Linda Nelson Murray (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State. I support the motion by my Fianna Fáil colleagues on enterprise today. It is always hard to figure out what part of enterprise one wants to talk about, because there is so much in it. I am very passionate about enterprise.

I have always said that behind every small business is a dream. It begins with a dream or vision. A business plan is drafted. Perhaps a loan is taken out or money is invested by the founder. Soon that dream becomes a reality. In many cases, however, this is only for a short while. When reality sets in, the administrative burden kicks off and the next thing is that the founder is in a total sweat.

I remember speaking when I was on the SME task force a few years back. I said that we should apply almost the same thing to somebody who is starting a new business to somebody who is having a baby. When a woman has a baby, the public health nurse checks on her within a few days of giving birth. The mother goes to the public health nurse again for a checkup after a couple of weeks, and she will see her doctor for her six-week checkup. From then on, between vaccinations and public community clinic visits, the mother has many visits throughout the year. When starting a business, however, many small businesses feel alone and do not know where to turn to. I have often felt that when a small business sets itself up through the Companies Registration Office, if we could even just say "Well done and fair play for being brave and starting your business" to them, it would be something such as a little note or advice on where they could turn to if they needed something. I mentioned it before. I think it went down well, but it is something I would not mind seeing followed through. When my husband and I set up our business 18 years ago, I know that this was definitely how we felt, particularly as the recession had also just begun.

As I said, I welcome this motion by my Fianna Fáil colleagues. As spokesperson for enterprise in the Seanad for Fine Gael, I am delighted to speak here today. I will focus on some great positive strides we are making, while also reflecting on the things that hurt businesses. Ireland is currently experiencing its highest employment levels on record. The number of people employed reached approximately 2.8 million in quarter 1 of 2025, which marks a 3.3% increase compared to the same period in 2024. This is across all ages. The employment rate for individuals aged 15 to 64 reached 75% in quarter 3 of 2024, the highest number on record. The surge in employment reflects the resilience of the Irish economy.

Personally, I am from a family of small businesses. I think I drive everyone in this House mad talking about my whole background in small businesses, but I come from a very strong hard work ethic. All of my family are involved in small business. We have all set up our own little businesses, stemming from my parents. Sometimes a person need more than hard work, however. A person needs support from the Government; especially from Revenue but also from the local council and local enterprise offices. Our programme for Government states:

We will strive to reduce costs for business, cut through unnecessary bureaucracy, ensure access to finance [which can be very difficult; I know many businesses where it is too much to try to apply and source it elsewhere] and invest in vital infrastructure to help businesses succeed.

I will begin with the cost of doing business. Our minimum wage has increased by 28% since 2022. Not one person in this Chamber believes that workers should not be compensated for their hard work. There is no question about that, but we need to support the businesses to support the workers. I welcome that we are looking at restructuring PRSI. I would also welcome that we re-examine how rates are calculated. Commercial rates contribute to the funding of services such as street cleaning, road maintenance, parks, libraries and waste management, but rates are a huge liability on which small businesses can sometimes find difficult to catch up. In the short term, we have increased wages, brought in statutory sick pay, added an extra public holiday and are bringing in the auto-enrolment pension system. Businesses also have higher energy and business costs.

I met with the Restaurant Association of Ireland yesterday and could not believe that chocolate has increased in price in the last three years by 157%. Thank God I do not like a lot of chocolate. Electricity costs have increased by 96%. The association pointed out something when talking about the increase in the price of beef. We know that, but restaurants cannot apply a 100% increase on a fillet steak in a restaurant. Sometimes the costs of the products are going up, but we cannot pass those increases on. The price of fruit and vegetables has increased by 50%. Purchasing products needed to retail or serve is adding a huge increase in the cost of business.

I welcome that the programme of Government states we will set up a "Cost of Business Advisory Forum". This is really important. It would be welcome to hear how the Government is getting on with the establishment of this forum. I hope it has included relevant small business stakeholders. It is important that we examine how we ran the increased cost of business grant last time and learn from the positives, as well as the mistakes we made. I welcome the SME test, but as this test is performed after legislation, I urge that the considerations taken from the test are scrutinised before businesses are impacted.

I have gone on about insurance so much that I will not talk about it now, except to say how important it is. I really hope that we do not increase the personal injury guidelines and that we ask Insurance Ireland to commit to reducing premiums based on reforms.

We need to protect our local retailers. As I have said in this Chamber before, I cannot get my hair highlighted online and neither can the Minister of State. I cannot renew my glasses online. I cannot meet my friends for coffee online. I cannot visit a fabulous garden centre online. We need to protect the businesses in our small towns and ensure they are competitive to the bigger cities by ensuring we invest in them. We also need to make sure we keep our car parking spaces.

With all that being said, I welcome the establishment of the small business unit within the Department. I know its focus at the moment is on reducing red tape and regulatory requirements to SMEs. The national enterprise hub has more than 180 supports available. As a quick test, I clicked on a few links to see what supports were available for companies with fewer than ten employees. A good few were there, but to go back to the motion, we need to "ensure that regulations, schemes, supports and processes are consistent, necessary, proportional, and effective." Although we have lots of supports in that hub, we need to ensure they are relevant and effective supports for the average small business. In Meath a building was acquired in the Navan IDA park to house the Meath centre of business excellence. This is a very proactive step forward.

Competitiveness serves as a vital engine for economic growth. Our competitive edge has brought us this far. I am looking forward to the competitiveness and productivity strategy, which will be published in July. I would like us to examine increased rents and the pressures they put on businesses. To go back to my home town of Navan, a number of retail businesses are closing, especially in the shopping centre.

I welcome the programme for Government entries on small business and enterprise.I see by how well it is covered in our programme that we have a lot of work to do. I admire the ambition of the plan.

Businesses have had a lot to deal with in recent years and we need to ensure we continue to support them. Our business in Navan and its employees would not still be here without the Government's supports during the Covid-19 pandemic. Moving forward, I ask the Minister of State to remember that behind every small business is a family praying for success. I say "Hear, hear" to what my colleague said and "Well done" to the Minister of State on her role. What I appreciate is that she looks at each of us when we are speaking. Sometimes the Ministers and Ministers of State who come to the House do not. The Minister of State looks like she is interested in what we are saying. I hope she will bring it back to the Department.