Mary Harney

Last week, The American Chamber of Commerce Ireland launched the results of its quarterly FDI Insights survey. This survey highlights the views of members on Ireland as an investment and growth location. Key findings of AmCham’s FDI Insights survey include: - 97% of respondents said that Ireland is competitive when compared to other advanced global economies. - 56% said they expect the number of employees in the Irish operations of their organisation to increase over the next 12 months. - 9 in 10 said their corporate headquarters have a positive view of Ireland as an investment or growth location. - 40% said housing is the most important challenge for Ireland to overcome for their company to invest and expand here. 19% identified cost competitiveness as the most important challenge with 12% saying skills shortage was the number one challenge. - 52% of respondents said Ireland’s highly educated and skilled talent pool is its main competitive advantage. Full detail on the key findings from this survey are available here: https://lnkd.in/e2ZVJUcT

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A Vision for North South co-operation? Strand 2 – a generation on. I was pleased to join North South CEOs Sharon McMahon (Loughs Agency) and Margaret Hearty (InterTradeIreland) at a symposium organised by the Irish Association for Cultural, Economic, and Social Relations (IACESR) in the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin. The IACESR was formed in 1938, and its principal objective is the promotion of communication, understanding, and co-operation between all the people of Ireland, both north and south. Keynote speakers were Angela McGowan, CBI Northern Ireland and Danny McCoy, CEO, Ibec who spoke on Shared Economic Prospects & Challenges – the business perspective. Session two ‘The Joint Bodies at 25’ focused on the North South Implementation Bodies in the 25th anniversary year since their foundation. Each of the NS CEOs spoke of the past, the now, and the future showcasing the impacts which have been delivered whilst pointing to future strategies. The diversity of the ongoing activities and projects across the island of Ireland (and beyond in the case of Loughs Agency) certainly captured the attention of a well-informed audience many of whom have had previous experience of the NS Bodies. I shared a recent update of our quantitative research which highlighted the 3.5m visitors to our waterways in the last 12 months. Significantly, almost 25% or 800,000 of these visitors can be categorised as cross-border visitors. This is a larger segment than I had appreciated, and I am looking forward to examining the quantitative output in detail. Through another lens 3.5m visitors is 49% of the island of Ireland’s population leaving a huge opportunity to grow participation further with the remaining 51%. Growing participation on and along our waterways is a strategic priority in our 10-year plan. We will do this by developing awareness, enhancing the customer proposition, and reimagining the experiences. My thanks to Brian Walker, President IACESR for the invitation to be part of the event and to moderator Michael D'Arcy for his stewardship of the panel discussion. Waterways Ireland Gina McIntyre Sean Ó Coinn Gary Kearney Alice Mansergh

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Webinar today 1pm. where we will be focusing on the governance failures of the Irish State Broadcaster - RTE, with Co Founder and Chair of The Corporate Governance Institute, David W Duffy. Join us for this webinar to understand the important role that you can play in improving governance on a board. Register now to secure your place: Register now: https://lnkd.in/evbs6pSx #CorporateGovernance #Leadership #Webinar

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I was at the Fine Gael Small Business Conference at the weekend where speakers included Minister Paschal Donohoe, Minister Peter Burke, Minister of State Emer Higgins. I spoke about the way current supports for business incentivise Winner takes all Behaviour, that it is welcome that eligibility for grants is improving, but that the nature of grant supports need to evolve to meet the 21st century challenges that these businesses face. At the moment the vast majority of government supports for businesses are for individual businesses in isolation, employment grants, feasibility grants, capital grants etc. This approach incentivises ‘winner take all’ behaviour, one business’s survival at the expense of others or the ecosystem, is unintentionally incentivised by this long established approach. We are now in an era where the efficient use of scare resources is more important than ever, pooling of resources between businesses where appropriate, rather than duplication, is now a priority. In the past state agencies were mandated not to support indigenous businesses addressing local or national markets due to a fear of displacement (i.e. we give money to Car Dealer A who grows their business and undermines Car Dealer B down the road). Now is the time to recalibrate these supports not to provide funding directly to individual business A or B in an area but to incentivise them to pool suitable functions and thereby increase productivity. Yes, they are in competition however there are certain back end functions that do not enhance competitive differentiation. And indeed most indigenous business sectors have representative organisations, the ethos of which is to promote their sector and internal cooperation amongst their members. The European Union has a forcing mechanism built into all grants to incentivise such collaboration, to be eligible to apply the applicant must be part of a collaborative consortium of partners across different regions and states, so it is not an alien concept! To navigate the Green and Digital transition at the level of locality communication needs to increase amongst micro businesses, this can help raise cooperation and over time real collaboration to jointly tackle the challenges and opportunities of the 21st century. However a new entity is needed at the grass roots level to facilitate this collaboration. I believe that this entity is the local hub, there are over 400 hubs across Ireland that are members of Connected Hubs. These hubs are ideally placed to deliver for communities at the level of the High Street through what we at the Dargan Institute call ‘Digital First Communities’, a model which harnesses technology to put people and places first.

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✅ Power Up Grant for Retail and Hospitality Businesses - Update As part of Budget 2025, the Government announced a new €4,000 grant called Power Up, to assist businesses in hospitality, retail, and beauty sectors. Please see details at enterprise.gov.ie/powerup

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Very interesting to see the process of a Health Impact Assessment being carried out. Many public health advocates seeking a Health Impact Assessment re proposals on Sale of Alcohol bill to extend alcohol availability. Such an assessment can provide guidance on reducing health inequalities.

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Stephen Donnelly's appointment as Minister for Health in June 2020 coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic, a period that heavily impacted Ireland's healthcare system and its policies. The Human Tissue Bill, or #OrganHarvesting Bill, particularly its opt-out clause for organ donation, reflects ongoing debates about transparency, healthcare accountability, and ethical governance. While Donnelly's tenure has been marked by controversies and critiques, any direct connection between his leadership and the omission of the opt-out clause in the Human Tissue Bill would require deeper investigation into legislative decisions and influences. ~ Policy Prioritisation During COVID-19 ~ Given the pandemic's strain on the healthcare system, Donnelly's focus may have shifted away from public consultation or ethical debate over the opt-out clause. ~ Legislative Transparency ~ The omission of an opt-out clause could suggest political hesitance to confront divisive public health issues under his leadership, raising questions about Fianna Fáil's and Fine Gael's priorities. ~ Healthcare System Management ~ If #ExcessDeaths and systemic failures have increased since 2021, the absence of critical reforms, such as an opt-out organ donation system, seem to highlight broader systemic issues under his ministry and within the Health Service Executive. ~ #SerialKillerDoctors ~ #OrganHarvesting ~ #ExcessDeaths ~ #ProfitOverPeople ~ #HumanRights ~ #PatientSafety ~ #OpenDisclosure ~ #OptOutForAll ~ #MedicalAccountability ~ #TruthlnHealthcare ~ Fianna Fáil ~ Fine Gael ~ Suzanne Crowe ~ @StephenDonnelly ! ~ Simon Harris ~ Leo Varadkar ~ Health Service Executive ~ Department of Health - Ireland ~ Helen McEntee ~ Department of Justice ~ Colette Cowan ~ Bernard Gloster ~ @Paul Reid! ~ The Bar of Ireland ~ Law Society of Ireland ~ Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) ~ RTE ~ ~ #SerialKillerDoctors ~ #OrganHarvesting ~ #ExcessDeaths ~ #ProfitOverPeople ~ #HumanRights ~ #PatientSafety ~ #OpenDisclosure ~ #OptOutForAll ~ #MedicalAccountability ~ #TruthInHealthcare ~

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Today, Fine Gael launched our manifesto for #GE24, setting out our stall in how we will continue to invest in our economy & provide for our people, putting money back in your pocket, improving public services & securing your future to deal with unforeseen events. More here 👉 finegael.ie/manifesto

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Last week a senior group from the OECD visited Foynes as part of a review of Irish Rural Development Policy. On behalf of the Shannon Estuary Economic Taskforce, I provided a brief perspective on the current situation in ‘regional’ Ireland and the potential for the future. Before that, Margaret O'Shaughnessy, gave us a tour of the Fying Boat Museum. Margaret is one of the most impressive people I have ever met. Its nothing short of amazing what she has achieved over the last 35 years. I highly recommend visiting - both for work and pleasure. She has a conference room and excellent catering facilities, an ideal place to host an offsite meeting for your Team. For the OECD Review, the facts are clear: 1) The hundreds of years old trend continues, people continue to migrate east to Dublin for better prospects. 2) Over half our students leave the region on graduation. third level education is in crisis, colleges are attracting significant numbers of students directly from abroad for money, and dropout rates of local students have increased significantly due to lack of accomodation, cost of living, teaching support etc. 3) IDA Ireland has made a significant impact in providing jobs in regions, but they cannot solve this alone. 4) Per Eurostat, the infrastructure in our region is 50% of the EU average, in the Midlands/NW its just 34%, Dublin 115%. 5) Irish Green policy, now part of Irish government policy, halved the proportion of transport spending on roads. To date, we are denied ring roads and bypasses around regional cities and towns or a motorway connecting our second and third biggest, Cork and Limerick. Rural roads are in an appalling state. 6) Irish Green policy also prohibits the provision of energy security for imported natural gas supply, in stark contrast to the German Green Leader, Robert Habeck, who has opened multiple new LNG facilities there in the last 2 years. However, it is clear that Irish Government Energy policy, heavily weighted towards renewables, will not achieve its targets for 2030 or 2040, due to the lack of a detailed Plan, and this will have a detrimental impact on the economy, but much more on rural regions than the capital. 7) Major international tech investors, key contributors to Ireland over the last 30 years, are now investing heavily elsewhere due to lack of power and basic infrastructure. 8) Regional towns, cities and villages are often limited in their capacity to expand due to lack of water, wastewater, electricity etc. We need significant and sustained investment in Ireland’s regions to enable equality of opportunity for all, regardless of where they live on this Island. It is not sustainable to be in the most peripheral region in the EU with 50% of the average infrastructure and expect to live happily ever after. The big opportunity is to start harvesting the Atlantic wind to provide green and secure energy for Europe, but we must start now. We need many more people like Margaret O'Shaughnessy

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Poor water quality resulting in boiled water notices, low water pressure, and inadequate sewage treatment systems are infrastructural issues that Uisce Eireann and Limerick City and County Council need to address urgently. These infrastructural deficiencies are hindering the development of private and social housing, especially impacting smaller villages where sewage treatment is at capacity, harming small businesses, and hampering the promotion of Limerick as a location for new industry. The funding available is insufficient to address these issues. One of my top priorities will be to lobby the government for increased funding to upgrade all sites with poor infrastructure. www.helenodonnell.ie #HelenDEM2024 #LimerickDEM

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The power of National Voices membership in how issues that impact people everyday can be identified and used to influence change - right here!

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Health should be seen as 'an investment to be made' rather than as 'a cost to be managed'. Some key points from my opinion piece in The Irish Times today (see comment for link) about what those tasked with negotiating a Programme for Government might consider from a health perspective; 💡 The economic case for investing in health - and particularly prevention of ill health - is compelling; not only will it help protect the health system itself but it will also help foster innovation, drive a more dynamic economy and improve societal cohesion. 💡 Tackling these issues cannot be the sole preserve of the Dept of Health and HSE; collective action across Government is required. The Wellbeing of Future Generations Act in Wales is a good example. 💡 Of course the health system itself also has a role to play in increasing access to care. But that conversation must be shaped by the reality in which we expect care to be delivered - our health capital infrastructure is no longer fit for purpose and an enormous programme of deep retrofit and renewal, in addition to new hospital builds is required. 💡 Even then, we cannot hope to build our way out of our capacity issues. Fortunately, digital technologies and AI are set to reshape every part of healthcare delivery; if we embrace and invest in these technologies, we can transform care over the next decade. 💡 There is no quick fix to the problems we - and health systems globally - are facing. We need to look beyond the immediate challenges and work towards a 2040 vision which sees investment in health not just as a necessary expenditure but as a pivotal driver of long term economic prosperity and the protection of our most valuable asset - the health and wellbeing of our people. #HealthInvestment #HealthcareInnovation #PublicHealth #DigitalHealth #AIinHealthcare #FutureOfHealth #Slaintecare Niamh O'Beirne John Ward Gary Comiskey Mary Coghlan Sarah Reade Alastair Allen Connor Cleary Paul Browne Shane Mac Sweeney Carol Murphy Johanna McLoughlin Michael Thompson

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Interesting spot of significant direction from Department of Finance Ireland to the National Treasury Management Agency ("NAMA") regarding preparatory work required in relation to the Conclusion of Irish Bank Resolution Corporation Special Liquidation and Dissolution of the National Asset Management Agency "Re: Memorandum to Government on 2nd July 2024 relating to the General Scheme of the above mentioned Bill. Following Government's approval of the proposal to draft the Bill along the lines of the General Scheme, my Department is now working with the Attorney General's Office and the Office of Parliamentary Council to draft the Bill. The Bill provides inter alia for the residual assets and liabilities associated with the conclusion of the Special Liquidation of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporate (In Special Liquidation) ("IBRC") to the National Asset Management Agency ("NAMA"), at end 2024 / early 2025. The Bill is a priority piece of legislation for the Government. It is therefore important that appropriate support is provided by NAMA on an interim basis to undertake all necessary preparatory work required to facilitate the proposed transfer of residual activity from IBRC to NAMA pending enactment of the Bill. This support will ensure that operational activity can commence following the passage of the Bill. Therefore, and in accordance with Section 13(l)(d) of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation Act 2013, I hereby direct NAMA to undertake all necessary preparatory work in respect of the transfer of residual activity of IBRC to it. This direction is given pending the enactment of the Bill, currently being drafted, which, when enacted, will facilitate such legal transfer. I direct NAMA to incur such costs as NAMA considers necessary or expedient in connection with this direction, and an estimate of these costs should be incorporated in the NAMA budget process".

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Interesting article in The Irish Times this morning by Martin Wall indicating that the National Treatment Purchase Fund (NTPF) is considering using artificial intelligence (AI) software to support the drafting of its board minutes. Worth a read if you are on a Board or in the Corporate Governance space as no doubt will have implications down the line.

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New tender opportunity - a feasibility study focused on female focused/led entrepreneurship

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Today in the Seanad we passed second stage of the Future Ireland Fund and Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund Bill. The creation of these two Funds is a truly common sense measure. A measure that will ensure that we can put the record, but temporary, revenues from corporation tax to use in generating resources to ensure the state can continue to meet demands of the future regardless of economic pressures. It will also ensure these resources are put to work to in developing approaches to address the very real challenges of the climate emergency.

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This was a most enjoyable discussion with Cliff Taylor of The Irish Times. We covered a range of topics including: (1) How the Irish economy is performing. (2) What this means for budgetary policy. Is there a danger of budgetary policy adding to price pressures and the risk of the economy overheating? (3) Corporation tax prospects and how best to manage the large receipts currently being collected. (4) Fiscal gimmickry and how budgetary figures could be more transparent. (5) Medium-term budgetary challenges, specifically an ageing population and climate change.

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