Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Capital investment is a significant issue and for the past two years there has been under-investment in the capital programme. It fell short of its budget target last year. The Government is looking at fresh capital investment. There is a key need to change policy and accelerate the level of capital investment in the economy to create some sort of domestic stimulus.

As regards the mortgage arrears issue, the Taoiseach indicated that the sub-committee met on four occasions in 2013. By any yardstick, mortgage arrears form one of the more fundamental issues currently affecting the economy. It concerns thousands of people. Some 94,000 people have been in arrears for over 90 days, which is causing huge anxiety. I thought we would have seen more activity by the Cabinet on behalf of those in mortgage arrears. There should have been more meetings to deal with the crisis as it unfolds. There is a sense that MABS is being significantly sidelined by the Ministers concerned. Will the Taoiseach review the situation and check it out to ensure MABS has a far more significant role than has been allocated to it, to date, concerning this crisis

The banks have, in essence, been given free rein in recent months to act unchecked concerning people in arrears. The existing protections in the older code of conduct have been diluted and greater leeway and facilitation have been given to banks in the new code of conduct and also in the new Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Bill.

The Economic Management Council is the core Government entity dealing with the formulation of economic policy. The council seems to meet in parallel to, or independent of, the Cabinet.

Last year, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney and Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Varadkar, articulated considerable concern about the degree to which they were being excluded from economic decision making. The Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton, also articulated concern about the degree to which economic management is in the hands of a few Ministers, namely, those who are members of the Economic Management Council, to the exclusion of the remainder of the Cabinet. The Taoiseach might confirm if the concerns and complaints articulated by Deputies Varadkar and Coveney have been addressed and if he has spoken to them, in the context of Economic Management Council meetings this year, regarding their level of participation in economic policy making .

In terms of the health agenda, the Taoiseach said earlier that there were three meetings on health this year. Approximately six weeks ago, the Taoiseach and Minister of State, Deputy White, gave a commitment to the publication of now of legislation regarding eligibility for primary care. I have not yet had sight of that legislation or any proposals designed to fulfil the commitment in the programme for Government on free access to primary care for those with long-term chronic illnesses. Despite this solemn commitment we have not yet in the last week of this session had sight of this. This Government has missed deadline after deadline. Despite the many commitments of various Ministers over the past two and a half years in this regard nothing has happened. Former Minister of State, Deputy Shortall, was essentially shafted by the Government when she tried to pursue this agenda. I note the Taoiseach is smiling. That is what happened. The Minister of State, Deputy White, and the Taoiseach gave a commitment to the House that the legislation would be published by the end of this session. We are still awaiting publication of the legislation or, at least, the proposals.

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