Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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38. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his views on whether SMEs should be given more favourable treatment in terms of lower taxation and less regulation in comparison to multinational companies, considering respective contributions to the domestic economy and the fact the SMEs are penalised far greater. [6362/25]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Programme for Government is clear in setting out the importance of SMEs to our highly competitive economy.

Through the lens of the SME Test, we are driving home the importance of the “think small first” principle and scrutinising new legislation and regulation to ensure that SMEs are not disproportionately impacted. Officials from my Department, and the Department of the Taoiseach, have recently engaged in a series of bilateral meetings with business representative groups. They have gathered their feedback on the most problematic areas of administrative and regulatory burdens currently faced by their members.

This feedback is helping to inform the approach to the commitments in the Programme for Government around reducing unnecessary red tape. These measures include a look-back exercise, to identify regulations that are now redundant, and, a comprehensive review of cost structures, intended to identify where costs can be reduced for SMEs. We are also examining the regularity of reporting and filing requirements for SMEs to ensure they are fit for purpose.

The Government is also committed to delivering a new whole of Government Action Plan for Competitiveness and Productivity by January 2026. This plan will cover industrial policy, reducing the cost and regulatory burden on business, investing in infrastructure, digital regulation and reform, energy reform, international trade and research and development, and innovation.

Budget 2025 provided a range of supports, including those related to the cost of doing business, to ensure that the enterprise tax landscape continues to stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship, which is vital to enhance productivity.

In total, the enterprise tax package provided support of €127.1m in 2025 and €205.7m on a full year basis. My Department has provided a range of supportive measures to the SME sector in particular to retail and hospitality sectors. These include:

• The Increased Cost of Business Grant (ICOB) Payment provided in early 2024 to qualifying commercially rateable premises.
• A second payment of the ICOB grant was paid in 2024, made specifically to those operating in the Hospitality and Retail sector.
• The Power Up Grant was paid in late 2024, providing €4,000 each to qualifying rateable premises operating in the Hospitality and Retail sectors.
• In total, the ICOB and Power Up grant schemes paid out over €400 million in 2024 to SMEs right across the country.