Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Government has listened to the people, continued its commitments and invested in areas that most need investment. We want to improve the lives of older people, share the benefits of the return to economic growth by improving the lives of those in their later years. We want to keep people living in independently in their homes. We are increasing funding for home adaptation grants, which will allow up to 11,000 grants to be provided to support older people to remain at home for much longer. I regularly visit elderly people, many of whom believe they will not be discharged from hospital once they are admitted. We want them to realise that hospitals do a fantastic job and that their goal is to have older people return home as soon as possible after admission. The Government has made a commitment to achieving this.

The introduction of a new telephone support allowance will benefit more than 124,000 people. Telephones are extremely important for older people as they allow them to keep in touch with families and friends. Elderly people living alone have the comfort of knowing that if someone enters their home or something happens at night, they can press their alarm and have a friend, neighbour or garda quickly come to their house.

The extension of the period in which fuel allowance is provided to 27 weeks, commencing in the first week of April 2018, is good news for older people who will receive assistance in buying fuel for several more weeks each year. The measure will benefit more than 375,000 households, particularly pensioners, widowers, people with disabilities, lone parents and long-term jobseekers.

A further €5 increase in the State pension will come into effect in March 2018 and the Government has committed to further increases in the years ahead. Additional investment of €10 million in the free travel scheme is designed to encourage more operators to join the scheme and extend its coverage to remote areas. More bus operators are entering the market in my home county of Louth, which gives people living in rural areas an opportunity to visit urban areas.

The budget also provides for a reduction in prescription charges for all medical card holders aged under 70 years from €2.50 to €2 per item, with the monthly cap reduced from €25 to €20. The Government has also provided support to enable workers aged 50 years and over to find employment. Employers will receive a subsidy of €10,000 for employing a long-term unemployed person aged over 50 years. I would not like people to be considered unemployable once they reach the age of 50. The Government has done as much as possible to encourage employers to take on people aged 50 years and over.

The Government is also tackling housing and homelessness problems through the provision of a total investment of €1.83 billion for housing in 2018. Next year, local authorities and approved housing bodies will build 3,800 new social houses. The social housing current expenditure programme will deliver an additional 4,000 social houses next year. Funding for the housing assistance payment will be increased by €149 million in 2018, which will enable an additional 17,000 households to be supported and accommodated. Coming from Dundalk in County Louth, I know how important it is for people to get onto the housing ladder. The Government is trying its best to tackle the rental crisis. We must act soon to address the shortage of houses.

Funding for homeless services will increase by more than €116 million and an additional €500 million for the direct building programme will result in an additional 3,000 new social houses being built by 2021. The addition of Exchequer funding of €75 million for the local infrastructure housing activation fund will support local authorities in delivering affordable housing. The housing needs of 25,500 households will be met in 2018, which means an additional 98 households will have their housing needs met every day next year. Everyone deserves a fair chance and equality of opportunity. A safety net should be available to those who need it.

People tend to forget that many families split up as a result of the economic crisis of the past ten years and this has contributed to the housing crisis because accommodation is often not available for a spouse who leaves home. It is important to look after both parties when a family splits up. When a man leaves home, he will often find it very difficult to get onto the housing list and secure a two or three bedroom house which would allow him to give his former partner a hand looking after their children. Local authorities could do many things in this area. The housing crisis is not helping anybody.

I welcome the funding provided to recruit more than 1,000 special needs assistants by September 2018, bringing the total number of special needs assistants to more than 15,000. Not a week goes by that someone does not visit my office in Dundalk seeking help to secure a special needs assistant for a child with a disability. The provision of 1,000 new posts is, therefore, very welcome. The funding provided to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio in primary schools is also welcome, as is the increase in funding for breakfast clubs in DEIS schools.

Budget 2018 will also help working families. The reductions in the lowest rate of universal social charge, USC, from 2.5% to 2% and the 5% rate to 4.7% are welcome. The income threshold for the higher rate of income tax will increase by €750. The entry point for a single earner will increase from €33,800 to €34,550. The combined effect of the USC and income taxation measures will be to increase the annual income of an average family with two incomes by between €500 and €600. Both partners need to be in employment if a family is to get onto the first step of the housing ladder and it is important that we look after this group of people.

The increases in the earnings disregard for one-parent family payments and jobseeker's transitional scheme to €20 per week and in the weekly rate of the qualified child payment by €2 per week are welcome measures. The preschool programme is being extended to ensure preschool children are entitled to two full years of preschool services. This measure will benefit approximately 127,000 children and save families approximately €4,000 over the two years of a preschool programme.

In health, the recruitment of an additional 1,800 staff in front-line services across the acute, mental health, disability, primary care and community sectors is very welcome, as is the increase by €35 million in mental health funding in 2018. The Government has committed to further increasing funding by a €5 million in 2019. In addition, €90 million has been allocated to improve access to hospitals for patients. To ensure we have the ability to help the most vulnerable children and their families, the allocation to Tusla will increase by more than €40 million in 2018, bringing the agency's total allocation to slightly less than €754 million.

The Government is ensuring that all parts of the country have an equal opportunity to share in economic growth and prosperity. A sum of €35 million has been made available for the Leader programme and funding for the town and village renewal scheme has been increased by €3 million to €15 million. A further €10 million has been allocated to local improvement schemes. This is badly needed investment and I wish the Government would provide much more for this scheme.

The community services programme, for which €40 million has been allocated, will move to the Department of Rural and Community Development. In addition, the Government has increased funding for the programme of peace and reconciliation, PEACE IV, by €2.9 million, bringing total funding for the programme to €3.7 million.

In tackling crime, the Government has provided further resources to allow for the recruitment of an additional 800 gardaí in 2018. A further 500 civilian staff will be hired to enable gardaí to move from desk work. When one considers that Templemore College was closed only a few years ago and many gardaí were retiring, this is a major boost. While it would be difficult to recruit and train more than 800 gardaí per annum, I would welcome a decision to increase annual recruitment to 1,000 or 1,200 new gardaí. The visibility of gardaí on the beat and in patrol cars, especially at night, is extremely important. The recruitment of 500 more civilian staff in the Garda is excellent because civilians are well capable of doing desk work and this will allow gardaí to be out on the beat where they should be.

I also welcome the increase of €64 million for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, bringing total Exchequer funding for agriculture to more than €1 billion in 2018. This funding will support our largest indigenous industry and strengthen the agriculture sector's ability to meet the challenges of Brexit.

The Minister will also bring forward a €15 million package in response to Brexit. A further €25 million has been provided for a Brexit loan scheme for the agrifood sector. Many people do not realise that the agriculture sector has done a fantastic job over the past ten years to help Ireland out. Exports of food and other agricultural products have kept this country going in recent years. Under the Brexit loan scheme, up to €300 million will be made available at a competitive rate to help businesses with their short-term working capital needs. This will be of assistance to Border towns, including my home town of Dundalk. People are very concerned about what is happening with regard to Brexit. Ireland and the EU are doing their best. The problem seems to be with the UK. Its right hand does not seem to know what its left hand is doing. We are one of the 27 remaining member states. It is important that we work together as part of a team. I hope the UK will sort out its problems as soon as possible.

I welcome the retention of the special 9% VAT rate for the tourism sector, especially in the run-up to Brexit. I also welcome one or two of the increases that were announced on budget day, such as the increase from 13.5% to 23% in the rate of VAT that applies to sunbed services. This measure, which will take effect from 1 January next, is being introduced in recognition of the clear evidence of the link between sunbed use and skin cancer. I encourage the parents of young children to keep them away from sunbeds. The last thing parents want for their children is for them to get cancer. I also welcome the increase of 50 cent in the price of a packet of cigarettes. I am pleased that our corporation tax rate will remain at 12.5%. As a native of Dundalk, which was affected by the recession, I know the town would have been in serious trouble without foreign direct investment. Many of the jobs that have come to the Dundalk area in recent years are supported by foreign direct investment, which is very welcome. People are worried about what is going to happen with the rates of PRSI and USC. I am glad that the Minister intends to establish a working group next year to consider whether a process can be put in place to facilitate the amalgamation of these charges.

I thank the Chair for letting me speak this morning. I congratulate the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, on doing a fantastic job in budget 2018. While I think it was a fair and prudent budget, I would like more money to be found to help people. This might be possible in budget 2019. The Minister for Finance is doing a good housekeeping job. This Government and its predecessor have learned from past experience. It is important for it to keep doing the housekeeping properly. I congratulate the Minister again on the good job he did with the recent budget.

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