John Lahart
Question:22. Deputy John Lahart asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment if he will report on the work the Cost of Business Advisory Forum; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13080/26]
View answerThursday, 19 February 2026
Questions (22)
Written answers
The Government has established the Cost of Business Advisory Forum in June 2025 and published the Action Plan on Competitiveness and Productivity in September 2025, both are commitments in the Programme for Government 2025 – Securing Ireland’s Future.
The establishment of the Cost of Business Advisory Forum delivers on the commitment regarding supports for Small Business, Enterprise and Industries. The Forum is a tripartite collaboration bringing together various representative bodies spanning multiple sectors as well as the SMEs. The purpose is to jointly consider those issues that can lead to higher costs for businesses in Ireland, any associated regulatory or infrastructural issues that merit a changed approach, and those steps that could be taken to mitigate these issues.
The Forum has met regularly over the last eight months; starting with a plenary session in June where various organisations representing Ireland’s enterprise sector – including SMEs – were joined by officials from State Agencies, Government Departments and Regulatory bodies. The Forum members agreed to a series of thematic meetings, which represented priority concerns for business and enterprise. In 2025, The Advisory Forum completed the following thematic meetings:
• July: Public Utilities: Energy Costs and Security of Supply
• August: Professional Services: Insurance Costs
• September: Regulatory Burden: Infrastructural Delivery and Planning
• November: Public Utilities: Water Services
• December: Professional Services: Legal Costs
There are two remaining meetings scheduled in 2026 – Reporting and Compliance meeting on 18th February and the last thematic meeting will be on 25th March focusing on Banking, Payments and Financial Services. In April 2025, the Forum will focus on members feedback in relation to the final report to Government which is scheduled for the first half of 2026.
It should also be mentioned the Cost of Business Advisory Forum, is complementary to the work that has taken place with the publication of The Action Plan on Competitiveness and Productivity on the 10th September 2025. The Action Plan reflects a whole-of-government approach to address the domestic drivers of competitiveness, focusing on areas firmly within our domestic control.
The Action Plan contains a total of 85 actions, across six themes including, Theme 3 which focuses on creating and scaling more SMEs. Implementing these actions will strengthen Ireland’s competitiveness and productivity which in turn leads to improvements in our economic performance.
Question No. 23 answered with Question No. 18.