broader global stage. We are also addressing our infrastructure requirements through the capital programme.

We must look to opportunities, and I have outlined our approach in regard to financial services. I have also outlined the continuing progress in reducing insurance costs, which affect both households and businesses.

This budget has increased the amount of resources available and has continued the pattern of making steady incremental progress on a broad range of issues. It will bring about improvements in our services and in terms of opportunities in our country. I commend today's budget to the Seanad.