Alan Farrell (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. As I stated earlier, incredibly, some 1,200 jobs per week are now being created, against the backdrop of the 1,600 jobs per month being lost in the previous years. This Government has managed to restore our economic sovereignty having met virtually all of the criterion agreed to by the previous Administration with the troika. We have re-established ourselves at the heart of a troubled Europe and restored our reputation in the process. Our six month presidency of the European Council was greeted as a success and the markets have responded appropriately.

The buzzword from 2008 to 2010 was bondwatch. I recall it featuring daily in the newspapers. It even had its own hashtag on Twitter, reporting the yield of the day, which while at 14% prior to this Government taking office in 2011 is now at 3%. Nobody in Fine Gael said restoring our economy would be an easy task. We knew difficult decisions had to be made and that there was no silver bullet or magic wand in that regard. We knew there would be hurt but we knew progress was necessary to restore the level of jobs required to sustain our economy. Our progress deserves an airing. I have been frustrated during the past few weeks by Deputies opposite berating the Government for daring to have this debate. It is important that every now and again we remind people, in particular the media which is constantly hungry for bad news stories and often misses the good news, of the stories of hope and progress. While some dire situations remain we are trying to address them. Constant doom and gloom makes it difficult for anybody to be anything other than cynical about politics, politicians and elections.

In terms of business and enterprise, red tape has been removed, incentivisation programmes have been created, business support systems have been improved and a one-stop-shop for enterprise has been created in the community through the new LEO offices referred to earlier by Deputy O'Mahony. In the area of health, waiting lists in many areas have been decimated. Enormous progress is also being made on rolling out the huge programme of reform envisaged in the programme for Government. The Department of Health was and continues to be one of the most difficult portfolios for any Minister. I commend my constituency colleague, the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly, and his Ministers of State, Deputies Alex White and Kathleen Lynch, for their work in that Department.

In terms of Dáil reform, which invariably is about reducing or improving the amount of time Members spend in this Chamber or the Seanad, the number of committees has been reduced from 25 to 16, payments for vice chairpersons and convenors have been abolished, entitlement to ministerial cars-drivers have been abolished, as per a commitment in the Fine Gael manifesto, and the number of sitting days has been increased by 32.3%. A Topical Issue Debate, committee debates in the Chamber and Friday sittings have been introduced. Deputies' pay and pension entitlements have been reduced and the right to draw a pension while being a sitting Member has been abolished. We have scythed off an enormous amount of the expenses to which Members of both Houses were entitled and have made the whole process more transparent and accountable. I acknowledge that some of this work was commenced by the previous Administration. It was then necessary for this Government to take further steps to reduce the pay and expenses regimes of the Houses.

In terms of education, millions of euros has been spent on new school buildings, including one for St. Oliver Plunkett's national school in Malahide, which it has been seeking since I became involved in politics ten years ago. Despite that the previous Administration failed to recognise the requirement for new school buildings we have managed to find the money for an ever increasing demand for new school buildings. We have done away with the pointless renting of prefabs where it makes no economic sense to continue doing so and are instead constructing new classrooms.

We recognise the enormous growth in the population and are making appropriate plans to deal with this. Earlier today, we announced the establishment of five new schools throughout the country to deal with the issue of choice in the context of patronage. We live in a diverse society and this must be recognised. It is important that we take steps to provide education that is not necessarily denominational in nature. In addition, we must be able to cater for the various demands placed on the education system.

The preservation of our heritage, both built and ancient, is of paramount importance to me. I am pleased that the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Deenihan, and the Minister of State at the Departments of Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brian Hayes, have been able to invest in our built infrastructure. Even only a small investment can guarantee the security of buildings at risk in years to come.

We have also responded quickly and decisively with regard to the recent storms which beset the country, particularly its western coast. A small amount of funding allocated for repairs was given to my constituency. However, Clare received €20 million and this reflects the damage that was done during the two-week period when the country was hit by the storms in question.

In the context of local government, we have radically changed the structures of our councils. We are about to abolish 83 town councils, which have 71 days to transfer their responsibilities to their parent councils. In addition, the number of councillors will be reduced from 1,627 to 950 following May's local elections.

A total of €68 million in funding has been allocated toward the provision of local authority housing. While I commend the relevant Minister on this and on finding €4.7 million for my constituency, which is located close to Dublin Airport, it is clearly not enough. However, doing nothing is not an option. I commend the Government on finding the funding in the first instance and I hope that in the coming months and years we will be in a position to try to respond to the enormous demands being placed on the social housing infrastructure provided by local authorities throughout the country.

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