Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The investment strategy is clear. It is so broad it can allow investment within or outside the State, so Deputy English is correct. Taking the argument forward, there is no reason to suggest we do not include this text. They may or may not invest in housing.

They may not consider housing issues. This does not dictate they have to. What it does with respect to the investment strategy is to state an intention, that the Legislature, in establishing this fund, believes this area is a priority. If we were to take every political party at face value, they will all say that housing is the No. 1 issue, yet this is a multi-billion euro fund and we are not identifying housing as a priority. What is the argument against this? Yes, the NTMA can do this. Why not make it clear in this legislation that the NTMA should particularly "have regard to the promotion of the economic development....across sectors including but not limited to housing, infrastructure, energy and water"? This is the problem and it ties in with parts of the other legislation. There are commitments in this Bill, although there are ways out for the Minister to make the payments, which, as I said, I would not be surprised if those are not utilised, even in a growing economy. Commitments are made to put a substantial amount of money beyond the reach of a Minister to deal with infrastructural deficits.

Let us forget about housing for a minute. The cost of meeting our climate challenges will be massive. It will be bigger than the infrastructure and climate fund. That in itself will be a challenge. We have housing, water infrastructure and issues in the energy grid infrastructure that we need to deal with and this legislation has no requirement. All this money could be invested in the east coast of America or elsewhere. The fund should have regard - this is the mildest of the issues - to the needs of certain sectors, which are already under constraint as a result of this.

IBEC does not support the fund. That is surprising because naturally the suggestion would be that IBEC and business would argue for a fund like this to be established, but it has pointed out time and again that the infrastructural challenges that have built up in the State and are growing are now a constraint for businesses. They also cause serious problems for workers and families and, from the point of view of businesses, for employees, which push up demands for wages. IBEC is also looking at this from that angle. I have not heard anything from the Minister to not put in this legislation the need for the strategy to have regard to the challenges we have, especially those known to us in the area of housing and other areas such as water, energy and infrastructure.