Speech by Taoiseach Micheál Martin at the Dublin Chamber Annual Dinner Thursday, 1st October 2026

President, ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, and esteemed members of the Dublin Chamber, good evening.

A bhaill Chumainn Tráchtála Bhaile Átha Cliath agus a dhaoine uaisle go léir bailithe le chéile anseo anocht,

Ba mhaith liom i dtosach báire, fíorbhuíochas a ghabháil libh as an gcuireadh a bheith anseo in bhur dteannta.

Tá ról fíorthábhachtach agus lárnach ag an gCumann Tráchtála i gcur chun cinn an ghnó ar fud na cathrach seo.

Tugaim aitheantas agus ardmholadh don ról dearfach, gníomhach atá ag an gCumann Tráchtála i bhforbairt agus i gcur chun cinn an ghnó sa chathair seo agus ar fud na tíre. Tá obair den chéad scoth ar siúl agaibh bliain i ndiaidh bliana ar son gheilleagar na hardchathrach.

Molaim an obair thairbheach rathúil seo.

I am delighted to have the opportunity to join you tonight.

I want to thank David Kelly, Mary Rose Burke and the Dublin Chamber team for bringing us together this evening.

Tonight provides an opportunity to recognise your contribution to the vibrancy and prosperity of our capital. Dublin remains central to Ireland’s economic success, with enormous potential for the future.

We are meeting at an important point in the year – with Budget 2027 to be announced next week.

Budget 2027 is taking place against a backdrop of geopolitical uncertainty and conflict.

We have war on the European continent arising from the Russian invasion of Ukraine; we have ongoing chaos in the Middle East, with some of the world’s most important trading routes effectively blocked; and that is to say nothing of the migratory pressures caused by conflict and climate change in some of the world’s most vulnerable and unstable regions.

As a Government, we understand these challenges, and the key question we face is how to ensure we strike the right balance in our budgetary decisions.

We have to respond to the pressures people are facing today, while continuing to invest in the future of our economy.

We remain heavily reliant on corporation tax receipts, including revenues that are volatile and windfall in nature.

We cannot assume that these revenues will continue at current levels indefinitely.

That is why we are continuing to build our fiscal resilience, including through the Future Ireland Fund and the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund.

But we also need to look at the pressures facing our society today.

For households, the cost of living remains a real concern.

For businesses, particularly SMEs, the cost of doing business remains a real concern.

We need to address both.

That means looking at the burden on households, including through income tax.

And it means continuing to support the competitiveness of businesses, by creating the conditions for investment, productivity and growth.

In addition to the continued challenges around cost of doing business, companies are also dealing with a regulatory environment that can, at times, be unnecessarily complex.

These are issues that Government needs to listen to, and to take seriously.

Creating the right environment for scaling of indigenous Irish companies will also act as an important counterbalance to our overreliance on tax revenue from the FDI sector.

I believe that our taxation framework could do much more to encourage a more active investment environment for the benefit of indigenous companies.

The Cost of Business Advisory Forum has given us a very practical set of recommendations which we are examining and will respond to.

We need to look carefully at the cumulative burden on businesses.

That includes strengthening the SME Test, so that the impact of new policies and regulations on smaller businesses is properly considered from the outset.

We need to properly consider their impact on smaller businesses when Government is developing new policies and regulations.

We also need to continue identifying where regulation can be simplified and where unnecessary administrative burdens can be removed.

That is why I, together with Minister Burke, launched a cross Government Red Tape Challenge in July.

I have been very clear with Ministers that I want them, their Departments, and relevant Agencies under their remit, to identify actions which can reduce the regulatory and administrative burden placed on SMEs.

I will be closely monitoring the progress of this Challenge.

I know that the need to maintain competitiveness is something that is take very seriously by everyone in this room. I want to reassure you that it is also taken very seriously in the Government I lead.

It is an agenda that Ireland that we are pursuing at home, but also one that we are advancing at European level.

Our Presidency is focused on three central themes: competitiveness, values, and security.

Europe has to become more productive and more competitive.

We need to reduce unnecessary administrative burdens.

And we need to create an environment where businesses can invest, innovate and grow.

We are determined to actively advance each of these priorities during our Presidency.

It is impossible to speak of competitiveness and innovation without discussing the proliferation and impact of artificial intelligence - one of the biggest changes taking place in the global economy.

As part of Ireland’s Presidency, we will host the International AI summit here in Dublin at the RDS in two weeks’ time.

The opportunity is significant.

The Summit will showcase Ireland as a leading European AI innovation hub.

And it will highlight the strength of Ireland’s ecosystem, bringing together multinational companies, start-ups, scale-ups, innovators and investors.

Today, Ireland ranks 1st in the EU for AI diffusion, joint 4th globally for net inward migration of AI skilled workers, and demand is growing.

The share of Irish job advertisements referring to AI has doubled since2023, with AI-related jobs in Ireland growing at around 2-3 times the rate of peer countries.

The value of AI will ultimately be measured not just by the breakthroughs of the largest technology companies, but by whether businesses of every size can use it to improve productivity, develop new products and services, access new markets and create new opportunities.

We are doing well, but we need to make sure that we continue to produce people with the skills to match our ambition.

That is why we are already investing in flexible upskilling options, supported by the National Training Fund.

AI is no longer simply a future technology – it is already changing how businesses operate.

The question for businesses is increasingly not whether they will use AI, but how they can deploy it effectively, responsibly and at scale.

Ireland starts from a position of considerable strength – with our vibrant start-up ecosystem and the presence of major global technology companies.

Relative to our size, Ireland remains one of the EU’s stronger performers in terms of so-called ‘digital unicorns’, with 18 such companies in Ireland up to 2025.

Public policy has also shifted decisively towards AI as part of Ireland’s digital transformation.

In our strategy to 2030, we have set out our ambition to be one a European location of choice for AI and digital start-ups and a global hub for applied AI innovation.

We have many reasons to be confident about Ireland’s ability to take advantage of these opportunities.

But we also need to address the challenges that could hold back our future growth.

Housing is undoubtedly one of these challenges. When I became Taoiseach, I described it as the number one social issue facing our country and have proceeded on that basis.

Last year, 2025, more than 36,200 homes were completed – a 77% increase on 2020 when this Government came into office – and the numbers for the first half of 2026 are also encouraging.

In the first six months of 2026, more than 16,000 homes were completed - the highest level of first-half-year completions in more than 20 years.

In total, since coming into office in 2020, we have delivered almost 178,000 new homes.

While challenges remain, the figures point to a strengthening housing pipeline and continued growth in delivery.

But we cannot afford to lose momentum.

Increased supply is the single most effective way to moderate price growth, improve affordability and allow more people to have families and put down roots in communities.

A business cannot grow if the people it needs cannot afford to live within reasonable reach of where they work.

If we want Dublin to remain a competitive place to do business, we need to make sure it is also a place where people can afford to live.

The homes we need to build, the businesses we want to attract and the modern, sustainable society we want to become all depend on infrastructure that is fit for purpose.

We have made very significant commitments to infrastructure – record levels on investment in fact.

But we all know that we need to accelerate delivery.

When projects are delayed, there is a direct financial consequence and the public’s faith in the capacity of the system to deliver is undermined.

Delays mean higher costs, which must ultimately be borne by citizens, businesses, or through reduced funding available for other priorities.

That is why our Accelerating Infrastructure Action Plan is so important. It is a hugely important and consequential initiative focused on removing blockages, improving processes and getting critical projects moving more quickly.

I’m glad to have the opportunity this evening to highlight it and to pay tribute to Minster Jack Chambers and Sean O’Driscoll for their work in delivering it and driving it forward.

Across the system, we are seeing a stronger focus on delivering essential infrastructure more quickly, including through faster planning and more efficient court processes.

And the benefits are tangible. Half a million people in North Dublin and surrounding counties will benefit one year earlier from additional housing and cleaner environment because of the faster delivery of the Greater Dublin Drainage project.

We had a major step forward this week with the EPA issuing the relevant licence. We’re also making good progress in procurement process for the project, with preliminary construction works expected to commence before the end of this year.

The project remains on track for accelerated completion in 2031.

Dublin and the country as a whole will also benefit from the faster delivery of MetroLink, a generational and utterly transformational project that we have now given the green light to.

It will unlock opportunities for housing and economic development along its corridor, support sustainable transport, reduce congestion, and improve access to Dublin Airport, our primary national gateway hub.

Construction activity for MetroLink should be visible next year.

We are also pushing forward with DART+ and the Bus Connects network to build out a public transport network commensurate with the success, growth and ambition of the city.

As the reforms around infrastructure delivery continue to take effect across the system, we expect their impact to compound, helping deliver the housing, competitiveness, decarbonisation and quality-of-life benefits that our people expect and deserve.

But the future of Dublin is not just about the infrastructure we build – it is also about the kind of city we want to create.

The Government I lead is committed to making Dublin City Centre a more thriving, attractive, and safe cityscape; and a desirable location to live, work, do business and visit.

As you are aware, the Dublin City Taskforce recommended a series of measures to rejuvenate Dublin City Centre, having taken soundings from the business community, Mary Rose Burke amongst them.

This Summer, the Government published its first Progress Report on the 10-year Roadmap for Delivery.

The report says the groundwork for delivery has been completed, with the installation of strong leadership and the establishment of an Oversight Board and Programme Management Unit, the precursor to the Special Purpose Vehicle that is coming.

That SPV, when established, will focus on developing a 10-year Integrated Area Strategy for the city centre.

Important progress has been made.

We have agreed to redevelop the GPO complex; We have acquired an important O’Connell Street site to support MetroLink and the wider regeneration of the area.

We are addressing the cleanliness of Dublin City’s streets.

We are investing in the public realm and community engagement.

And I’m pleased to say that safety has improved over the first 12 months of a High Visibility Policing Presence operation, rolled out by An Garda Síochána in March 2025.

Delivery of the Roadmap will involve significant public funding, supported by private sector investment.

The Roadmap creates an enabling environment designed to build confidence with business, landholders and investors to come together and get involved in achieving a new vision for Dublin City Centre.

I know that Dublin Chamber will continue to support the Taskforce’s vision through its contribution to Dublin City Council’s Rejuvenation Action Group.

I want to thank you all for your continued constructive engagement with Government and for the contribution that Dublin Chamber members make every day to this city, and to our country.

There are challenges ahead – that is certain.

But I have great confidence in the future of our capital.

I know that if Government and established representative groups such as Dublin Chamber continue to work collaboratively, we have a much better chance to navigate the economic and social challenges facing us today and into the future.

As I said at the beginning of my remarks, these are very dangerous times in our world.

Ireland is a small country with big ambitions, so our work to promote our values and underpin the critical international and multinational relationships that sustain us, never stops.

In just the last weeks, I’ve met with Prime Minister Burnham, hosted President Trump, liaised with a full range of European heads of Government and made Ireland’s case at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

And I know that a great many of you here, in your companies and in your wider business networks are busy doing the same work – telling Ireland’s story, promoting our values and doing what you can to attract more investment, visitors and commerce to this country and this great city.

Working together, I know that we can continue to build on our capital city’s strengths and ensure that for those already here, and those we convince to come, it is a great place to live, work and do business.

Thank you, and I hope you all have a very enjoyable evening. Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.

ENDS