Conor Murphy (Sinn Fein)

I welcome the Minister. I am speed reading through the Minister's statement to try to respond to a few points on it. We had a similar conversation with the Minister for Finance this morning relating to the economic outlook statement and there is quite a lot of overlap in the issues that apply and a recognition that things do need to change and there are vulnerabilities. We were less than ten years out from the economic crash when were into Brexit, the pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis, the cost of energy crisis and now we are into the uncertainty caused by the new American Administration and the idea of tariffs and trade disruption across the world. Many of the things that the successful economy here were built on are now exposed to even more vulnerability. While the Minister rightly recognises that, in terms of competitiveness, Ireland is doing quite well, the Draghi report in Europe shows in the overall picture in Europe, to which we are not immune, that there is some catch-up to be done in that regard. I welcome that the Minister is bringing forward an action plan on competitiveness and productivity and bringing that to a summit that is to meet in July and then to be developed and published. That will be very welcome. I made the same point to the Minister for Finance this morning that we are in a space now where there must be action taken quickly. There have to be plans developed, action taken quickly and the resources attached to deliver on those plans.

I welcome the Minister's reference to developing the indigenous enterprise base because one of the criticisms or concerns about the economy is the narrowness of that, particularly relating to tax return, the narrowness of the economic base and the lack of diversity, not just of sectors but also regional diversity. That development of the indigenous base while continuing to attract investment and FDI is still incredibly important. The Minister referenced talent from abroad. Regarding investment and competitiveness, we must also invest in our own people and skills. That is not just at the high end. We do need people with PhDs and we need research and development and innovation, but we also need to make sure that, at a very base level, we improve on skills and give people a chance to become more economically active and to make more of a contribution to the growth of the economy and to productivity. Investment in talent here, in skills and in bringing people into more levels of economic activity is important. The focus on SMEs is welcome.

I saw the reference to the national semiconductor strategy and that is important. Has there been an engagement? We have one of the leading semiconductor companies not two miles from the Border with Seagate Technology in Derry, whose workforce is very largely a north-western workforce. It would be remiss not to consider a national strategy even though technically it is in a different jurisdiction, but its impact and its potential impact across the island is significant and it is a significant company. I hope there would be some consideration of that.

On the overall approach, there is a recognition that, to improve competitiveness, we need investment in infrastructure. That includes climate change and energy infrastructure. One of the critical things we are facing is the cost of energy, the impact that has on the cost of doing business today and the impact that has on the cost of living, because those costs and increasing costs are undoubtedly passed on to consumers. The ambition in terms of investment in climate change, energy and renewable energy must be about self-sufficiency, lower energy costs across the board and ensuring those big users and those who intend to be big users in the future pay their way in terms of that necessary national investment.

There are other significant challenges in infrastructure and other Senators have mentioned them. Housing is a challenge, not just in terms of the impact on our population but also on competitiveness. Other critical infrastructure was mentioned by Senator Fitzpatrick, including water infrastructure and roads. There is a recognition, not just here but across Europe, that we have fallen behind relative to people who are in competition with us across the globe. In doing that, it is a question of applying the resources that are necessary to do that, but it is also a question of a having a long hard look at what have been the failures of major infrastructure. We can cite many examples of difficulties in delivering major infrastructure projects. While the Minister for Finance referred earlier to the resource that is going to be attached to supporting that development strategy, there also must be a look at what were the barriers and what were the hold-ups. Is it planning? Is it the capacity of people who are tasked with major infrastructure projects? Is it in the Civil Service? Are there bottlenecks or constipation that are holding up major decisions on infrastructure? The investment of the resources is necessary but, equally, so are the lessons learned from past failures in infrastructure developments. Clearly, that is one of the issues that is going to help us in future in meeting economic challenges which the Minister has outlined going right back to Brexit, Covid-19 and all of those, with there being no sign and no real sense that these kinds of economic challenges are going to go away any time soon. In trying to meet that, there is a correct focus on competitiveness, but all of the things that need to be delivered to try to underpin and support that focus then are necessary.The revitalisation of town centres is important for small businesses. We need to be more supportive of businesses. That investment will undoubtedly be an investment for the future and will assist our overall capacity to improve the infrastructure of the country and provide for our citizens who live here.

In that sense - I made the same point to the Minister for Finance earlier - we have to consider the potential of the all-Ireland economy. The growth in that regard has been organic. There has been sevenfold growth since the Good Friday Agreement was signed. The ability of businesses to expand further and be supported could create even more diversity in the economic model and help to sustain us during future economic shocks that might come along by building up our own infrastructure in terms of business on the island and the hard infrastructure itself.

These are all challenges that can be met. I look forward to seeing the action plan that will emerge in the short time ahead. I apologise that I will not be able to stay to hear the response of the Minister - I have to meet the Minister for Finance again at the finance committee. Like many others, I am jumping into committee duties while continuing my dealings in the Seanad. I know from previous engagements with the Minister that, as has already been said, he is very accessible in regard to these matters. I look forward to continued discussion with him in the time ahead.