Batt O'Keeffe (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the publication of the abridged Estimates for 2007 and, in particular, the commitment shown to maintaining high levels of provision for the wide range of essential public services and for the continued growth of infrastructural programmes across all Departments in response to the needs of an expanding population and a growing vibrant economy.

Almost €2.9 billion is being provided for my Department in 2007. This is an overall increase of 6% over the provision for 2006, providing the biggest ever Government spend on local government. It is appropriate that this should be the case. We face phenomenal challenges across the functional areas for which my Department is responsible.

The major global problem of climate change, the pressures that arise from rapid population growth, the challenge of providing housing in record quantities, the ongoing challenge of providing the infrastructure to support sustainable communities, responsibility for securing and enhancing our environment and for protecting our very considerable built heritage and the critical responsibility for protecting Ireland's biodiversity to the less elevated but equally important responsibility for waste policy all fall within the extraordinary broad range of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. The list does not stop there. Local government, the point at which citizens interface with the State in so many ways, also falls within the remit of the Department.

In my two years as Minister of State in the Department, I have placed strong emphasis on promoting more effective performance and adopting best practice to maximise the benefits of the considerable resources being made available. Value for money is a core principle and I will continue to provide a sharp focus on this in terms of achieving the programme objectives in 2007.

By any objective yardstick, my Department has made massive progress across the full range of its operations. The overall provision of €2.9 billion for 2007 equips my Department and our local authorities well to continue the momentum on key capital programmes and service provision for which we are responsible. This is particularly important in 2007, the first year of the new national development plan. We are well placed to build on the achievements made during the past five years.

It is worth briefly looking back at some of the achievements before we look forward to what remains to be done. A total of more than €3.5 billion has been invested in Ireland's water services infrastructure between 1997 and 2006. Government investment in recent years has resulted in increased waste water treatment capacity equivalent to the needs of a population of 3.1 million and additional drinking water capacity for a population equivalent to more than 1 million. The EPA has verified improvements in drinking water quality during the past three years and also improvements in river water quality. We have a record number of blue flag beaches. We are 90% compliant with the urban waste water treatment directive compared to just 20% compliance in 2000. The recycling rate for municipal waste was just less than 34% in 2004, compared to 9% in 1997, and figures should show we surpassed our 2013 target last year. Recycling of packaging waste has risen from 15% to 56%. Construction and demolition recycling is at a high of 85% and waste going to landfill generally has fallen by 9% in four years, in spite of an expanding economy. The recycling scheme for electronic waste, which came in for considerable criticism from the Opposition, has collected 2.3 million pieces of equipment since I introduced it in August 2005.

Some 14% of the national territory is now protected for habitat or species conservation, and this year I have designated new marine conservation areas covering an area the size of County Wexford. Increased resources have been allocated to An Bord Pleanála, the Heritage Council and the EPA to ensure that these key agencies continue to deliver high quality services, which are crucial to our continued economic and infrastructural development. Some 170 capital projects are completed annually by the national parks and wildlife service. These are aimed at developing and maintaining our six national parks and 78 nature reserves.

A major component of the Department's Estimate relates to housing, a matter that will be addressed this evening by the Minister of State, Deputy Noel Ahern, during debate on the Private Members' motion. The Government's approach to housing aims to address the wide spectrum of housing needs. Our success in increasing housing supply is fundamental to this objective and is well reflected with more than 81,000 housing units supplied in 2005. This year we are on course to achieve approximately 90,000 units. One third of all houses in the State has been provided during the ten years of this Government and its predecessor. The Government is also determined to maintain the momentum on social and affordable housing provision. The total Exchequer provision for housing in 2007 is almost €1.5 billion — an increase of 9%, €125 million, on the 2006 provision. This increased level of funding is in line with the housing commitments contained in Towards 2016 and demonstrates the Government's determination to honour these commitments fully.

We have prioritised investment on non-national roads and good results are being achieved. By the end of last year, almost 80% of deficient non-national roads, as identified in 1996, had been restored. Almost €560 million in State aid is being invested this year in our non-national roads. This represents a 13% increase on 2005 and we will be in a position to announce further increases in this programme in January when the local authorities will be notified of their 2007 allocations.

At this stage, the vast majority of the busiest fire stations in the country are modern up-to-date buildings with all the necessary facilities required by today's fire brigade standards. We will continue to invest in fire-fighting facilities in 2007.

The provision of €427 million on water and wastewater infrastructure in 2007 represents an increase of 7% on the 2006 provision of €399 million. Since 2000, some €9 billion has been spent on new water and wastewater projects, including the major new sewerage schemes in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway, and in other locations too numerous to mention. Funding of more than €5 billion covering 899 projects, including projects at planning stage, is provided for the projects in the Government's current investment programme. The increased funding for 2007 reflects the importance the Government attaches to water services infrastructure as a facilitator of economic growth. Not only does the provision of this infrastructure meet essential environmental needs, it also gives us a competitive advantage in attracting inward investment and supports new house building for the benefit of all communities, big and small, throughout the country.

The resources the Government has provided to local authorities through the local government fund have risen dramatically since the fund was established in 1999. The fund will deliver €1.48 billion to local authorities next year, compared with €800 million in 1999. This level of resources has enabled the Minister, and his predecessors, to double the level of general purpose grants from the fund between 1999 and 2006 and I am pleased to say that we intend to continue this trend and increase grant levels further in 2007.

I know, from my close and long involvement with local government, that the demands on the sector have increased substantially in the past decade and it is requisite that we should meet that demand. These increased demands are due to a number of factors, including population growth, servicing of an expanding industrial and commercial sector, higher standards required in areas such as waste management and water treatment, quality, maintenance and operation of new infrastructure provided through public capital programmes, better planning enforcement, as well as the rising levels of expectations by the population. Local authorities have risen to the challenge.

We will be notifying local authorities of their general purpose grant allocations shortly so that they can adopt their budgets for next year. In framing these budgets I want local authorities to keep two matters in mind. While the level of increase in the rate on valuation and other charges is, of course, a matter for elected members, I urge councillors to be mindful of the need to maintain competitiveness within the local economy when they are making decisions. Minimising increases will, in the long term, contribute to local enterprise and employment growth and in turn ensure the long-term sustainability of their commercial rates base. I urge elected members to insist that their councils pay greater heed to efficiency and value for money. Between capital and current expenditure, the local government sector will spend €9 billion in 2007. While efficiencies have been delivered by the sector in recent times, significant potential remains for further efficiencies to be achieved.

The 2007 spending provisions confirm the Government's strong commitment to the development of the local government sector and will allow continuation of the high levels of activity achieved in addressing social needs and providing the necessary infrastructure to assist sustainable development and improve the quality of life of our citizens.

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