Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to have the opportunity to speak on this budget. It is welcome and is the first budget in many years which gives some money back to people. We are moving away from austerity. Unfortunately, when one does the sums one finds it is regressive. I heard spokespersons refer to percentages, but when one does the sums on how people will benefit one finds high earners will benefit more than lower earners.

The maximum relief for PAYE workers paying water charges is €100, but there are hundreds of thousands of low paid workers who will be ineligible. Those in receipt of social welfare will benefit from the measure through the household benefits package, but low paid workers who are barely in or not in the tax next will not benefit or will only see a small benefit.

The figure of €240 per annum provided by the Taoiseach is incorrect, as the charge for many households will be above it. However, if we take it as an example, such a household would benefit by less than €1 a week, with the relief set at 20%.

I am concerned that this is a short-term measure. In the 1990s a waiver scheme was introduced for refuse collection charges in Dublin, but it dissolved after a couple of years. This scheme is due to be reviewed in 2016 and my concern is that it will then disappear. What has been presented in the budget is clearly a reaction to the by-election results and the huge protest march on Saturday in Dublin when tens of thousands of people protested against water charges and austerity. This proposal is a gimmick to try to deal with them and save the bacon of the Labour Party.

It is a pity the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government is not present, but the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport is. As this is the first time in the Chamber I have had the opportunity to congratulate him on his appointment, I do so now. We all pay road tax in good faith and do so in order to maintain the road network. Huge improvements have been made to the roads, but rural roads and local authorities throughout the country are under serious pressure, particularly in terms of staff shortages. The road taxes we pay were supposed to be diverted to local government funds, but in 2013 some €150 million was diverted elsewhere. This past year, a total of €600 million has been diverted. It finished up in Uisce Éireann, rather than with local authorities. I draw attention to this.

In the Estimates, some €200 million was earmarked for capital expenditure for Irish Water. Can anybody tell me what exactly that money is for, particularly in the light of all the money spent on consultancy fees and call centres and the waste of money elsewhere in establishing Irish Water? Another €71 million referred to in the expenditure report is marked down as "related costs", but no further information is given on these costs. It is difficult for Opposition spokespersons like us to understand this type of documentation as no explanation is provided. I suggest we receive a better explanation of such figures in future years. I hope some Minister will get back to me and provide an explanation of these figures.

I highlight the issue of the moratorium on employment in the public service. It is welcome that new nurses and gardaí are to be employed. Sinn Féin included such a measure in its budget also. The local authority sector has been hit harder than most. While there has been a 10% drop in overall employment in the public sector, the reduction in the local government sector is in excess of 20%. In some areas it has been as high as 25%, particularly in the case of outdoor staff whose numbers show a significant drop. I suggest that in such a situation we are losing money, particularly in the area covered by the Minister's brief. The moratorium is costing us money because preventive maintenance works are not being carried out. Last winter, I saw gullies and culverts blocked. Had they been maintained, we would not have had as much flood damage as we did during the extreme weather. I realise some damage cannot be prevented, but much of it could have been alleviated or avoided. I ask the Minister, Deputy Paschal Donohoe and, the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, who while not at the Cabinet table has influence at it, to highlight the need to employ local authority staff, not as directors of services, senior executive officers or executive engineers but as front-line workers to maintain the roads.

An issue has risen in regard to Irish Water. It is telling owners of rented property that if tenants do not return the forms, the landlord is liable for the charges. How will this work in practice? Will landlords charge the next tenant for the outstanding bill or how will this issue be resolved?

I listened to the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Paudie Coffey, talk about Sinn Féin's budget, but it is obvious that he did not read it. Not alone did he not read our budget, he did not listen to what the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, said about the retention of the 9% tax rate in the hospitality sector, a measure we support. The Minister said we could retain the tax rate as it stood and maintain things as they were without raising new revenue. It was he rather than Sinn Féin who said that, as things stood, we could fund the 9% rate. We set out our budget in good faith and put forward proposals we felt were important.

On the issue of energy upgrades, I would like to mention County Laois where some great work has been done in the upgrade of local authority housing to make them warmer and bring them up to specification. However, there is an issue with older houses which are not being upgraded because they do not have cavity walls. I have been looking into this issue for the past three years, both here and outside the House. County managers have told me - I agree - that what is happening is that these houses are not being upgraded because departmental officials are advising local authority officials to do the easy jobs first, the houses with cavity walls. As a result, estates like O'Moore Place in Portlaoise and St. John's Square, local authority housing built with 8 in solid blocks in the 1930s, remain without insulation. I ask the Minister to ensure these houses are upgraded. I have talked to builders and architects and been informed they could be insulated internally. I ask for the small number of houses involved to be upgraded. I congratulate everybody involved in upgrading those houses that have been upgraded through this excellent scheme. However, the houses built in the 1930s and 1940s have been left behind because they have solid walls. This issue needs to be addressed to try to make these houses energy efficient.

I would like to comment on the issue of the housing waiting list in County Laois where there are over 1,400 people on the waiting list, despite the fact that there are few voids in the county because of local authority efficiency in turning over property quickly. Only three houses were built in the county last year and only six are planned for construction this year, but they have not yet gone through Part VIII of the planning process. We need to accelerate the house building programme, under which County Laois must receive its fair share.

I welcome the new measures on housing. The Minister of State, Deputy Paudie Coffey, misrepresented Sinn Féin's position in saying we proposed building 6,800 new houses, but our proposal concerned new builds within 18 months, not over three years. We proposed them as local authority builds, in addition to the other measures proposed. Let us not distort that proposal. County Laois must have a new house building programme to try to meet the needs of those on the waiting list and the persons who are showing up homeless daily at local council offices. We must try to address this issue. I issue a word of warning on PPPs which have a bad track record in housing, including in Dublin. One need only look at O'Devaney Gardens or Dominick Street to see that they have not lived up to their promise. We need to be careful about them. We must try to move forward to ensure people are housed. This is the most significant function of local authorities which they must retain. We have got over the collapse of the house building programme and are now in a position to start rebuilding. We need to put our foot on the pedal and accelerate the programme. I would like to see a more ambitious programme than that put forward by the Government, although I welcome what has been proposed. Let us look at other sources of funding to accelerate the programme, address the appalling homelessness problem and the issue of housing waiting lists.

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