Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 3 in my name is similar to that of Deputy Nash in its purpose. It relates to the future Ireland fund investment strategy. The strategy is important and I have huge faith in the NTMA and how it will operate, although we have had reason to have clashes recently regarding its ongoing investment in companies operating in the illegal territories, which is appalling and continues to be so, despite that fact it has divested from a number of companies - about a quarter of the portfolio - as the bombs rain down on Gaza. Most people are disgusted at the thought that our taxpayers' money is invested in companies involved in the occupied territories. We will come to that later as we deal with the environmental, social and governance section of the Bill. Where this Bill is deficient is it fails to understand - I genuinely think this comes from a political-driven analysis by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael - the infrastructural deficits across the State. It is quite interesting when you look at the SPU and the surpluses and money that would be put away in the fund, we also look at some of the unknowns and risks in the economy. We still do not have a clear picture of how the OECD process will end up in terms of the impact, particularly of pillar 1, on Ireland. Yet, we have legislation that locks in investment and locks that investment away from certain infrastructural needs we have at this point. That is where I have a fundamental difference with the Government regarding this fund. Funds are required. As the Minister knows, we supported the transfer to what is known as the rainy day fund in the past year. I support the establishment of the fund but the idea that it would be a certain amount of GDP and that it is left to the NTMA to develop the investment strategy without regard to any specific area is a problem. Amendment No. 3 proposes the insertion of the following:

Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), the ... fund investment strategy shall have regard to the promotion of the economic development and stability of the State, across sectors ... but not limited to housing, infrastructure, energy and water.

I was struck by a message I got late last night from a young woman who is in Australia and wants to come back home. It is going around social media within the Irish community in Australia. They want to come back home and they talk about the restrictions on coming back home. There is the issue of housing, if you can afford it. If you want to come back to your local community, you are unlikely to get planning because of the planning rules. If you are looking to go into the town, there are challenges. The deposit ratio is also a difficulty because they are not here. How do you get a mortgage if you are not living in the country? The banks say you have to live in the country to get a mortgage. You have to have a job to get a mortgage. If people who have been in Australia for the past couple of years want to return and help and contribute, how do they do all of that? Housing has become a disaster for many people. For a lot of families and people with whom I engage, they are looking at what we are doing in this room. Although I support the idea of funds, they look at the situation and say, "Are you off your heads? We have not only my kids in the back room but my grandchildren in the back room." We have a housing crisis yet the Government is talking about billions of euro being invested somewhere abroad when what we really need is investment here in housing, our communities and so on. Housing is not just an issue for that young woman in Australia or indeed that mother whose box room is now home to her daughter and young family. It is an economic issue. The Minister has heard it and I have heard it. We know it is now becoming an issue for some large employers to continue the investment pipeline in the State due to the unavailability of housing to meet future staff needs for those companies. It was put on the record of the Dáil by the previous Taoiseach that this is the case. There is an acknowledgement yet no action, unless you want to call Housing for All action. I do not even want to get into that.

This is about trying to ensure that the fund would have the promotion of economic development and the stability of the State across sectors including but not limited to housing infrastructure, energy and water at its core. I made the case before that if I were in the Minister's position, I would be ramping up capital investment in housing and would do it significantly. That is the biggest challenge we have in this State. A Government in tune with the needs, aspirations and hopes of the Irish people would respond in that way. Can the Government do both? Can it put money away, making sure it is there for other rainy days? Absolutely, but at the same time, it must make sure there is the necessary investment. Can money in some of these funds contribute to solving the housing crisis? The Government can do that as well through different models. We have a model in mind that would be beneficial is if there was investment from a fund like this with a decent return. That is what this amendment is. We will tease through the other stuff later on with regard to the blunt nature of the legislation. The reality is we are legislating for 0.8% of GDP contributions. We will come to that later on but I would be very surprised to see that 0.8% of GDP had been contributed to this fund in five years' time, if any of us are returned in the next election, and even if the Minister is in government.

We have seen legislation like this before, where certain amounts of money were to be contributed into funds. I think the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, took resolutions on four occasions before the Dáil – at least three but maybe four – not to pay the money into the fund. As I said, we will come to that later. The problem is we could have a nice wee conversation here and then you walk out the door and talk to the ordinary people of Ireland and the only thing they want to talk to you about is housing. I am sure everybody around this table is getting this as we canvass for the local and European elections.