Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am happy to announce there will be a new round of the sports capital programme in 2017 and the Ministers at the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport will announce the details of the programme in due course.

Defence

I turn to defence. There are 498 Defence Forces personnel participating in 11 missions around the world and doing the country proud, including in vital search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea. Budget 2017, rightly, sees an increase in spending on the Defence Forces, with additional funding of €16 million being allocated to that Department.

Planning for the future

This year we have reflected on the legacy of 1916 and the impact it had on Ireland’s history. We now turn our attention to Ireland’s future and the challenges we may face in the years to come.

Preparing for Brexit

Brexit presents such challenges for us on many fronts. Exchange rates remain volatile and this impacts on trade. We have to begin a complex set of negotiations, with our EU partners, and the range of issues to be dealt with will emerge over time. We will be supporting industry both to meet challenges and to take advantage of opportunities that may arise, for example, by increasing spending in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine by some €119 million. Within this, we are continuing to invest in Food Wise 2025 to aid the development of the agrifood sector and strengthen it in the face of what could be more difficult market conditions for exporters to Britain. With a plan to grow the number of jobs supported by the enterprise agencies, additional resources have been provided, primarily for staff resources, for Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland in the context of Brexit. This funding will provide further support for these vital agencies in assisting indigenous companies in attracting overseas investment in a business environment that provides both challenges and opportunities. The Department of the Taoiseach and the Revenue Commissioners will receive additional funding to navigate the challenges of Brexit. This work is in addition to the establishment of a Brexit team in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, within its existing resources. The Estimates allocations across key Departments for 2017 also provide the resources required to quickly build the expertise, capacity and capability on a cross-departmental basis to deliver Ireland’s Brexit ready strategy.

Working for balanced regional development

While Brexit has implications for us all, it is the rural and regional communities who may be looking with most anxiety to the triggering of Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty by the British Government. This is a reflection of the concerns in some parts of the country where alternative employment may be scarce were people to lose their jobs or where investment has historically been lower than in the larger cities.

When the Government was formed, we paid particular attention to rural Ireland and our budget today reflects our determination to help those communities. We cannot allow the threat of unbalanced regional development endanger our economic growth. This is why we have increased funding to the rural development programme by €107 million, from €494 million in 2016 to €601 million in 2017. This includes provision of €25 million for a new animal welfare scheme for sheep to support Ireland's vitally important sheep sector.

Similarly, we have increased funding to the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs to help fund the action plan on rural development, due to be published at the end of this year. There is also increased funding for the Leader programme and Údarás na Gaeltachta. We are committing €15 million to progress the procurement of the national broadband plan to provide high speed broadband to areas of rural Ireland where commercial investment is not forthcoming.

Building for the future

These important increases are part of today's story. The other crucial element is the development of our physical infrastructure. I have already spoken about the current and capital investment we are making to improve our housing stock. I am announcing a total package of over €4.5 billion across a range of Departments, representing an increase of almost €400 million on the 2016 outturn and reflecting solid progress in implementing the Government's capital plan, Building on Recovery, published in 2015. This represents a 26% increase in capital expenditure in comparison to 2014.

Transport

With regard to transport, this spending includes €319 million on regional and local roads throughout our country, funding to provide for the opening of Luas cross city by the end of next year and the continued roll-out of improvements and construction of national roads projects, including three major public private partnership projects, namely, Gort to Tuam, Gorey to Enniscorthy and the New Ross bypass. These projects are vital and they will be delivered.

Action on climate change

I am also very much aware of the country's responsibilities to work against the changing climate of our planet and the hugely negative environmental and social consequences this brings.

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