Rose Conway-Walsh Challenges Government on SME Cost Crisis

Minister, the SMEs and self-employed individuals are being crippled by the costs of doing business in Ireland in 2026 and your government has ignored their pleas for help and rejecting every Sinn Féin proposal to alleviate their situation. From our motion to tackle insurance costs, to bring our motion down on energy costs, I'm asking you tonight to outline the concrete steps your department is taking to support these businesses struggling with the cost of doing business. The Government recognises that the cost of doing business has been an issue for firms in recent years, in particular on foot of the external inflationary pressures. It should also be acknowledged that the Government has been proactive in tackling this issue of rising costs and is pleased to note that firms, as measured through costs on the CSO wholesale price index, are declining. The latter are down 5.3% in the 12 months to November 2025. In addition, the Government has provided significant financial support to SME through the increased cost of business scheme and the power-up scheme. Over recent years, in excess of €400 million has been distributed nationwide. This includes €244 million under the increased cost of business, which was provided to more than 75,000 businesses. A second round of ICOB payments was also targeted specifically in retail, hospitality and beauty sectors, and a successor to ICOB, the power-up grant was aimed at the same sectors at a total cost of €159 million. My Department has taken action to address fiscal and regulatory issues, including the establishment of the Cost of Business Advisory Form in June 2025, and the accelerated publication of the Action Plan on Competitiveness and Productivity in September 2025. Both of these actions deliver on the programme for Government commitments to our small businesses, enterprise and industries, to develop Government policy which focuses on economic areas that fall within our domestic sphere of influence. The Cost of Business Advisory Form's purpose is to critically examine the issues that can lead to higher costs for businesses in Ireland, and review the associated regulatory and infrastructural issues that merit a changed approach. At present, there are 25 member organisations who represent the broad section of Ireland's enterprise sector, including SMEs, who regularly contribute to the work of the Forum, alongside the engagement and dialogue with a variety of State agencies, regulators and Government departments. Forum members adopted a comprehensive thematic work plan in June 2025, and since then have met a considerable number of times, areas such as energy, security of supply, increased insurance costs, planning infrastructure delivery and water services are part of their deliberations. Deputy. Minister, so how come the businesses that I speak to every day of the week are struggling so much if you are saying that so much is being done for them and the wholesale price index and, you know, that is not the reality in the ground, it is certainly not the reality in the businesses that I see every day. The SMEs are the backbone of employment in towns and villages right across this state. They keep the main streets alive, they sponsor the local teams, they provide apprenticeships, they take chances on new staff. But too many of them are telling me the very same thing, we are working harder for less. They need government intervention that matches the scale of the problem and that could be it, that the scale of the problem is not recognised. Over the past year the government has talked a lot about supports but what SMEs have experienced is delay and piecemeal measures and a refusal to tackle the big drivers of cost. The signs are there Minister. In 2025 there were 848 insolvencies recorded, that is hundreds of businesses that did not make it through the year. Minister. Minister. Thank you. We are doing a number of things which we continue to bring viability into businesses. Each of them in their own has been opposed by Sinn Féin. First of all, we have reassessed the trajectory to a living wage which has been pointed out by firms as a huge cost for viability. Secondly, we have put a halt to the extension of sick day numbers. Thirdly, we have increased viability through a host of sustainability grants in relation to our energy efficiency grant, which is a 75 per cent rebate, which can take €1,200 per month off the utility costs of firms. We have established a small business unit within the department to respond to pressures of our SMEs. And I would say this, that all 13 sectors of the economy are now growing. That is what the CSO said in December in its report. And it showed that wages are at €1,000 gross per week, which is a 45 per cent increase since 2015. All sector is growing, jobs have been created every single day, over 60 jobs have been created in this economy, and we are working to reduce costs further through a cost of business advisory form. Deputy. Well then, Minister, how come there are 848 insolvencies? You see, it just does not add up in terms of the supports for small business. I recognise that there are increased costs in wages, but you cannot have a situation where you have workers subsidising businesses. So that is why within our pre-budget submission, the proposal for PRSI rebate was put forward, in order to mitigate those costs. But you did not take that up. Behind every insolvency is a livelihood and a community hit. On energy, Ireland is simply not competitive. Eurostat data shows that Ireland had among the highest electricity prices in the EU for non-household consumers in 2025. That is devastating for cafes, for shops, for small manufacturers and for tourism businesses trying to plan month to month. And then on the insurance, the rip-off continues. We know that premiums remain stubbornly high, SMEs are being hammered by public and employer liability costs. And overall, Ireland ranks among the top countries in the world for insurance premiums per capita, which tells you something about how expensive the overall system is. Minister to conclude. Well, I want to come back to you with evidence and factual data. For every company that goes into liquidation in this economy now, 10 more are created. We are at an all-time low in terms of insolvency levels. The CSO data, which is the gold standard of collecting evidence in this economy, backs that up. You should have a look at the December outturn, the summary of our economic position. All 13 sectors of the economy growing. We are at a record level of employment. 2.82 million people are going to work this week in the economy. And you have seen the increase in wages, which is not driving, essentially, a low-cost economy. We have good, well-paid wages in the economy. As I said, a 45% increase in the weekly wage since 2015. And we want to bring more high-value jobs into the economy. And that's why, look at the data, Irish-born firms have had a record year of €36 billion of exports. Never happened before. It broke all records for Enterprise Ireland. So the economy is performing strongly. There are challenges, and yes, costs are high, but we are doing our very best to address those on foot of the Cost Advisory Business Forum and our Small Business Unit. And we will be working night and day to try and bring in further sustainability grants to really help them over the long term. Thank you, Minister.