Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yes, I am sharing time with Deputy Browne.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on yesterday's budget. It says a lot about the budget that there are only four of us, including the Acting Chairman, in the Chamber to debate or, I should say, to listen to statements on the budget; I would not say it is a debate. The context of this process and the way we do budgets has to change. We all knew the budget before yesterday. It was leaked and had more leaks than the Titanic. We need to review the way we do budgets. The lack of interest and lack of a presence here is typical of it.

The Minister, Deputy Heather Humphreys, spoke about the huge investment being placed in the 1916 commemoration programme next year and that is welcome. I acknowledge the discipline she has brought to that programme since she was appointed Minister together with her staff and the 1916 commemoration team. The best thing we can do to mark the centenary of 1916 is to live up to the ideals of the Proclamation, to the ideals for which the men and women of 1916 gave their lives. If we measure yesterday's budget against that Proclamation it absolutely fails. If the men and women of 1916 were given a choice of having fancy parades and interpretative centres done up and the mother and all with 1,800 events around the country or having a proper package put in place for people who are homeless, they would prefer a proper package was put in place for people who are homeless. How many people does it take to die on the streets outside this House for Ministers to stop have turf wars about who gets the credit for the package or about who does what? The budget announced yesterday set out the Government's priorities for 2016, the importance of that year, but the fact that the Minister for Finance and the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government could not agree a package on housing is disgraceful. It was a betrayal of the very ideals of that Proclamation that we will mark next year.

There are many areas to cover and I welcome some measures. I note in the Minister of State's Department an increase is being provided in the national training fund, which I presume will go into the apprentice programme. That is long overdue. There is no sense in us having a big capital investment programme and all the announcements that are being made by the Government unless we have a proper career path for people who want to get into construction but not only into that sector. I have said repeatedly in this House in recent years that we need to fall in love with apprenticeships again. We need to extend the range of apprenticeships. How is it that with us still having 18% unemployment - when all the schemes are added in - that there is a shortage of chefs? How is it that we are about to have severe shortages in all the key skills required in construction as the economy begins to grow again? That is the reason this investment is so important. I think the number is 2,500 places.

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