‘I look forward to working on a fair and balanced jobs led recovery’

Last Sunday (June 27) marked our first year in government. The year has been a challenging one – particularly for business – but together we have we have made steady progress, and with the positive momentum in the vaccination programme, the future certainly looks brighter.

Work has continued across government to ensure we are supporting businesses and ultimately protecting jobs.

As Minister of State with responsibility for trade promotion, digital and company law in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, my priority is to develop measures for a jobs-led recovery through effective and balanced legislation to better adapt to the challenges business faces.

From developing new regional enterprise plans to reforming insurance in Ireland, my focus this year has been supporting businesses through the pandemic and beyond.

Our response to the crisis has proven successful in alleviating the immediate impact of the pandemic; however, as the economy re-opens, we must have an appropriate regulatory response which supports fundamentally viable companies to continue to trade and get themselves back on their feet. That is why one of my first acts in the department was to implement temporary emergency measures to enable companies to meet their statutory obligations under company law and to proactively respond to the pressures facing businesses in relation to solvency during the Covid-19 restrictions by extending the provisions of examinership.

And while Ireland’s current rescue framework, examinership, is internationally recognised and successful in its own right, the associated costs mean it may be beyond the reach of small and micro enterprises. To this end, I recently announced a new administrative rescue process for small and micro businesses that mirrors key elements of examinership but can be completed in a shorter time and is cost effective. I will be introducing this legislation in the Oireachtas this week and aim to have it enacted before the summer recess.

Several supports have been put in place to counter the impact of the pandemic. Last July we published a €7 billion Jobs Stimulus and a range of financial and regulatory measures were developed and expanded to assist businesses. That includes ensuring that companies had access to finance through the Future Growth Loan Scheme, the SBCI-Covid-19 Working Capital Scheme, the Covid-19 Credit Guarantee Scheme and Microfinance Ireland’s Covid-19 Business Loan and Brexit Business Loan schemes. Further initiatives included the Sustaining Enterprise Fund, the Restart Grant and the Restart Grant Plus, the Online Retail Scheme, and the Trading Online Voucher Scheme.

Unfortunately, some businesses fell through the gaps, and one particular scheme I spearheaded was the development and expansion of the Small Business Assistance Scheme for Covid – for businesses that couldn’t avail of CRSS. This was an important scheme to assist small and micro business affected by Covid-19 restrictions to meet some of their fixed costs, and was launched earlier this year. It is important we remain responsive to the needs of all businesses and I will continue to work with my colleagues across government to ensure even our smallest businesses are heard – because they are central to a jobs-led recovery.

A priority for government is to improve the terms and conditions for all workers. We are proceeding with plans for statutory sick pay and the living wage. A Code of Practice on the Right to Disconnect was launched as part of the National Remote Working Strategy published in January 2021. We also published extensive guidance, including our Guide to Supports for Businesses, the National Work Safely Protocol and guidance on safe shopping.

I also want to ensure that businesses and consumers have access to affordable and competitively priced insurance. As minister of state with responsibility for the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, I have met regularly with them and a range of representative bodies to assess its role and develop proposals for the reform of the agency. I have undertaken a public consultation seeking views from all interested parties on the matter. The overarching objective of the proposed reforms is to bring more cases within the ambit of the PIAB and reduce the number of cases that it releases to litigation. Reducing costs will reduce premiums and I expect to bring the heads of bill to government before the end of July.

We have already seen significant changes in the operations of the PIAB during this year, intended to enhance its role with the new Personal Injuries Guidelines coming into effect in April.

In addition, the justice minister and I published the Garda Síochána (Compensation) Bill 2021 in April 2021. It will bring garda compensation claims within the PIAB process. This will benefit claimants in terms of quicker resolution and consistency in claims and will also lower legal and administrative costs.

I am confident that through the reform and enhancement of PIAB we will help to reduce the cost of personal injury claims and increase the affordability and availability of insurance.

Another core focus for me and for Fianna Fáil is ensuring balanced regional development, and over recent months, I have worked on the development of new Regional Enterprise Plans to 2024 that address the challenges and opportunities for each region. Work continues and the plans are due to be launched this autumn. My hope is these new plans will create the conditions for entrepreneurs to start and scale their businesses, encourage new investment and business growth, and lead to increased employment in every region.

There is no doubt that the last 12 months will go down as one of the most turbulent in modern times, and as a small, island nation, international trade is crucial to our success. Trade represents an increasingly important means of creating jobs and has been a key factor in Ireland’s export-led recovery in recent years. As minister of state with responsibility for trade promotion, I believe we need to refocus our efforts this year, so we can expand our global footprint and encourage businesses to scale up and trade internationally. Fundamentally, the more we trade, the more jobs we support, and the better the living standards for everyone.

While many of my engagements have been virtual, they have been no less effective in promoting Ireland as the best place to do business and I have met with counterparts in Europe on consumer protection and economic recovery as well ambassadors, dignitaries and the many Irish businesses working across the world. In recent weeks I have been promoting Free Trade Agreements with Canada, South Korea, Mexico and Japan to Enterprise Ireland companies looking to export. Given the year that was, between Brexit and Covid-19, now more than ever, we need to seize on the opportunities afforded by these and other Free Trade Agreements and support our exporting companies to diversify further. The Free Trade Agreements all present vibrant opportunities to new markets for Irish companies and the many benefits include reduced red tape and preferential duty rates.

I look forward to travelling soon and promoting the fantastic innovations coming from these shores to international markets.

Finally, work continues in other areas under my remit – a modernised consumer protection bill is currently in draft and I will shortly bring the Secondary Sale of Tickets Bill to the Seanad. This new law will ban the resale of tickets to large events and venues at a cost over face value, making sure everyone gets a fair price.

These are just a few of the developments and achievements over the last year and I look forward to continuing work in my areas of responsibility to ensure a fair and balanced jobs-led recovery.