NEWS

The Minister states: The Programme for Government includes a commitment to reviewing the public procurement process to make it more transparent and encourage greater participation from SMES. Working towards this aim, and to set out the strategic direction of public procurement for the next five years, my Department is developing a first national public procurement strategy. The strategy has been subject to an extensive consultation process, which has been critical to understa

The Minister states: My Department has responsibility for the National Minimum Wage Act. The Act prescribes the minimum hourly rate of pay for the majority of employees in Ireland, subject to a small number of exemptions. Apprentices are excluded from the Act and from the right to receive the National Minimum Wage. When the National Minimum Wage was introduced in 2000, it was determined that apprentices would be excluded from the Act. There is good reason for this exemption.

The Minister states: The Government recognises that the cost of doing business has been an issue for firms in recent years, arising from both the wider inflationary trends and Government mandated changes in the form of improvements to working conditions across a range of areas. It is important to note that costs for firms, as measured through the CSO's Wholesale Price Index, are declining, and are down 2.6% in the 12 months to September 2025. Most recently the Government has

The Minister states: The implementation of My Future Fund from 1 January 2026 fulfils a key Programme for Government commitment which will bring more than 750,000 workers into a retirement savings scheme for the first time, giving theses workers more security in their retirement. There has been extensive engagement with employers and their representative organisations from the very outset including during the design phase of My Future Fund. The phasing of the rollout and the

The Minister states: In line with the Government's commitment under the Programme for Government, I will officially launch Ireland's new National Tourism Policy Statement in early December. This policy statement will reflect tourism's repositioning within the enterprise and economic agenda and will set out a clear strategic direction for the sector to 2030, with a particular focus on the next five years. This Government has already taken decisive steps to support the sector i

The minister states: At the outset, I wish to recognise the outstanding contribution made to the State by our ex-service personnel. In this regard, the Defence Forces will be hosting Veterans Day in McKee Barracks on 29th September and I hope to be able to attend in person. I also recently visited ONE in Brú na bhFiann in Smithfield and I was very impressed with their facilities and the work that they do there. In addition to the payment of over €300 million on pensions to ov

The Minister states: The Home Energy Upgrade Loan Scheme ( HEULS ), which launched in  April 2024 , is intended to play a crucial role in helping homeowners invest in energy upgrades to make their homes warmer, healthier and more comfortable, with lower emissions and lower bills. It was developed by my Department, in conjunction with the  Department of Finance , the  Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland (SBCI) , the  Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI)  and the

The Minister states: The Warmer Homes Scheme aims to improve the energy efficiency and warmth of homes owned by people at risk of energy poverty by providing fully funded retrofits. The scheme is operated by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) on behalf of my Department and is funded through carbon tax receipts and the European Regional Development Fund. Last year saw a record spend of almost €230 million under the scheme. As reported by the SEAI, this resulted

The Minister states: The Government recognises that the cost of doing business has been an issue for firms in recent years, arising from the wider inflationary trends - including energy costs. It is important to note that costs for firms, as measured through the CSO's Wholesale Price Index, are declining, and are down 3% in the 12 months to August 2025. Most recently the Government has taken action to address business costs through the publication of the Action Plan on Compet

The Minister states: The recently published Action Plan on Competitiveness and Productivity commitment in the Programme for Government - is a whole-of-government strategic response to the challenges that Ireland is facing. A key focus of the Action Plan is improving Ireland's regulatory environment under the theme "Regulating for Growth and Controlling Costs". Measures under this theme include introducing a 'Red Tape Challenge' across Government to reduce regulation for SMEs,

The Minister states: It is a central priority for me, as Minister for State with responsibility for migration, that our immigrations laws are fair and efficient. Legal migration plays an essential and very positive role in Ireland's society and economy. Such legal pathways are vital to addressing labour shortages across the economy. I have been working closely with the Minister of Enterprise, Trade Tourism and Employment to ensure that Ireland's legal employment pathways are

The Minister states: Bovine TB is a challenging disease to control and eradicate. In recent years, bovine TB (bTB) levels have continued to deteriorate. Herd incidence has increased from 4.31% in 2022 to 6.04% in 2024, resulting in a 36% increase in the number of herds restricted between 2022 and 2024. As of 22nd June 2025, over a 12 month period we had a herd incidence of 6.43 % with over 43,455 reactors. This disease is having an impact on our farmers and their families bot

The Minister States: The Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme (TAMS 3) provides grants to farmers to build and/or improve a specified range of farm buildings and equipment on their holdings. Overall, the scheme has proved very popular, with an unprecedented level of applications received. The Farm Safety Capital Investment Scheme is a measure in TAMS 3, which provides an incentive to farmers to avail of investments to improve their own safety and that of their farm. Thi

The Minister states: The Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme or ACRES is the flagship environmental scheme provided under the 2023-2027 CAP Strategic Plan, with €1.5 billion in Exchequer and EU funding allocated over the course of the scheme. There are currently just under 54,000 participants in ACRES. Payments in respect of ACRES continue to issue on a weekly basis as cases pass all required validation checks. A total of €512.2 million has now issued since ACRES payments c

The Minister states: The Help to Buy incentive, is a scheme to assist first-time purchasers with the deposit they need to buy or build a new house or apartment. It also has as an aim to encourage additional supply of new houses by supporting demand. Help to Buy provides a refund of Income Tax and Deposit Interest Retention Tax (DIRT) paid in Ireland over the previous four years, subject to limits outlined in the legislation. As of 31 March 2025, the scheme has supported since

The Minister states: As stated in the Programme for Government, this Government proposes to bring forward measures to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs), in particular the retail and hospitality sectors, acknowledging the increased cost pressures on these sectors. These measures will be implemented as part of the normal budget process as resources allow. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment has a number of initiatives in place specifically targeted at s

The Minister states: The Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) represents the majority of credit unions on the island of Ireland. As of September 2024, 167 out 183 credit unions in the State are members of ILCU. At the 2025 ILCU Conference held in Belfast, Minister of State Troy provided an opening address. In his opening address Minister Troy touched on several important issues for the sector including: The importance of the sector as providers of financial services to their

The Minister states: It is a general principle of taxation that, as far as possible, income from all sources should be subject to taxation. Ireland has a progressive income tax system which is structured such that the more income you earn, the more tax you pay. As a person's income increases, they move up through the various rates and bands and, as a result, while the levels of take- home pay increase overall, the amount of tax they pay also increases. However, to ease the bu

The Minister states: I want to reiterate the Government's view that the imposition of tariffs is deeply regrettable. While a pause on the implementation of reciprocal tariffs is welcome, there remains significant uncertainty surrounding future trade policy and tariffs remain at historically high levels. Government has been in continued discussion at EU-level and with our US counterparts to put forward an alternative and pragmatic path that will benefit all. It is important to

The Minister states: In 2021, several measures were introduced with the aim of dis-incentivising investment funds from buying up large numbers of completed houses, including a higher 10 per cent rate of Stamp Duty on the bulk acquisition of houses (apartments are excluded), which is legislated for in section 31E of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act (SDCA) 1999. The standard rates of stamp duty applying on the acquisition of residential property are currently 1 per cent on va