Brendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to pick up on a few of the points made by my colleagues Deputies Frank O’Rourke and Jack Chambers. There is some fairness in the budget in the disbursement of funding that became available, commonly known as the fiscal space. It is welcome that there will be an increase in pension payments and other social welfare payments because since 2011 the hallmark of budgets was not fairness.

I echo Deputy Frank O’Rourke's comments in welcoming the provision of funding for the National Treatment Purchase Fund which was a major success during the years. We must use the capacity available within the hospital system, north and south of the Border, to ensure people on waiting lists will have procedures carried out as soon as possible. In delivering health and other services to people, which is the responsibility of the Minister of State, Deputy Marcella Corcoran Kennedy, we must focus on their delivery using the capacity available in the hospital system, North and South. In the past when the National Treatment Purchase Fund was being fully utilised, significant numbers of patients from the South travelled to the North to source services, which was a very welcome development. The Leas-Cheann Comhairle and I represent Southern Ulster counties and had significant numbers of constituents who were able to avail of services in Northern Ireland owing to the National Treatment Purchase Fund. I welcome the provision of €50 million in that regard and hope it will be possible to increase the funding provided.

We must ensure local authority housing is provided as it is absolutely necessary to provide housing. There are many examples of housing stock around the country that must be returned to a habitable condition. Surely it is not beyond the capacity of local authorities, with direct funding from the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government to increase substantially the housing supply available.

On home support, we all witness on a daily basis too many instances of individuals who have been approved to receive home help but who must wait for assistance to become available. The time lag involved must be reduced. There are too many instances of people who have to remaine in hospital because a home support service has not been put in place.

I refer, in particular, to services for children with special and additional needs. We must ensure additional professional services will be put in place. I sincerely hope the extra allocation will mean an improved service.

I refer to the capital programme which in recent years has lacked ambition. I welcome, however, the commitment to have a mid-term review of the programme in 2017. Those of us who represent Southern Ulster and Border counties can see the huge obstacles and challenges facing local economies because of the decision of the British people in the referendum on EU membership.

I will take the opportunity to mention a few projects in my constituency that are needed to ensure we can maintain employment and try to grow it. There is an urgent need to progress the design and planning of the proposed Virginia bypass on the N3 in County Cavan which carries traffic right throughout County Cavan, south Donegal and through Fermanagh. There is a bottleneck there. If we are serious about rural development we have to ensure that much needed capital projects are progressed as rapidly as possible. It is essential not just to create additional employment but to maintain the employment that is already there. A proposal was advanced in 2009-10 for the development of the east-west route from Sligo to Dundalk with particular stretches that need attention, namely the Cootehill, Shercock, Carrickmacross to Dundalk route. Unfortunately that project was stopped by the previous Government's inability to provide funding to the National Roads Authority to continue work that had commenced in County Louth and also work in planning and design by Monaghan and Cavan county councils. Fortunately there is a good bit of employment across those towns of Cootehill, Shercock, Carrickmacross and Dundalk. Much of the product that is exported from that part of Cavan and Monaghan goes to Greenore Port. We need a proper route to ensure those heavy vehicles can travel in reasonable comfort and at reasonable speed. I appeal to the Government to ensure, given the considerable challenges we face now arising from Brexit, those projects are advanced. If the Border counties are to be given some hope of dealing in a meaningful way with the particular challenges we face it is absolutely essential that our infrastructure is improved dramatically.

I am glad my colleagues, Deputy Frank O'Rourke and Deputy Jack Chambers, mentioned Brexit. I have posed numerous questions to the Taoiseach and various Ministers since the June referendum and I am most disappointed that much needed additional funds have not been provided to the different Government agencies and Departments that need to deal with the Brexit issue. It is most disappointing that it took the British Prime Minister almost ten weeks to reply to a letter from the Northern Ireland First Minister and deputy First Minister. I have a copy of the reply from Prime Minister May and it is most disappointing. It took ten weeks to send a holding reply that does not deal with the specific issues that were put to her and her Government by the First Minister and deputy First Minister. There are generalities included in the reply. It is not adequate. I sincerely hope the Taoiseach and his colleagues in government will be able to insist and ensure the British Government takes the concerns of the people of all of this island into consideration in their negotiations with the European Union.

There are particular challenges for us. There has been a huge downside already to the Brexit referendum result. I see it in my county and constituency. Small and medium enterprises that were heavily or totally dependent on exports to the sterling area of Northern Ireland and Britain have been impacted very negatively already with the loss of jobs. If one takes the mushroom sector in particular, there has been a traumatic effect on that particular sector because its only outlet was the British market. We need action, not just general policy initiatives. We need support for those sectors.

See this speech in context