Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Bhí an Teachta Uí Snodaigh ag caint faoi athrú aeráide agus mar sin de. Glacadh an Rialtas leis an díospóireacht sin ar maidin. Beidh sé ag tosnú láithreach. Beidh an tAire, an Teachta Naughten, ag caint leis an Teachta Ryan agus beidh cead ag na gnólachtaí thart fud na tíre déileáil agus a gcuid tuairimí a chur isteach sa díospóireacht sin. Glacadh an Rialtas leis ar maidin. Beidh sé ag tosnú láithreach.

Deputy Martin asked about infrastructure. Of course, this is always the problem. We have €42 billion between the Exchequer, private moneys, PPPs, but that is not enough. For the Ireland of 2030 or 2040 we need to do much more. That is why we recently opened the European Investment Bank office, which will be in a position to provide serious moneys for particular kinds of infrastructure development on a long-term low-interest basis but where there is an income stream to actually pay for it. A case in point is the motorway from Cork to Limerick, a much needed piece of infrastructure costing approximately €1 billion. If that were to be tolled, it would provide an income stream to deal with that and take it away from the central Exchequer.

We have many ports, but only two that are really big for exports. That area may also provide an opportunity as do the works on the Luas and metro in Dublin as well as work in other cities. They have an income stream and take it away from the central Exchequer. The EIB will provide that over a longer period.

Yesterday along with the Minister of State, Deputy Ring, I launched the Atlantic economic corridor including County Donegal which will come into it when you are finished with it a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. One of the points regarding doing work on ports - without knowing the outcome of the Brexit discussions - is that it is possible to get to the Continent from ports besides Rosslare and Dublin, rather than going to Britain. Obviously, it might be a little longer, but there are other opportunities. There are also opportunities for rail freight to move to ports if that be the case. We need to be creative in how we look at these things.

Maidir leis na cuanta agus the bóthar mór ó Chorcaigh go Luimneach and the cúrsaí traenach agus mar sin de, tithe sóisialta, I agree with this. When Deputy Micheál Martin and I were on local authorities, local authorities were always building council houses, as they were called, or social houses. They have directions to get back into this and I do not see why they should not. They got out of it for particular reasons, because it became commonplace to hive them off to housing associations and so on. Local authorities were always in a position with small staffs to build significant numbers of houses in urban and rural areas throughout the country and I hope that happens again.

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