Opening Remarks by Taoiseach Micheál Martin - Seanad Éireann, Thursday 16th October 11am

Check against delivery

16 October 2025

Go raibh maith agat, a Chathaoirligh. Agus gabhaim buíochas freisin leis an Seanad as ucht an gcuireadh chun labhairt libh inniu.

A Sheanadóirí, táim an-sásta an t-eolas is déanaí a thabhairt daoibh ar roinnt obair an Rialtais agus, go deimhin, éisteacht le do thuairimí.

Thank you, Cathaoirleach and Senators, I am delighted to speak to you today and to update you on the work of this Government.

The Economy

We are living in a time of great disruption and conflict in the world. Of central concern to Government is the extent to which this impacts our economic security. The shift from global cooperation and trade is not of Ireland’s choosing but is a challenge that we must face and act upon.

Through the hard work of the Irish people and careful planning by successive Governments, Ireland’s economy remains resilient, and our public finances are robust.

Through Budget 2026, we are fully committed to maintaining a strong and stable economy, to protect jobs and support businesses to grow and expand.

A key foundation of our economic success is free trade, and the Government continues to support European efforts to forge new trade deals, including with India and Indonesia.

We are very focussed on the need to invest in our future and in Budget 2026, €19.1 billion has been allocated for capital investment, an increase of €2 billion on 2025.

This will mean that we can deliver thousands of new build social homes, major water infrastructure projects and flood relief schemes, build sustainability and resilience in our electricity grid and boost our electricity supply, and deliver on major projects across the transport, health, education, justice, arts and sport sectors.

Our reserve funds to protect the country in times of economic challenge continue to grow. By the end of 2026 they will comprise €24 billion, and by 2030 will stand at some €47 billion.

Budget 2026 provides €7.2 billion in capital funding specifically for housing, with a range of tax measures to incentivise the provision of new residential units and accelerate the delivery of affordable homes into the housing market. Building on the housing measures already taken, we are finalising a new National Housing Plan for the next five years and beyond.

Child Poverty

The strength and resilience of our economy allows us to continue to invest in social progress. Last month, the Government published a new child poverty target which seeks to ensure that by 2030 no more than 3% of children should be living in consistent poverty. The measures announced in Budget 2026 represent the first year of our multi-year plan to meet this target.

Budget 2026 has prioritised targeted and focused investment to support the children and families who need our help most. It includes a package of more than €320 million in income supports for children living in families at risk of poverty.

These measures include:

• the largest-ever increase in the Child Support Payment;
• a €60 increase in the weekly income thresholds for the Working Family Payment;
• the extension of the increased Fuel Allowance to those receiving the Working Family Payment;
• and, the expansion of the Back-to-School Clothing and Footwear Allowance to include children aged 2 and 3.

These increases will benefit 330,000 children whose parents are in receipt of a social welfare payment.

I am also very pleased that we have been able to take strong action to further tackle educational disadvantage.

We know that education is critical in supporting children living at risk of poverty and transforming the opportunities they have to thrive.

Budget 2026 includes a commitment of €48 million full year cost to support pupils and students with the highest risk of educational disadvantage, including the introduction of a DEIS-plus scheme as part of a new DEIS Plan, as well as enhanced capitation for funding for urban Band One DEIS primary schools.

If we can give all children the start in life they deserve, we can make sure that no child grows up defined by poverty, but instead is defined by their potential.

Disability and Health

In January when this Government took office, I stated clearly that this will be a Government which step-changes the level and scale of support for people with disabilities and their families.

Budget 2026 is the start of delivering on this ambition.

A record €3.8 billion has been allocated to the Department of Children, Disability and Equality for specialist disability services for 2026. This 20% increase in funding provides for a number of new or expanded measures:

• Substantial increases in income disregards for carers, increases in the Disability Allowance and expansion of the Wage Subsidy Scheme.
• The allocation of over €3 billion, a record level, for special education, which will provide for significant improvements in how we support disabled children in education and in how we plan for the future.
• Funding to support over 1,100 new college places for key health and social care professions to meet the workforce needs of the health, disability and education sectors.

The Government will work closely with disabled people to ensure their voices are heard and the new Disability Unit in my Department will bring a renewed focus and whole-of-Government approach to disability issues.

And this is just year one of the Government's plan to improve the level and scale of support for disabled people and their families.

Ireland’s population is growing and ageing at a rapid rate, resulting in a greater level of demand for our health and social care services. This underlines the importance of continuing the programme of health reforms and recovery to transform how we deliver healthcare in Ireland.

Budget 2026 allocates €27.4 billion to Health – almost double the budget in 2016 – and it is critical that this funding is used effectively.

The Budget 2026 increases are being targeted to increase acute and community bed capacity, Home Support Hours, staffing, nursing home places, enhanced community care and the expansion of mental health services.

Justice, Policing, Migration and Integration

Ensuring that communities are safe and putting more Gardaí on our streets is a key priority for this Government. Significant measures have been taken to boost and speed up recruitment including increasing the Garda trainee allowance and widening the age of entry and retirement. Budget 2026 has allocated an extra €77million to fund up to 1,000 new Gardaí, 200 more Garda staff and a doubling of the Garda Reserve.

The Government remains fully committed to implementing the Domestic Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Strategy which aims to ensure there is Zero Tolerance for the kinds of attitudes and behaviour that enables such violence.

Significant legislative reforms are being advanced to strengthen protections for victims and Budget 2026 allocated €80 million to support Cuan and other services supporting victims and survivors.

As a nation we will always stand ready to assist those fleeing war and persecution. Like many other countries in Europe, we have seen an increase in recent years in people seeking international protection.

However, this year has seen over 9,300 international protection applications received, representing a significant decrease compared to the same period last year.

It is important to remember that Ireland’s overall immigration policy is based on rules and is fair to those who come here to work, study and seek refuge.

The upcoming new International Protection Bill will lead to the most significant reform of our asylum laws in the history of the State in line with the EU’s Migration and Asylum Pact.

Shared Island

After some difficult years, we have seen a welcome renewal in the British-Irish relationship. Last March, Prime Minister Starmer and I agreed an extensive and ambitious programme of practical cooperation up to 2030.

I am keen to see our cooperation lead to tangible benefits, most immediately on infrastructure delivery, the protection of sub-sea infrastructure, emergency planning and cultural partnerships.

The Programme for Government affirms our strong commitment to building a shared, reconciled future with all communities and on this island, underpinned by the Good Friday Agreement.

Under the Government’s €2billion Shared Island Fund, we are seeking to drive strategic all-island investment cooperation that benefits people both North and South.

We are building on successes so far with the iconic Narrow Water Bridge and Ulster Canal restoration projects now well on the way to full delivery.

Next year, Government resourcing will also enable a new Dublin-Derry airlink, construction to start on a new teaching building at Ulster University in Derry, and continuation of the transformative hourly-frequency Dublin to Belfast rail service.

New all-island investment programmes on enterprise, tourism, the bioeconomy and on higher education research collaboration will also intensify in 2026.

International

I am sure the House will join me in welcoming developments in the Middle East. After two brutal years of conflict, we have at long last seen a ceasefire in Gaza, the release of remaining hostages and humanitarian aid begin to arrive at scale across the border.

I want to pay warm tribute to all those who have worked so hard to put last week’s agreement in place, regional partners including Qatar, Egypt and Turkiye, and global partners, especially President Trump and his team. The world owes them all a debt of gratitude.

There is now an opportunity to change the narrative and to put in place a process that can lead to a just and lasting peace.

I have also been clear in my view that only a two-state solution can deliver that outcome, and Ireland stands ready to work with others, in good faith, to bring it about.

We are, of course, at a very early stage, and there will be many, many challenges ahead, but there is now a real opportunity for a just peace. I urge all parties to seize it.

Ukraine

By contrast any settlement for the war in Ukraine remains elusive. The Ukrainian people continue to bravely defend their country after more than three and a half years of brutal war.

The Russian government shows no interest in peace and, as the winter approaches once again, Russia continues to target civilians and civilian infrastructure, including energy plants, in Ukraine.

As we have done from the outset of this illegal war, Ireland will continue to stand with Ukraine and its people, for as long as it takes, and I look forward to welcoming President Zelenskyy to Ireland in the near future.

Security

Of course, Russia’s aggression extends well beyond Ukraine. We have recently seen the airspace of our EU partners, including Denmark, Poland, Estonia and Romania, violated by drones and planes.

We live in a world where threats, including cyber and hybrid, are increasingly complex and increasingly frequent. Ireland is not immune from these threats, as we have already seen.

Unfortunately, I do not believe that the volume or quality of discussion and debate in the country is equal to the threats that we face.

I worked to kickstart a more serious approach to the issue with the Forum on International Security and Defence policy when I was Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defence.

That was a very useful exercise, but it was intended as the starting point for discussion, not the final word.

It was also an illustrative example of the point I’ve just made about the quality of debate around the issues. I had to face down noisy protests and was accused of hatching secret plans to join NATO before a single word was uttered at that Forum!

The extent of our dependence on critical undersea infrastructure, in terms of connectivity, data security, economic resilience, energy, and the vulnerability of that infrastructure, is not understood to the extent that it should be.

As a Government we are taking unprecedented steps at home to equip our defence forces to operate more effectively in this new environment and we will also continue to cooperate closely with our EU partners in what is an increasingly important area of activity for the Union.

Like other EU Member States we remain responsible for our own defence policies. However, there are areas where like-minded partners can and should do more together. We need to have a sensible and mature discussion about what areas this might include and what closer collaboration might look like, including I hope in this House.

On cyber security, sub-sea cables, gas connectors we simply have to work with the UK, European Union Member States, the US and others to protect these vital under-sea infrastructures which are existential to our economic and societal well-being.

Russia has become more aggressive beyond Ukraine with, as I have said, drone violation of airspace in multiple EU States, hybrid attacks, disinformation campaigns, monitoring of undersea infrastructure, an expanded Shadow fleet with multiple purposes that also pose massive environmental risks and threats.

Over the last number of months, a pattern has emerged which represents a new phase of activity on behalf of Russia towards EU Member States and the UK. Ireland is not immune to this. We have to share knowledge and expertise with EU Member States and UK and significantly increase our own defence capability and resilience and to ensure that in the context of peacekeeping that we have maximum interoperability with other Member States participating with us. The war in Ukraine must end.

Conclusion

In closing, I acknowledge the important contribution by the Members of this House to constructive discussion and development of public policy and legislation.

The Government recently published an ambitious legislation programme for the Autumn session to deliver meaningful and necessary legislative reform across a wide range of areas.

This House is renowned for its tradition of informed and contemplative debate, untroubled by the daily cut and thrust, the rí rá agus ruaile buaile of other places.

I look forward to that spirit of wise co-operation in advancing the legislative changes that need to be made.

I always value my interactions with the Members of this House, I look forward to our interactions today, and I am confident that we will continue to work together in a spirit of co-operation as we seek to provide a secure and prosperous future for all.

Go raibh míle maith agaibh.

ENDS