Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Hopefully on Monday sense will prevail and there will be no appeals and we can get on with the job. It is positive news following the positive budget we have had this week.

I want to talk about rural Ireland. Deputy Fitzmaurice talked about roads and infrastructure. Two weeks ago, with the Minister, Deputy Ross, we opened the M17-M18. There are other projects in the pipeline. As well as that, we have projects that are of most benefit in the very rural areas such as the rural social scheme, the town and village renewal scheme and the CLÁR funding which is going out to the local authorities on almost a monthly basis. It is being used by the local authorities to do what the people on the ground have been asking us to do over the past ten years, which is to do the small things and do them right. It is not billions. It is creating a huge positive effect on these rural areas and towns and giving them the recognition they need.

I also welcome what the Minister, Deputy Ross, spoke about today, which is the doubling of the sports capital grants from €30 million to €60 million. It is an incredible feat and I thank him on behalf of the Independent Alliance and all the sporting organisations around the country because they will reap the benefit. Sporting organisations are the backbone of our society and they keep society going in a positive way.

We have not achieved everything in this budget but when we negotiated the programme for Government, the five members of the Independent Alliance set out an agenda for Government in conjunction with Fine Gael and other Independents. What we are doing at each budget is implementing the programme for Government. We will not do it all in one year or all in one budget. We have surprised a lot of people that we have put through our second budget in a very positive way. As I said yesterday and the day before, I look forward to working with Government colleagues to make sure we bring forward a budget next year that will be positive and will provide a belief we all need in our country and to make sure it becomes the best country in the world to live in and to raise our families in. I am proud to be part of a Government that is achieving that.

We have deficiencies in many places. The farming community is getting a €25 million increase in the ANC. The sheep grant of €25 million was brought in last year and will continue this year. They are positive things for farming. We have the introduction of an additional loan for farmers. In terms of Brexit, which is the biggest challenge we are facing, the budget introduced a loan scheme for SMEs to support them.

We all have challenges but we are facing the biggest challenge with Brexit. The difficulty with Brexit is it is very hard to quantify what the problem is because it is such a huge problem. We have to work together for team Ireland to make sure everything we can do will be done as a team to ensure that we get the best possible outcome for Ireland. In that regard, I welcome that we are increasing our diplomatic service across the world to ensure that we are promoting Ireland in new markets and places. I had the privilege of being in Canada, the USA and China on trade missions as Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works. People have a great respect for Ireland, but we need to be able to promote ourselves out there. What better way to do it than have our diplomatic services out there and to fund them in a way that they can bring back the best benefit to this country. We have had ten years of austerity. This is the first budget which is balanced, as Deputy Moran said. As well as that, it is the first step in giving some sort of recognition to the people of Ireland, who got us out of the recession. I acknowledge that. As a member of the Independent Alliance and on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Ross, the Minister of State, Deputy McGrath, Minister of State, Deputy Halligan, who cannot be here as he is on Government business abroad, and the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, I say we are privileged to be in a position to deliver for the people of Ireland. Long may it continue.

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