Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach and Members for the opportunity to address the House on the important issue of Ireland's international competitiveness and, in particular, on the approach by the Government to strengthen Ireland's competitiveness and productivity performance. This is my first time addressing the Seanad during this Dáil term and I look forward to working with all colleagues across the House in the coming weeks and months.

In a time characterised by a rapid pace of change in the global trading environment and unprecedented economic uncertainty marked by geopolitical tensions, trade disruptions, and sustained inflationary pressures, the ability of our economy to remain agile and resilient is paramount. In general, Ireland's competitive position is quite strong. Ireland was ranked as the fourth most competitive country in the world in the IMD world competitive ranking and was first in the eurozone area. This finding was confirmed in the recent assessment by the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council.

However, we cannot become complacent and there remains work to do in many areas. Despite our strong international performance, we are aware that there are significant challenges and it is important that we do not take our strengths for granted. Now more than ever, it is fundamental that we take action to address long-standing legacy issues as well as emerging threats to our competitiveness performance.

As Senators will be aware, the programme for Government includes a commitment to develop an action plan on competitiveness and productivity which will play a key role in safeguarding our competitiveness performance in to the future. In response to the challenges facing Ireland's enterprise base, including small indigenous firms and multinationals, I was of the firm belief that we should have no delays in working on this important plan. I secured Government approval to expedite the delivery of the action plan last month. I am currently working on a draft of the action plan and it will be brought to Government Ministers for discussion at a dedicated competitiveness summit to be held in July. The final action plan will be published as soon as possible thereafter and will be fed directly into the forthcoming Estimates and the budgetary process.

The action plan will reflect the whole-of-government approach to domestic drivers of competitiveness, focusing on areas firmly within our national control. Its development has been informed by extensive consultation across Government Departments and with external stakeholders. My Department has already undertaken a series of bilateral engagements with key Government partners, including in the areas of infrastructure, housing, research and innovation. This discussion will continue in the weeks ahead alongside broader stakeholder engagement and public consultation.

The action plan will also be guided by the forthcoming Ireland's Competitiveness Challenge 2025 report from the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council, which is due to be published in early June. That evidenced-based input will be vital to ensuring that our policy responses are targeted, proportionate and future-facing.

The overarching objective of the action plan is to maintain and improve Ireland's position as a s competitive and productive economy capable of withstanding shocks, building on our strengths and developing our indigenous enterprise base while continuing to attract investment and talent from abroad. The action plan will, therefore, contain a set of actionable recommendations with clearly defined implementation timelines and departmental ownership. This will ensure accountability, which is vital. Emerging themes to be addressed in the action plan include embracing innovation,.scaling up small- and medium-sized enterprises, enhancing infrastructure capacity, stressing regulatory efficiency, promoting regional development and bolstering export competitiveness.

In addition to measures to be included in the action plan, the Government has approved a suite of short-term measures that I have work on for more immediate implementation where feasible. They aim to deliver early improvements in key areas, particularly those impacting SMEs and the cost of doing business. I am glad to confirm that several of these have already been delivered on.

The national semiconductor strategy was brought forward and launched on 19 May. This strategy was developed in line with the European Chips Act and the EU digital decade and aims to make Ireland a global leader in semiconductors. The strategy is ambitious and is designed to create high-value jobs, secure long-term investment and cement Ireland's role as a critical player in Europe's semiconductor future. I am targeting an additional 34,500 jobs in this sector in the coming years, building on the 20,000 we already have in the Irish economy.

The timeframe for implementation of the living wage was extended, as agreed on 15 April, and further changes to statutory sick leave have been halted, keeping our new statutory sick leave at five days, after which the social welfare system kicks in, meaning no worker has a gap in his or her pay.

I have established a small business unit within my Department. The purpose of this unit is to ensure the needs and issues of small businesses have a dedicated focus and are recognised and acknowledged right across government. The unit will, among other things, focus on rigorously implementing the SME test. Through the SME test, the importance of the think small first principle is being installed across Government. I have had a lot of engagement from colleagues in this area across the House on the small businesses unit ,which will be of great assistance in refocusing our priorities when it comes to supporting our Irish SMEs, which we all know provide the backbone of our rural and regional economies.

In addition, work is under way on a broad range of other measures, including international trade promotion, addressing costs and improving energy infrastructure. Officials are actively working on delivering these outstanding measures. These include expediting the implementation of CETA, and priority work is already under way on other international trade agreements, developing an action plan on market diversification to include an assessment of overseas offices of the State agencies in trade promotion as well as an overview of trade missions which could be expanded.We have more than 180 Enterprise Ireland business advisers based in all major cities around the world. We stand ready to support Irish businesses in breaking into new markets and increasing trade. We are prioritising and accelerating the introduction of security clearance arrangements for exporting firms, subject to the resolution of legal issues.

We are working with colleagues in the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications to ensure the CRU decision on data centres is published to provide certainty to the industry. We will secure agreement and publish a medium-term action plan to connect large users to the power grid. We will host a joint Government-industry forum on offshore renewable energy to oversee progress on delivery of Ireland’s offshore renewable energy objectives and related economic and competitiveness challenges, get an update on the work under way through the offshore renewable energy task force, identify how best public and private sectors can work together over the coming years on the energy transition, and scope out the role of the proposed climate investment clearing house. Accelerating the deployment of electricity grid infrastructure by early identification of suitable sites in public ownership is also of vital importance, as is exploring options for development routes to market for zones B, C and D in the south coast DMAP to provide a pathway for future offshore wind energy to meet growing electricity demand.

I also want to highlight the important role of wage policy in the wider competitiveness agenda. The Government remains committed to the phased introduction of the living wage and to ensuring fair pay for all workers. At the same time, we are acutely aware of the need to manage this transition in a way that does not compromise employment or the viability of businesses. Recent increases in the minimum wage have delivered meaningful improvements for low-paid workers and we will continue to take a balanced and evidence-based approach in future decisions. In that context, I look forward to receiving the Low Pay Commission’s recommendations for 2026 later this year.

In support of this work, I also look forward to convening the first meeting of the new cost of business advisory forum on 11 June, which will play a key role in identifying targeted policy and administrative reforms to ease the cost of doing business. This forum will meet regularly over the coming months with a particular focus on the challenges facing small firms, including business taxation, regulatory compliance and administrative overheads. The views and experiences of SMEs will help guide the final action plan and inform future Government policy.

The global context in which we operate is becoming more complex and more competitive. Recent developments at EU level, especially the publication of the European Commission’s competitiveness compass, reflect a renewed focus across the Union on structural reforms to drive long-term economic dynamism. Ireland must be at the forefront of this agenda. By accelerating the development of our national action plan, we are signalling our determination to act decisively on the levers within our control. Our ambition is clear: to ensure Ireland remains one of the most competitive, innovative and resilient economies in the world.