Public Policy

Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation,  Jack Chambers TD, this week secured Government approval for the General Scheme of the long awaited Critical Infrastructure Bill.  The Bill, once enacted will allow Government, subject to Dáil approval, to designate specific infrastructure projects as critical. This would then oblige all State bodies involved in the approval process to cooperate and coordinate with each other.  At its core this legislation is designed to speed up the approval process for major pieces of national infrastructure. For far too long critical infrastructure projects have been delayed.A delayed project imposes a cost on the entire economy and as delays mount the cost of the entire project escalates.  The progress on this Bill follows the establishment last week of a Regulatory Simplification Unit by Minister Chambers. 

Earlier this week, the Institute made a submission to the Public Consultation on Northern Ireland’s upcoming Budget 2026. Northern Ireland’s competitiveness depends on an economy that attracts investment, supports entrepreneurs, enables cross-border labour mobility, and expands workforce participation through affordable childcare. Chartered Accountants Ireland urged the Executive to prioritise:  Progress on entrepreneurial tax supports childcare investment, Removal of barriers to cross border working, The activation and use of devolved powers on corporation tax, and Childcare investment.  These actions would increase productivity, stimulate job creation, and strengthen long term fiscal sustainability. Better tax supports for entrepreneurs Entrepreneurs are the backbone of any economy, creating wealth and employment throughout the country.  Entrepreneurs need supports specifically designed for them. Urgent action is needed by the UK Government to rectify the divergence between Northern Ireland and Great Britain in the context of forthcoming changes to the UK’s Tax Advantaged Venture Capital Schemes. Tax supports for entrepreneurs should not be limited to high growth companies but should be expanded to other businesses with a growth mission. A wider review of how the UK tax system can better drive business growth and harness the entrepreneurial spirit of business owners is warranted. Cross-border and remote/hybrid working on the island of Ireland Embracing a more integrated approach to cross border working would offer the opportunity to drive growth, build a more stable future for the entire island, and improve outcomes for communities and citizens in both jurisdictions.  The current rules on cross-border and remote/hybrid working are negatively impacting the all-island labour market. We urged the Executive to work with Treasury and the Irish Government to minimise administrative responsibilities for both employers and employees when a frontier worker works from home a few days a week. The Institute also highlighted the disparity in tax treatment of pension contributions and retirement income. Reduction to the Corporate Tax rate A reduced corporate tax rate in Northern Ireland would attract investment, create well paid, secure jobs, and encourage innovation and entrepreneurialism. The Institute called on the Department of Finance and the Department for the Economy to fund an economic analysis to assess the various impacts of a reduced corporate tax rate in Northern Ireland.  We also called on the Executive to urgently invest in and reform Invest NI to enable the agency to establish critical relationships in major companies and to adequately sell Northern Ireland as a destination for investment. Affordable childcare Affordable and available childcare can boost labour market participation and increase economic productivity. In our most recent research 51% of respondents in Northern Ireland confirmed they had either reduced their working hours or requested to work flexible hours because of childcare pressures. We called on the Executive and the Assembly to prioritise childcare investment in the upcoming Budget.  We welcomed the publication of the draft Early Learning and Childcare Strategy and encourage the Executive to implement the measures in it subject to budgetary constraints. 

Last week the Institute responded to the HM Treasury ‘Call for Evidence: Tax Supports for Entrepreneurs’, which was launched on Autumn Budget Day last November. We thank members for their feedback on this important issue. In our submission, the Institute highlights how the draft Finance (No. 2) Bill clauses implementing the Autumn Budget 2025 changes to the various limits for several of the UK’s tax advantaged venture capital schemes would exclude specified Northern Ireland (NI) companies due to EU State Aid rules. The submission also highlights that there is a need for a wider review of how the UK tax system could better support all entrepreneurs, and not just those investing in high growth companies. A specified NI company is currently defined in the Finance (No. 2) Bill as a company that has its registered office in NI which carries on a trade involving a trade in goods, or the generation, transmission, distribution, supply, wholesale trade, or cross-border exchange of electricity. As a result, these NI companies will be unable to benefit from the increased scheme limits from April 2026. This divergence in UK tax policy means that companies in NI who are excluded are being disadvantaged when seeking external finance compared to their competitors across the remainder of the UK for no objective reason other than their location. To level the playing field, the Government needs to take the necessary steps to resolve this issue and enable the April 2026 changes to apply to all companies in NI via discussions through the existing UK-EU structures which underpin the Windsor Framework, followed by an application for State Aid approval.