Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As my colleague, the Minister for Justice and Equality, will outline later, this funding will also support the justice reform programme. The programme includes plans for the reform of An Garda Síochána, the strengthening of the remit of GSOC and establishment of the new independent policing authority, the Court of Appeal, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the establishment of the Charities Regulatory Authority.

Children

Some €975 million will be allocated to the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. This will support the new child and family agency, Tusla, in its delivery of integrated and effective services including the improvement of residential and foster care services.A capital allocation of €35 million will be used to support additional and improved child detention services. The Minster for Children and Youth Affairs will later provide further details on these plans.

Rural Affairs

Next year will see an increase in the agriculture Vote, to more than €1 billion. The Minister for Agriculture will use this to support the rural development programme, the seafood development programme, the Food Harvest 2020 plan and the innovative beef data and genomics programme. Funding will also support the implementation of the report of the commission for the economic development of rural areas.

Cohesion Funding

I am committed to ensuring that the benefits of our economic revival are shared across the whole country. In this context, Ireland has secured €1.2 billion in structural funds for the period 2014-2020. This represents an increase of 8% over the previous seven year period and includes a special allocation of €100 million for the Border, Midlands and Western region. This funding will be delivered through operational programmes co-financed by the Irish Government, the European Social Fund and the European Regional Development Fund, with a combined value of just more than €2 billion.

The Government was also successful in securing additional funding for a new PEACE programme for the Border counties of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Along with its sister INTERREG programme, this will form part of a package of funding worth in excess of €500 million to the region over the next seven years. The Government attaches a high priority to these cross-Border programmes. I am pleased to say that draft programmes have now been submitted to the Commission by the Government in partnership with the Northern Ireland Executive.

International Aid

Ireland has a very strong record in the area of international development. It has been recognised across the world that we have maintained our engagement in the fight against global poverty and hunger, even in the face of extraordinary economic difficulty at home. Our aid programme prioritises some of the poorest countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Next year, some €476 million is being provided through the international co-operation Vote of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Combined with our share of the EU development co-operation Vote and contributions from other Departments, this will bring our overall official development assistance to some €600 million.

This level of funding will enable Ireland to continue to play a critical role in some of the most pressing humanitarian crises witnessed for many generations. For instance, we have taken a lead in providing some €14 million this year alone for the victims of the appalling conflict in Syria and its neighbouring region. We provide €10 million annually to support the Palestinian people, and Deputy Flanagan, the Minister, at the international conference in Cairo at the weekend pledged €2.5 million for the reconstruction of Gaza. We are one of a small number of European countries with an embassy in Sierra Leone, a partner country for our aid programme. Through the Irish Aid programme in both Sierra Leone and Liberia and our funding to NGOs working in West Africa, we are currently providing more than €16 million in development assistance, much of which is focused on strengthening health systems, but also on directly fighting the Ebola outbreak.

Arts and Heritage

I am announcing an increased allocation of €212 million for the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht in 2015. This will be used to sustain the work of the Arts Council and to support our important cultural institutions and the Irish language. I am also allocating €61 million in capital expenditure. As well as investing in our future, funding is being provided for a programme of commemoration projects related to the social and political developments of the decade from 1912 which helped to form modern Ireland. The Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht will later provide details on these issues.

Defence

I am happy to confirm continued investment in critical defence funding, with an allocation of €885 million. The Minister for Defence will use this funding to prioritise Naval Service vessel renewal. Funding will also allow continued participation in overseas peace support operations. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the dedication and commitment of our Defence Forces, both at home and representing Ireland with distinction abroad, particularly as witnessed in recent times. These are just a few of the measures set out in detail in the comprehensive expenditure report.

Public Service Reform

Public service reform remains at the heart of this Government’s agenda and will focus on ensuring efficiency and improving outcomes for service users - that is, every citizen in the country. Investment in public services will be targeted at priority areas and will be linked closely with reform. This Government is not going to allocate resources to services that are unreformed.

The cost savings delivered through the Government’s reform programme are being used to support priority front-line services, as I have already set out. Public service numbers have been reduced by 10% since 2008. I am pleased to announce that there will be no further overall reductions. An important part of the reform agenda is greater autonomy for Departments and agencies to manage their own staffing levels. From next year, I am pleased to announce that Departments will have discretion over staffing levels within an overall pay framework. In tandem with the announcements I have made regarding additional gardaí, teachers and so on, next year will also see a resumption of recruitment into the Civil Service. We need to provide opportunities for people to enter employment in our public services. I also intend to launch the new plan for Civil Service renewal in the coming weeks. This marks the end of the moratorium on recruitment, but in a targeted and focused way.

Conclusion

I concluded my Estimates address two years ago by saying that the Irish people would, in time, be proud of our collective national response to the biggest economic crisis in our independent history. The improving economic statistics are the proof of that response. They are a tribute to the Irish people. Not everything is mended; not everything is yet as it should be.

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