Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the House for the opportunity to speak on this issue and understand that the Chair may have to call time on it shortly. The spring statement is a new idea in Ireland. I am not that long in this House, but from what I understand it had been circulated in recent years. It is basically a statement of where we are and a projection of where we are going. There are positive things in it. We do not need to be always negative. The projections include figures of between €1.2 billion and €1.5 billion in revenues with which we can try to alleviate some of the difficulties facing people at the moment. That is to be welcomed. I hope the forecast will stay on target during the course of the year. It would be great if there was even more available to help alleviate some of the problems because people in Dublin and every other part of Ireland face many difficulties. There is a projection of more than 2 million people in employment, which is good. We need to keep a focus, however, on the quality of these jobs and the salaries being paid. Some of these jobs are low-paid, but at the same time, every job created is a job to be welcomed.

There is one major problem. We seem to be living on an island of two Irelands. Dublin seems to be faring well, which is a good thing and no one begrudges that. There appears to be a lot of work in Dublin and a lot of foreign direct investment companies are coming to Dublin.

While this is welcome, the knock-on effect involves problems with housing and traffic congestion. Problems may be also caused in places where there is some prosperity.

The serious housing issue needs to be addressed. I have spoken with a few county councils around the country. The day of the budget last October was my first day in the Dáil. Everyone would welcome the announcement on social housing, but one should dig into the reality of that. We have great dreams in terms of what we are announcing, but the money has not yet been utilised because, when one decides to do some of these jobs, it is greenfield sites that are considered, meaning that planning permission must be acquired and the land must be bought. All of this takes nine, ten or, if there are objections, 11 months. Many of the houses in question will not come on stream this year. It may be even a struggle to bring some of them on stream next year despite the announcement of X amount of houses this year. When we make an announcement, there should be substance supporting our claim that we will deliver. It should not just be aspirational. This is important.

I welcome the fact that some towns and cities are picking up, but other towns across Ireland have not yet seen an increase in prosperity.

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