Helen McEntee

Funding for disability measures in Budget 2027. Specific asks available at https://www.disability-federation.ie/publications/dfi-pre-budget-2027-the-least-we-can-expect-1/

Outline AmCham views on key investment and policy decisions ahead of Budget 2027

Ensure equal opportunities in entrepreneurship - Improve women-led entrepreneurship by expanding dedicated early-stage finance and creating a single, joined-up access point for enterprise supports.

Support and sustain the early years and school age childcare sector. Put childcare on a more sustainable footing through higher core funding, a multi-annual investment plan, and stronger quality supports for providers.

Strengthen supports for working parents - Reduce barriers to employment for parents by lowering childcare costs, improving inclusion for children with additional needs, and reforming parental leave to support greater equality and flexibility.

Build skills and export capacity for long-term growth - Strengthen trade supports, apprenticeships, lifelong learning and regional skills systems to support resilience and expansion.

Simplify tax, regulation and labour market access by reducing administrative burdens, modernising outdated tax rules and removing barriers to hiring and workforce participation.

Strengthen enterprise competitiveness and investment. In particular, cut business cost pressures, improve access to finance and modernise supports so SMEs can scale and invest.

Turn climate ambition into practical delivery. Provide long-term certainty through post-2030 targets, workforce transition supports, city-level climate investment and evidence-based planning for future energy options.

Reduce the cost and complexity of decarbonisation. Make decarbonisation more practical and affordable through broader retrofit supports, stronger commercial EV incentives and faster delivery of lower-carbon public transport.

Scale housing supply and delivery at pace by strengthening accountability, expanding direct delivery, increasing affordable housing output and building long-term capacity for faster housing delivery across regions.

Unlock land, vacancy and urban viability by activating brownfield, derelict, vacant and underused sites through stronger powers, better incentives, tax reform and more coordinated reuse and site activation measures.

Strengthen regeneration and place-based development by simplifying regeneration delivery, supporting town and city centre viability, and enabling more effective local investment through stronger local capacity and more flexible urban schemes.

Accelerate the delivery of clean energy infrastructure - Speed up renewable generation, grid, ports, storage and enabling infrastructure delivery to strengthen energy security, reduce constraints and support Ireland’s clean energy targets.

Strengthen innovation and competitiveness by supporting SME digital adoption, strengthening R&D incentives and investing in future-focused strategic sectors.