Frank O'Rourke (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the budget and the Finance Bill.

I want to acknowledge the positives in the budget. There are also some negatives, however, and some missed opportunities. I will deal with this in a constructive rather than in a negative way so as to highlight the remaining issues and concerns that all of us meet on a daily basis in our constituencies and clinics. I also want to acknowledge Fianna Fáil's positive role and input in ensuring that fairness be applied in this budget and that it helps everyone across society, particularly those who are more vulnerable and more in need. This role came about through the confidence and supply agreement and proved very important in both the 2017 and 2018 budgets. I further acknowledge the work of my colleagues, Deputies Michael McGrath and Dara Calleary, in this regard. When the electorate threw up the result that it did last year, matters were left very uncertain for some time. Fianna Fáil, however, did the responsible thing at the time in supporting and facilitating Fine Gael's minority-led Government rather than putting the reputation of the country at risk. We were at a very vulnerable point at that stage and had just come through a very difficult period, so people both in Ireland and looking in from abroad needed to see maturity and common sense prevail. It is very important that Fianna Fáil's role in facilitating this minority-led Government be acknowledged positively. We have been able to play a positive role and make a positive contribution both to this and to the last budget in the areas of concern to the people who gave us our mandate.

One area on which we must focus is the cost of living. I will focus on two areas in this regard: motor insurance and variable mortgage interest rates. There has been a missed opportunity here. We need to be stronger in these areas so as to drive down the cost of living. In driving down this cost we can help people and families, give them more money to spend, reduce the pressure and give them spending ability in their local communities which in turn helps the local, regional and national economy. This is very important. Motor insurance is, as we know, a huge issue and premiums have increased by 30%, 40% and 50%. The recent figures from the CSO show a slight decrease but this has not been felt by many and certainly not at the scale that is needed. It is important that we implement the recommendations from the joint Oireachtas committee so that premiums can remain static in the first instance and then be driven down. CSO figures also show that insurance claims have collectively fallen in the last 18 months to two years, meaning that there is no real reason why premiums should be increasing at the rate that they are. This is particularly true where individuals and families have had no change in their circumstances, be it with regard to a motor, home or business policy. There is no justification for this. It is wrong. I spoke about it at the Committee of Public Accounts and I called for it to be investigated. That investigation is ongoing. It is fundamentally wrong to put people under pressure unnecessarily.

On the issue of the variable mortgage interest rates, I worked with my colleague, Deputy Michael McGrath, to bring forward a very good Bill which is now on Committee Stage. The Bill looks to strengthen and give powers to the Central Bank to enforce and ensure that the commercial banks fall in line with the rest of Europe on this matter. We are currently at interest rates which are 1.5% to 1.8% higher than the rest of Europe, which is completely unacceptable. These rates result in a €200,000 mortgage netting €250 a month, money that could be back in people's pockets so as to give them a greater spend. Bringing the areas of motor insurance and variable mortgage interest rates in line with where they should be would give the average family an extra €300 a month, thus relieving a lot of pressure. We need to focus on ensuring that we can actually deliver in these areas as this would bring immediate relief to the constant pressures stretching families at the moment.

Some €4.3 billion has been announced for the capital investment plan for infrastructure. Is this an announcement of a figure that has already been allocated and identified for projects? I hear the same projects being mentioned again and that concerns me. These are very worthy and necessary projects, such as the Sallins bypass in my own constituency, and many other examples. I acknowledge that this is positive. However, as this announcement has been made a number of times in 2017, I wonder whether this new funding will be going into projects already announced, or whether additional funding will be put into new projects. This is of major importance if we are to develop and help all of our constituencies, and the country as a whole, into the future.

We need to bring major capital investments in road infrastructure. The N3, N4 and N5, for example, major roads connecting the north west with Dublin, need investment. This will translate in turn into foreign direct investment, FDI, relocating into these areas thus moving companies out of Dublin, giving them other opportunities to bring employment into these areas and, importantly, helping those economies. In delivering the road network we create employment and a feel-good factor. It is also a matter of carrying out much-needed upgrade work. We need to build on the excellent work done in the past on investing in our infrastructure. This infrastructure has been left static for years now. With borrowing currently at such a low level and interest rates at virtually 0%, we need to capitalise on the situation and invest in our road network so as to open up all of these areas to employment, industry, and tourism, which is also hugely important to the national economy. We need to look at the situation critically and start serious investment in these areas.

Public transport is also an issue. Dublin is virtually a car-free zone because of the level of regulations and guidelines introduced to assist with public transport. Public transport is being developed and used a lot more in my own constituency of Kildare North, provided the infrastructure is put in place. The Dublin Bus route coming into from Dublin to Celbridge, Lexlip and Maynooth needs more capacity. It is currently at full capacity, so much so that in the morning buses often have to pass by bus-stops without picking up passengers. This area needs investment. The Bus Éireann routes 115 and 120 out to Kilcock and Clane are also at capacity and need further infrastructure and investment. The trains on the Kilcock and on the Hazelhatch-Sallins lines are also at full capacity and need further investment to ensure that members of the public who want to use public transport can be facilitated in doing so, and do not have to turn up for services unable to cater for them. If we are serious about promoting public transport then we must continue with aggressive investment to ensure that people are taken out of their cars and that there are services there for them to avail of. The services are there but they need to be extended and expanded so as to offer greater capacity.

With regard to localised infrastructure, we are currently depending on the local infrastructure housing activation fund, LIHAF, which comes under the Minister of State's own remit. This is an excellent scheme and will open things up for all of the right reasons. I have been getting feedback from local authorities, however, that the process from sign-off to actual delivery is extremely slow. There are different reasons for this, from paperwork to the various phases that have to be worked through. For these reasons, LIHAF might not deliver in the way it was expected to. I am more than happy to engage with both the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Murphy, on this matter, which I also raised with them last week.

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