Government must do more to protect and grow indigenous businesses - Mayo TD
THE government must do more to protect and ensure the growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), says the Sinn Féin spokesperson for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Rose Conway-Walsh.
The Mayo TD said that while it is imperative that Ireland remains competitive to attract and retain foreign direct investment (FDI), it is vital that we address the imbalance that exists where we are over reliant on FDI.
Speaking following Budget '26, Deputy Conway-Walsh said: “The government must do more to support our struggling SME sector, which is responsible for 90% of jobs in this country.
“I wanted to see the implementation of an employer PRSI rebate scheme to help ease the cost of doing business.
“I welcome the 9% VAT rate for the hospitality sector, including hairdressers, but there are too many businesses that cannot avail of this measure and are struggling to survive.
“The increase in carbon taxes, and fuel becoming more expensive should have been avoided.”
She continued: “We have long called for the establishment of a new Irish Enterprise Agency solely focused on scaling and supporting indigenous businesses in the non-export domestic economy.
“This would address our overreliance on FDI for corporation tax revenues. Sinn Féin would have allocated €5m to establish this agency, strengthen the SME sector and help to diversify our economy and our tax revenue streams.
“One of the biggest things lacking in this budget for businesses is detail. There are vague references to reforms to be undertaken in 2026, but no plan set out as to how it will be all be achieved.
“We all know that various support schemes currently in place for SMEs are laboursome and involve a huge amount of administration, which has led to a low take up rate for supports. We don’t need any new units within the department to tell us this.
“The announcement to establish a new dedicated Small Business Unit for consultation with SMEs in the formulation of policy comes too little, too late. This should have been standard practice.
“There was also an announcement of a new National Artificial Intelligence Office to capture the strategic opportunity that AI presents - at a cost of €1.4m, but the ship has sailed on Ireland being a forerunner on AI. We’re too late to the party, behind the UK and our EU partners, and it will take a lot more than €1.4m to catch up.”
The knock-on effect on Ireland’s competitiveness from the housing crisis, which has been prolonged by the government and its housing policies, cannot be underestimated, she added.
“The lack of housing for employees of foreign companies looking to invest in Ireland but opting to go elsewhere is causing huge reputational damage to the state, but the government is showing little ambition to address this,” said Deputy Conway-Walsh.
“We saw no increase to the delivery of social and affordable homes target, no pause on rent increases, no increase to the Renter’s Tax Credit for workers, and a VAT reduction for developers on apartments which have already started construction.
“If this budget is a sign of what’s to come from this government over the next four years, the outlook is not good for our struggling SME sector.”