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

When I use a word or phrase such as "infrastructure", I always accompany it with an acknowledgement that we are talking about homes, schools and the overhaul of facilities that in many cases do not meet the needs of our citizens. I am crystal clear that behind technical phrases such as "public capital expenditure" and "where we are as a percentage of national income" is the reality that we have families who need homes and investment that needs to be made in many parts of our country. That is the reason we are making the increase in capital expenditure the Deputy has acknowledged. He can make the case that we should increase it more, as indeed he is doing, and it is obviously a legitimate case to make. My view is that we can reach a point at which we can deliver more things more quickly if those parts of the economy upon which we depend to build homes - and we will begin to build even more homes ourselves directly, as the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, has acknowledged - have confidence that the levels of expenditure I am outlining can be consistently held for a number of years. That will give companies, local authorities and banks, as well as other sources of investment, confidence that in the future money will be available for which they can plan. That is what we are looking to do. As for the approaching budget, while I still have a lot of work to do dealing with spending Departments regarding deciding what the budget will look like, I expect that the percentage increase in capital expenditure that will be seen at the end of this budget will be significantly ahead of the increase in current expenditure. The reason for that will be the desire to respond next year to the many difficulties I know people have.

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