Cathal Byrne (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister to the Chamber. This is our first interaction in this House. I wish him the best of luck for the term ahead. His success will be the success of the country and he very much has my support.

I was struck by some of the comments on the economy made by previous speakers, particularly around the uncertainty we face. Over the years, the Irish economy has experienced the 1920s and 1930s and the Economic War, industrialisation in the 1960s and the changes that brought to the economic outlook, on to the Celtic tiger, which was fuelled by credit, and the impact of the crash that came afterwards. While I do not doubt the sincerity of Senator Clonan’s beliefs, I do not share his view that a decision was taken by the Government in that period to target the most vulnerable, and I am sure the Minister does not share it either.

Turning to the future, I am thinking of the economic diversity we see, between the pharmaceutical and technological industries and the finance sector. My children are aged four and one. I think of the jobs they might have when they enter the workforce and how we plan for the economy of the future because the days of the agrarian and industrial economies, or even the financial economy we see now, will soon pass and a new economic model will be required for Ireland. The question is how we balance the need for foreign direct investment with supporting our own indigenous businesses and the local economy that supplies so many jobs in rural and regional areas.

I applaud the work being done by the Minister for enterprise in seeking to attract the AI companies of the future and the chip manufacturers. I am struck by the work he has put into the silicon island initiative, which seeks to increase the number of jobs in the sector by 2030 to 34,500. I can foresee a situation where unless we get the key infrastructure, including allowing data centres to be constructed in Ireland, those jobs and the AI-driven economy of the future will simply not be available to our country. I am struck by the need to invest in the infrastructure that can create the opportunity for that investment into the country, including the upgrading of the electricity grid and making sure the data centres that are built have a renewable option that ensures the energy taken to enable them to do their work comes from both wind and solar. It is so important that in the economy we are trying to build towards 2040, those factors be combined to ensure progress and sustainable growth.

On tariffs, €4.5 billion of trade on average takes place every day between the US and the EU. I applaud the Minister for the work he has done as President of the Eurogroup in making sure an approach that is firm and resilient but not reckless has been adopted so far by the EU in its response. It is very important the US be aware of the significant financial resources in the EU when it comes to retaliatory tariffs but, while they are seen as a threat, they should not be put on the table as an initial reaction or response. That must be commended. The fact that the tariff list of retaliatory measures has been published shows they are serious without making it an initial response.

I will make three specific points on tax policy. It is very important that in the next budget and subsequent budgets during this Dáil, we support generational renewal of farmers. Some 30% of farmers are aged over 65 years and only 5% are under 35. I come from a farming background and have two siblings, my brothers, and none of the three of us are directly farming. My father is still farming and he will turn 66 this year. We come from a generation in which, historically, it would have been anticipated that one of us would take up the farm, but that has not proven to be the case. It is crucial that our tax policy address the need for generational renewal. Second, on the critical issue of infrastructure, I spoke earlier about data centres and EirGrid. I welcome the fact that Uisce Éireann is coming before the infrastructure committee today. I support its call for extra funding but only in the context of ensuring additional resources it gets leads to the direct supply of additional capacity to build houses. Third, when we look to the future, it is important that we support indigenous businesses and make it a little easier to get entrepreneurial relief at start-up stage.