Rose Conway-Walsh: Urgent call for emergency economic plans
Rose Conway-Walsh addressed the Minister, demanding a clear emergency framework to protect businesses, workers and farmers during periods of severe economic disruption. She criticised the design and poor uptake of the fuel support scheme and urged that end users be consulted in scheme design.
Key demand
Rose Conway-Walsh argued that the government must have coordinated emergency plans in place now to support employment and cash flow when extraordinary circumstances arise. She said businesses and workers need certainty and that ad hoc crisis responses are insufficient.
Fair, targeted supports
She insisted any framework must be fair, transparent and focused on protecting workers, families and indigenous enterprise, not blanket supports without accountability or oversight. Practical measures should include targeted energy supports and relief for excessive operating costs.
Fuel support scheme failure
Conway-Walsh highlighted the fuel support scheme for farmers as an example of poor design and low uptake. She explained how the rebate calculation and eligibility thresholds exclude many small and medium-sized farmers, leaving payments too small to justify application.
Administrative barriers and local enterprise
She also criticised the administrative burden and costs of accessing enterprise supports, arguing that schemes must be designed with input from the end users so supports are actually accessible and effective for rural businesses.
Recommendations and consequence
Conway-Walsh called on the Minister to move from reactive crisis management to proactive planning, to consult opposition suggestions where sensible, and to deliver affordable energy, functioning infrastructure and access to finance year-round to build genuine resilience.
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Go raibh maith agat. Minister, it's actually quite shocking that there is not already emergency plans in place that can respond more quickly and more effectively during periods of severe economic disruption. Businesses and workers need certainty. They need to know when extraordinary circumstances arise, that there is a clear and coordinated plan to support employment and cash flow. We need practical measures that can help businesses weather crises, including targeted energy supports and measures to ease excessive operating costs such as firing fuel prices. However, any framework must be fair, must be transparent and focused on protecting workers, families and indigenous enterprise, not simply providing blanket supports without accountability or oversight. The government should be more proactive and less reactive. Now is the time to do the planning and have the support mechanisms in place to contend with future shocks. We also need to recognise that long-term resilience cannot be built on temporary emergency measures alone. Businesses need affordable energy, functioning infrastructure, access to finance and certainty from government all year round, not just during crisis. The government must move away from the ad hoc crisis management and towards a more prepared and strategic approach that give businesses and workers greater certainty during times of economic instability. Minister, I want to talk to you about the schemes that have been introduced. I cannot understand why the end users of those schemes aren't consulted at the design stage of the schemes. I'll give you an example in terms of the fuel support scheme for farmers and farm contractors. It's due to close today. The level of uptake has been extremely poor. The reason for this poor return in payment making is because it's not worthwhile. The scheme is calculated from the total usage from the year 2025, with only five months counted as rebate for 20 cent per litre. A farmer who purchased 2,000 litres of fuel is entitled to a rebate of just 166 euro. A farmer would have to qualify for at least 100 euro rebate to be eligible to apply. This is the equivalent to purchasing approximately 1,400 litres for 2025. These figures would not be reached by most small to medium-sized farmers, so they're excluded completely from the scheme. This happens over and over again. With the increased costs of fuel, of fertiliser, etc., this approach to compensating farmers is not nearly enough to alleviate the pressure from rising prices. A much better approach, and I cannot understand why in the design of these schemes you don't take up the suggestions that are made from opposition, because a much better approach would have been a scheme like the fodder payment scheme, which was paid a few years ago, and that was a universal payment. That would have been the common-sense approach to this, to make sure that farmers in Mayo and Donegal and in the more rural constituencies can avail of the schemes that are there. There is no point, for instance, in terms of the local enterprise and the enterprise support, saying there's 250 supports available there, and businesses go to look for them, and you will know, Minister, time and time again, the administrative burden and the cost of accessing these schemes is impossible. It's absolutely impossible for businesses. You need to think, and you need to actually involve the people who are the end users of these schemes in the design, so your time isn't being wasted, and their time isn't being wasted, and our time isn't being wasted. And just because the opposition put up tangible, sensible ideas doesn't mean that your egos should not allow you to avail of what has been given to you in terms of the design of schemes. Will you just cop on in relation to all of these schemes and in relation to what planning needs to be done?
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