Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The first thing we want to do is make sure we continue the economic progress the country has seen. In the very first instance we have the capital which is provided by the Government. We have taxpayers who are paying tax and because it has been managed properly, we are now in a position to invest in services, contrary to the position inherited by the previous Government three or four years ago when there was no money available to spend on services.

We have come full circle and are investing again in the services people need. We can do this because we have an economy that is growing and developing and because there is capital to invest. There has been substantial investment by the Government in the development of public services, including health and education services and housing, and that will continue next year. We have prioritised large budgets for the provision of housing and health services. There are many challenges, but we have the capital to invest which was not available previously and we will invest it in a prudent way. We will also balance the books, which is important because we want to be able to continue to substantially increase budgets in the years ahead.

As I said, we will continue to invest wisely in capital projects that are needed in the provision of services; in targeted income supports, as was done in budget 2017, as well as in supporting the vulnerable and increasing the budget substantially for disability and mental health services. We will also continue the process of tax reductions. There would not be money to spend on services if people were not going out to work. It is the people's money that we are spending on all of these services and they also deserve support. As I said, we will continue the process of tax reductions. We will also help businesses and families to plan for the future, which is important.

We will set out our key budgetary objectives and publish a national planning framework and the ten-year capital plan, all of which will give certainty and the people can have confidence that the investment in services will continue. That will be the focus. It will be comprehensive and involve a 4.5% increase in the capital budget for next year which will lead to the investment people want to see in all public services. We will favour expenditure increases over tax reductions by at least a ratio of 2:1 in line with A Programme for a Partnership Government and the confidence and supply arrangement.

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