Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

The package of increased capital expenditure and tax initiatives announced by my colleague, the Minister for Finance, yesterday once again demonstrates the Government's success in delivering improved social services and key infrastructure. The announcement of an additional capital provision of €130 million for 2006 and revised capital envelopes for 2006 to 2010 for programmes within the remit of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government are very welcome. The Revised Estimate of €2.729 billion for the Department is the biggest ever Government spend on local government, up by 7.9% on the provision for 2005. The total funding available to the Department next year will be €3.608 billion when account is taken of the local government fund, the environment fund and a PPP provision of €20 million, that is, an increase of €236 million or 7%.

In my area of responsibility, housing, I very much welcome the additional provision of €54 million which, together with the additional €53 million announced in the Abridged Estimates Volume, brings the Exchequer capital provision for housing next year to almost €1.25 billion. This is up 9% on this year's Estimate and is almost double the level of spend five years ago in 2000. The total Exchequer provision between current and capital in the housing budget is €1.37 billion.

These additional resources will allow us to start 6,000 new units of local authority accommodation, to continue to develop the voluntary and co-operative housing sector and advance affordable housing. New five-year action plans in place at local authority level provide the basis for delivering accelerated programmes in a coherent and integrated fashion.

Building on our achievements to date, we will outline a new statement of housing policy over the coming days, which will place this investment in a broader housing context. Our focus is on making best use of the resources available to respond to the maximum number of households in need of accommodation. By the end of this year, almost 100,000 households will have been assisted through various housing measures since 1997. Many more will benefit from the increased funding under multi-annual capital programmes announced yesterday. This is further demonstration of our strong commitment to meeting the needs of low income households.

The Government attaches great importance to social inclusion. While the social and affordable housing programme is the most significant measure available to the Department in this area, the Government has also demonstrated its commitment in recent years through the development of other supporting policies and programmes and the allocation of resources both at national and local level to tackle social exclusion in a real way.

As part of the local government modernisation programme, local authorities have been expanding their role in social inclusion and community development. In recognition of this and to give further impetus to support and strengthen their work in this area, an additional provision of €6 million for social capital is being made available to local authorities. This funding, together with other local authority social inclusion initiatives, means that a total of €20 million will be provided by my Department to support initiatives and programmes in this area in 2006. The Minister, Deputy Roche, will make further announcements in this regard shortly. This €20 million is on top of the €1.25 billion for local authority housing.

I welcome the establishment of a national carbon fund in the Budget Statement with an initial allocation of €20 million. I also welcome the nomination of the National Treasury Management Agency as the purchasing agent for carbon credits on behalf of the State.

Major important heritage properties will benefit as a result of the additional €5 million capital and the tax relief announced in the budget for the Irish Heritage Trust. This is on top of the amount provided in the Abridged Estimates Volume for the establishment and initial running costs of this trust.

From the point of view of the Departments of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, there were many good features in yesterday's budget. I look forward, as I am sure the Government does, to delivering on many items which, unfortunately, time does not permit me to go through.

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