Linda Nelson Murray (Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for coming to the Seanad today. It is his first time here and it is great to see him. I find him incredibly approachable and ready to listen and engage. Let us have a good conversation on competitiveness today.

Ireland is currently experiencing its highest employment levels on record. The number of people employed reached approximately 2.8 million in the first quarter of 2025. This is across all ages. The employment rate for individuals aged 15 to 64 reached 75.3% in the third quarter of 2024, the highest level on record. Average weekly earnings have risen in every sector of the economy over the past ten years. The average weekly wage is up by almost €279 to €955. This surge in employment reflects the resilience of the economy.

As the Minister has said, Ireland ranks as the most competitive country in the euro area. This is driven by strong economic growth, our highly skilled workforce and our success in attracting inward investment in high value-added economic sectors. It is fantastic that Government launched the national enterprise hub. I tell anyone I can get in a business about it. A lot of them do not seem to know about it so we probably need to do a bit more marketing of it. Whether big or small, businesses should log on there and see if there are grants appropriate to them. These supports include: the financial support to embrace technology grant; BeSMART, through which you can get risk assessments for free; financial supports to help make workplaces more accessible; LEADER programmes; and so on. All of these help with our competitiveness.

We know that small and medium-sized businesses are vital to our economic success. We regularly speak about them being the backbone of the Irish economy. I am a business owner myself. My husband and I employ more than 20 people. Without a doubt, it is not easy. I will move on to areas where we really struggle to help with competitiveness. I will take it to the local level. The Minister spoke about a lot of things in his introduction but I will bring it down to towns. In addition to national and global challenges, there are local factors that can hamper competitiveness for business in Ireland. The Minister mentioned the promotion of regional development. Parking is not his remit but local economies thrive when people can access businesses easily, comfortably and reliably. While walking, cycling and public transport are increasingly important, adequate car parking remains vital. I would like the Minister to liaise with some of his colleagues about this. This issue can undermine local competitiveness. This is what we are seeing in our small towns around Ireland.

I am sure it is the same in the Minister's hometown of Mullingar but places like Navan and Oldcastle in my home county of Meath are really suffering as regards car parking spaces. Parking may seem like a mundane issue but it is a critical part of local economic strategy. If people cannot park, they will not come and, if they do not come, businesses suffer. Parking is a way to preserve local competitiveness. It plays a crucial role in making businesses accessible to customers who rely on private vehicles, particularly those who are disabled. Adequate parking ensures customers can easily unload goods, visit shops and engage with businesses. Studies suggest that businesses with sufficient car parking experience higher sales and increased foot traffic. This is because customers are more likely to visit businesses that offer convenient parking. I do not mean to take anything away from Blanchardstown because it is a fantastic place but I too often hear that people are leaving Meath to go to Blanchardstown because of parking. I cannot walk the streets of Navan without a business owner expressing to me the difficulties he or she is facing due to a lack of parking. I have been liaising with Meath County Council, which is doing an incredible job on our Navan 2030 project. It is aware of the issue and is actively working on providing more car parking spaces. However, it is not just Navan. As I said earlier, this affects many towns. Although Deputy Burke is not the Minister for Transport, we are here to speak about competitiveness, which is impacted by this issue.

Another issue is broadband and digital infrastructure gaps. Broadband availability in rural Ireland is improving thanks to initiatives like the national broadband plan. While urban areas have near universal coverage, rural areas still face challenges, with coverage ranging from 42% to 50% depending on social and economic factors. Some rural and regional areas still suffer from low-speed or unreliable Internet. One such area is Ballivor, which again is in County Meath. A local business in the town contacted me in the last week. It still does not have fibre and an employee has left due to the stress of trying to do their day job. This also leaves that particular business at a competitive disadvantage.

Declining town centres, empty storefronts and poor public maintenance can deter footfall, as can antisocial behaviour such as graffiti. We have a shopfront enhancement scheme but this is not used for derelict buildings in our towns. In the centre of Navan, there are two derelict buildings full of graffiti. It does not entice you.

On commercial space, I will bring the Minister back to County Meath again. If you were to look at renting a 5,000 sq. ft building or 8,000 sq. ft premises in Navan today, you could not find one. If you wanted a premises of more than 10,000 sq. ft, there are only three such buildings. If you wanted to set up a gym, a small manufacturing company or somewhere to get cars fixed, there is nowhere to start that business. In Trim in County Meath, there are only two units for rent. We really need to look at this issue and to see what we can do to zone areas for commercial and industrial use. That is really important.

We recognise that many businesses are facing increased challenges such as high operating costs, talent shortages and housing and infrastructure issues. Housing is a critical pillar of Ireland's economic competitiveness. I am not going to go into it because we talk about it a lot but it is important we get it right so that we can retain skilled workers. Despite high employment levels, businesses are still struggling to find workers.

As I mentioned to the Minister this morning, I attended Retail Excellence Ireland's conference in Kilkenny on Monday evening. I spoke to a business that supplies self-scan machines for supermarkets. Personally, I prefer to go to somebody at a till. I asked why so many of these machines are being put in and if it did not lead to jobs being cut. Older people's social life may sometimes just be going to the shop. The last thing they want to see is a self-scan machine. My own dad, who passed away last year, did not like to do a weekly shop. He liked to go into the centre to do his daily bits as it passed a lot of time and he loved a chat. To go back to my question to the company supplying these machines, I asked why so many of them were being put in and said it was taking away jobs. The person said it was not that the company was taking away jobs but that people cannot be found to work in the supermarkets and that was why self-scan machines have to be brought in. I thought that was such a pity. It does not allow us to be competitive at a local level.

Ireland's rising costs, especially for rent, utilities, wages and insurance, are a growing burden for many businesses, especially SMEs. High insurance costs make Ireland a more expensive place to do business and only make our goods and services less competitive. Only this morning, the Minister and I were in a large manufacturing business in County Meath and heard of the frustrations caused by insurance. High awards are contributing to this and we are now on the verge of increasing them by 17%, further eroding our competitiveness.I am harping on and on about this, and I really want this stopped. The Minister or I do not want to see these awards increase as we know they will be passed on in our premiums. Government reforms have ensured claims are down, but we have not seen premiums come down. I urge the Minister to look at this with his colleagues, the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, and the Minister of State, Deputy Troy.

I welcome the serious commitment in the current programme for Government to attract new competitors to the insurance market, specifically the public liability one, but I do not know if the Minister knows that we have not had a new insurer in Ireland in the public liability spaces in ten years. There is something wrong. Can we not explore European insurers and see if we can trade with them? If Ireland becomes perceived as an expensive place to do business, it risks losing ground to other European and global hubs.

I recognise that the Government has committed to a whole-of-government action plan for competitiveness and productivity. The Government's engagement with the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council over a long number of years has served us well. I think the Minister is great, and he can actively see this on the ground when meeting businesses and listening to the challenges they face.

Although this is not going to sort out all our issues today, I ask the Minister to look at the few things I have mentioned. What really needs to be done to protect and enhance Ireland's competitiveness? We need to protect our local retailers. As I have said in this Chamber before, I cannot get my hair done or get my glasses renewed online. I cannot meet my friends for coffee or visit a fabulous garden centre online. Please protect our small towns and ensure they are competitive to the bigger cities by ensuring we keep car parking spaces, and keep our towns open as well as supporting active travel.

Let us also zone more land for business. Let us look at how we rate businesses. Rates are one of those things. As a rate payer myself, my goodness, we really struggle with it. Mostly, it is due to the cost. I am trying to figure out how they are actually calculated. I am also wondering where the money is going. I have said this at a local level. We should be communicating to businesses what their money is being spent on. It is a no-brainer. Let us reform the insurance market to reduce premiums and increase transparency. We should expand affordable housing and commercial space to ease pressure on wages and business rents and streamline regulations and planning, especially for SMEs navigating expansion, construction or licensing processes.

In conclusion, competitiveness serves as a vital engine for economic growth. Ireland's competitive edge has brought us this far, but to secure a prosperous future, we must confront our challenges head-on. There is no denying that I am very passionate about small business. I am at the coal face of small business, so I really want the Minister to do all he can do.