Speech by Taoiseach Micheál Martin at the Dublin Chamber AGM Dinner

Check against delivery

Thank you for the invitation to be with you this evening and to talk with you about some of the biggest issues facing our capital city and our country as a whole.

One of the great defining features of the last few decades of globalisation is how the pace and nature of change has kept accelerating. Basic assumptions have to be constantly updated, and urgent new challenges are emerging at a rate which is unprecedented in modern times.

And in the face of this I often get asked what is Ireland’s role? What can we realistically influence?

I am today, as much as ever before, absolutely convinced that we have the ability to shape our own future. We can do this if we have the clarity and urgency required to hold to core principles and policies.

We have to face up to the scale of change which is now going on. We have to accept our responsibility to play whatever role we can in influencing events. And we have to move faster where we already see the nature and scale of the challenges we face.

Of those challenges, some are more immediate.

This week marked the terrible third anniversary of the return of full-scale war to Europe.

Last week, I participated in a discussion of European leaders convened by President Macron to discuss the continued gravity of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and Europe.

What struck me most was the absolute determination to focus on a positive agenda, to stick to our values, and to do what it takes to secure the future for Ukraine and Europe.

There was a united commitment to move forward, and to implement vital policy changes to use Europe’s full potential to protect itself.

I said then, and I repeat it now, Ireland shares a full responsibility with the rest of democratic Europe to aid a country under vicious attack. We showed this in the early days of the conflict as we helped people desperately fleeing the destruction of their homes – and we have continued to do so.

We will join with others in providing new assistance to the people of Ukraine as they continue to seek the future of peace, prosperity, democracy and sovereignty which is their fundamental right.

And in this, the sustained support of the Irish people for Ukraine has been essential in helping me and my government to play an active role on this.

We will also continue to push forward with our agenda of making sure that we have the capacity to properly protect economic infrastructure which is vital to Ireland and Europe.

And we also have to be clear as a country in sustaining critical relations.

The European Union is our most important relationship. It is central to us having any voice in the world. It is the great enabler of our ability to grow and the main protector of our core liberal and democratic values.

So, the government I lead will take its place with others arguing for reform in line with many of the major recommendations made last year by Mario Draghi. We must move away from the zero-sum approach to budgeting and understand that we do not have the powers or resources we need to overcome urgent challenges like energy security, protecting democracy and creating a more dynamic economy.

At next week’s emergency summit, I will actively support the core idea that Europe must work with more ambition and urgency across a full range of issues. We must unleash the full potential of our single market in more areas, especially in financial markets, and work with others to protect the central role of trade in delivering rising prosperity and falling poverty throughout the world.

Trade is vital for Ireland. We cannot provide for our people without trading. So, we must take our responsibility to speak up for trade which allows fair opportunity for all. We have to work with others to support the role of transparent and stable rules in government trade.

Ireland’s vital relationship with the United Kingdom is one we are determined to strengthen – looking for lasting ways to reinforce some of the bonds weakened by Brexit.

We will start holding formal intergovernmental summits focused on a wider agenda – and I want this process to develop into a systematic interaction. A Process defined by fining opportunities for cooperation and not just managing difficulties.

As for our relationship with the United States of America, it is deep, and it is older than the state. Economically it is one of great mutual benefit – providing a secure and pro-business headquarters in Europe for many great American companies, while many Irish business make major investments across the Atlantic.

I believe we can find ways to make this relationship even stronger.

And of course, I believe Ireland must also value its ability to build strong social and economic ties throughout the wider world. We have important relations with many dynamic and established economies. I am determined to see these grow further. For their companies, Ireland as a European base is a strong message which we will promote actively, and we are redoubling our work to open new and diverse markets for Irish businesses.

As I have said, we have a range of vital international relationships which we must work to protect and strengthen at this critical moment in world history. It is a defining priority for us to ensure that Ireland using every available avenue to promote not just our own interests and values, but those we share with others.

And we must show determination and urgency at home if we want to secure an economy strong enough to support our people. Just because we have achieved great success in the past in no way guarantees our future. To succeed we must continue to evolve.

We have many deep strengths in our economy. They must be protected. But we must be willing to question how we do things – and be more open to new ideas.

To sum it up, the future of our economy will be in our own hands, but we must move fast and create things.

Our levels of investment in public infrastructure must be significantly increased and sustained in the years ahead. A dynamic, international economy has to be more ambitious in getting ahead in critical infrastructural investment. That means not just transport, roads, but also energy, water, digital infrastructure, community infrastructure and public facilities.

Cases of waste when they appear are absolutely unacceptable, but most public infrastructure is delivered professionally and effectively.

We have already begun moves to bring entirely new expertise into the planning and delivering of key public infrastructure. I have also told the relevant ministers and officials that we need to move faster at every stage of project cycles.

Many project steps and consultations have their roots in entirely reasonable moves to allow more interests to have an input. However, this cannot be allowed to continually throw up lengthy and massively costly delays to projects which are central to our social and economic success. We have to be faster, and we have to assert the right of the public interest to be heard.

The case of the capacity at Dublin Airport is an example where an inflexible approach applied over many years can cause real damage if not addressed.

It would be bad for Dublin and bad for Ireland if its main international gateway was closed to new business because of an inability to revisit a decision taken two decades ago in a very different Ireland.

I and the government support a lifting of the cap, and we will do whatever we can to achieve this.

We are also going to push forward with trying to unleash the social and economic potential for far more active North/South connections. The frequency and speed of the Dublin/Belfast corridor is an important part of this, and it will be delivered.

A consistently pro-enterprise approach to taxation has delivered enormous economic and social benefits for our country. We must both protect this and continue to look for innovative approaches which can encourage investment and reinvestment in new industries and businesses. Where they can be a sustained economic benefit then tax changes which help must be considered.

Artificial intelligence is an area which causes a lot of fear for people who are worried if it will simply lead to people being replaced. I’m not naïve in thinking that there are no threats from AI, but AI is a reality, and we need to do everything possible to make it work for us.

Ireland must aim to be a world-leader in using AI to strengthen its areas of expertise. A leader in training people how to use it – and also in identifying those areas of expertise which can give people an advantage.

And I absolutely believe that research and innovation will be even more important to our future than they have been in our past. In a very short period, we built from scratch a research capacity which has provided the foundations for hundreds of thousands of jobs.

We must now go further.

We have to look again at new areas to focus on, build new international partnerships and set the objective of Ireland becoming one of the top ten countries in the world for research and innovation.

A vital regional and national concern has to be achieving a secure, sustainable and affordable energy supply. We need nothing less than an energy revolution – and the most important part of this is that it also gives us an opportunity to deliver further on critical climate and biodiversity goals.

Wind and solar energy, but offshore wind in particular, can give us energy independence for the first time in our history. Where other countries will continue to us insecure and damaging fossil fuels, we can power our homes, businesses and industries, including data centres, through an urgent and sustained development programme which is central to our programme in government.

Combined with reforms to energy regulation, this can achieve a long-term reduction in the unacceptably high costs of energy.

But we also have to protect our energy security as we transition to this situation, and gas is essential to this. Using gas as a transition fuel does not undermine our climates goals, it is the only realistic route open to us as we seek to also protect people’s livelihoods.

That’s why we will create a flexible, Strategic Gas Emergency Reserve to mitigate risk of disruption to gas supplies. And I believe with the agreement of new rules on energy supplies and data centres that this provides the basis for moving quickly forward with an approach which will be both economically and environmentally sustainable.

And of course, we simply have to deliver and sustain a much higher level of home construction. The size of the population and the number of households has increased at a dramatic rate, and I fully accept that dramatic responses are required.

I have said to all relevant Ministers and departments that what is required in terms of public infrastructure to support housing must be done and will be funded.

But we can all see that there are sustained blockages which remain. We have to redouble efforts to get construction capacity up. We have to urgently implement planning legislation which will remove many of the worst tactics used to delay home building.

We have to review those standards which we impose which involve costs which are higher than the rest of Europe. We have to work harder to secure the tradespeople who are the heart of home construction.

And I am particularly conscious that the scale of financing required to deliver the homes we need is of a whole new scale and nature to what we have at the moment.

In terms of public investment, we’ll do what it takes to deliver on social housing and the public infrastructure essential for all home building.

As for private financing, we are looking at many options and are willing to consider any reasonable ideas for ensuring that there is low-cost, secure and accessible financing available for home construction.

And central to securing our future is that we have strong and safe communities. That goes for every aspect of social and economic life, and it is especially important in our cities.

Dublin city centre has constantly changed over the last thousand years. It has seen immense ebbs and flows in terms of community and commercial life. Starting immediately and moving forward through sustained action, we will support the city centre build a new era. We will invest in a range of measures to develop its facilities and to attract people to live, work and socialise in the centre.

And we must assure all citizens that its streets will be both safe and clean. There will be a significant increase in Gardai in the city centre and actions which target the anti-social behaviour which causes so much damage.

At this quite dramatic moment in modern history, we have a lot to be concerned about. We have many very serious challenges. But our future still remains in our hands.

We need the clarity and determination to renew our critical international connections. Most importantly in protecting and strengthening a European Union which is our fundamental foundation for prosperity and progress.

We must also renew our deep relationship with the United Kingdom and United States, while engaging actively with a wider range of nations.

And to secure our future we have to move forward with urgency and ambition on key challenges at home.

We have to deliver a sustained expansion in investment in public infrastructure.

We have to achieve a revolution in secure and sustainable energy, one which will include a new flexible capacity to diversify our energy supplies.

We have to consider new actions which can deliver the homes we need.

We move swiftly to become a leader in critical new technologies and in innovation.

And we must ensure a high quality of life for all our communities.

The future is there for us to shape no matter what we see on the news – and I am determined that for our country it will be a strong, secure and successful future.