Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I thank the Labour Party and Deputy Burton for sharing time with me. I am generally supportive of the thrust of the Fine Gael motion. Just over two years ago, the Taoiseach wrote in the foreword to then new national development plan, that the document, Transforming Ireland, was "a road map for sustainable economic expansion, social justice and a better quality of life for all our citizens over the next seven years and beyond". That was just two years ago. It is clear that the road map for investing in infrastructure in Ireland has been lost and the Government's capital investment policies are written off. The road map has more than potholes. It is also clear that Fianna Fáil does not really care that we do not have the schools, public transport networks, digital broadband infrastructure, hospitals and health service and social housing that are the acid test of real social justice and the proof that a better quality of life is being delivered.

It seems that the job of the Fianna Fáil and Green Party Ministers is merely to talk daily, as we heard again this evening, of the "smart economy", the "knowledge economy" and the "competitive Irish economy for the 21st century". Enterprise Ministers, past, present and sacked, are allowed add the words "innovation" and "research led" at will. Their Green Party colleagues also get to say "green tech" once a day in Government press releases. It is clear that there has been significant investment in the infrastructure of hype, but only hype.

The economic downturn has hampered the investment capacity of Government and so we must prioritise some infrastructural developments over others. It is also clear that the Fianna Fáil strategy of spending taxpayers' money wildly in the boom times must end. We do not need any more overpriced, badly thought out projects of which the West Link is a glittering jewel in the Government crown of infrastructure failures. We are still waiting for a simple, clear explanation of how it came to be that the Government paid National Toll Roads €15 million to build the bridge and then had to pay over €600 million to get it back. That has been forgotten, as have the Luas, M50 and Dublin Port tunnel cost overruns, replaced instead by a lot of bluff from the Government benches on "value for money". There is no real delivery or proof that value for money is being delivered in Government spending.

Sinn Féin has been clear in our job creation and public finance documents that we accept that we are facing straitened circumstances, but we firmly believe there is an alternative to the failed strategy of frittering away taxpayers' money wildly in the boom years and then cutting off spending in recessions. Across the globe there is a recognition of the need for sustainable, community-focused social investment as the key to the next phase of economic development. We need a policy of investing in people, their education, their health and the infrastructure that helps them work more productively and efficiently. My party believes we have an opportunity to reshape the country and that a recovery plan must focus on ensuring we come out of this recession ready for the future, that we have the infrastructure, skills and public services that will put us at the top of competitiveness rankings, as well as delivering a tangibly improved quality of life for all our citizens.

For now, the coalition seems determined not to produce a coherent investment strategy. Take the example of primary and secondary school buildings. We know there is an ongoing need for more school capacity in coming years. The INTO has estimated that 100,000 additional pupils will enter primary schools over the next ten years, generating the equivalent need of 400 schools. In June 2008 the Department of Education and Science estimated a requirement for 2,300 classrooms over the next five years, but where are those classrooms? In budget 2009, €581 million was earmarked for school building, with a further €75 million added in February 2009. In the April budget, €30 million was cut from the schools building programme, raising a question as to the Government's ability to plan if it can change the school building programme three times in seven months.

My party proposed an increased building and refurbishment programme from late 2009 through to 2013 that would aim to take an extra 125 schools through to construction by the end of 2010, and at least 125 schools in each year between 2010 and 2013. We also proposed that the schools summer works programme be maintained in 2009 and continued until 2013 and an increase in expenditure in the devolved small schools scheme. These measures would create local employment while building vital infrastructure.

Replacing the outdated copper telecommunications network with a full fibre-optic digital network running as a backbone across the island rather than an overdependence on wireless solutions is another vital step we need to take. We propose a full implementation of the promised €252 million in NDP funding introducing ICT, broadband and digital media into primary schools, with a target of full roll-out of the scheme by the end of 2010. We must fast-track the €435 million promised spend on the broadband network so that it is delivered between 2009 and 2011 instead of in 2013 and must set a target of full broadband connectivity for all businesses and households by the end of 2011.

The Government talk a mean game concerning green tech but it ends there. Proof of this was found in the €13 million cut in funding for Sustainable Energy Ireland's research programmes. The coalition Government which supposedly has a green edge ignores the opportunities of green tech investment. It ignores a 2008 report, jointly sponsored by Forfás and IntertradeIreland, which forecasts that the global environmental goods and services sector will grow by one sixth, or $100 billion, by 2010, with a further $100 billion growth predicted by the end of 2015. It is vital we ensure the Irish economy is best placed to take advantage of this growing economic sector. The Forfás ITI report showed a green tech sector on the island that is currently estimated to be worth €3.6 billion annually and employing approximately 6,500 people. What message did the Government send to these people by cutting research and development investment in this sector? Talk is cheap with this coalition and the cuts run deep.

I remind the House that in May it will be a year since the failed public private partnership, PPP, experiment in five inner-city Dublin communities collapsed, dashing hopes of decent housing for thousands of marginalised families and their communities. McNamara builders and Castlethorn Developments pulled the plug on a commitment to invest €900 million building 1,800 homes in a mixed retail and commercial development. In the boom times Fianna Fáil told these communities they had to wait and now they are being told to wait again. All participants in the debate tonight must recognise that when it comes to our houses, our schools, our environment and our telecommunications infrastructure there will be no private sector rescue. We need to start again.

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