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

I apologise for missing the contributions of Deputies Calleary and Jonathan O'Brien and some of that of Deputy Burton but I have been updated on what was said. Deputies Calleary and Jonathan O'Brien queried whether this is the correct way to handle such legislation. This is how such legislation is always handled and it is done at this time of the year. That is because it is only at this point in the year that the issue of any Supplementary Estimates is settled. All Estimates for all Departments, including Supplementary Estimates, have been scrutinised by the relevant committees. They have gone through committees and we are now seeking to give legal effect to the spending of that money this year and the passage of the Bill then allows the spending of money for next year, which is crucial. It takes place now because it is only at this point in the parliamentary cycle that we are clear on the nature and magnitude of the Supplementary Estimates. For example, any funding that may be required in the areas of housing and health can only be dealt with at this time. It happens at this point every year. Everything has already gone through the relevant committees.

I acknowledge it is a very high level of spending. In many areas, we are returning to the level of spending we had at other points in our history. It would be great if Members, in particular Deputy Mattie McGrath, could give recognition to the very fine things that are happening in our country and which are enabled by the spending of this money.

In recent weeks, for example, we have seen the great success of young Irish students in numeracy and literacy. We have also seen that life expectancy in Ireland has increased because of breakthroughs in how we handle ageing, heart disease and lifestyle changes. These are just some examples of all the very positive things that have been enabled by successive Governments - obviously, I point to this one and that which preceded it - in spending money to try to make progress on the path taken by our State.

This is not to say that we do not have difficulties; of course we do. However, the acknowledgement that we have significant and severe difficulties should not come at the expense of failing to say that we are making progress in some areas, because we are doing so. Yes, we have difficulties in respect of housing and our health service, but there is also the fact that housing output will increase next year. The Government of which Deputy Mattie McGrath was a member allowed social housing to be delivered by the private sector. When the private sector then completely collapsed, we did not have the capacity to deliver that housing. We are now rebuilding that supply. I see this, for example, on the northside of Dublin. Last week, for example, I witnessed the launch of Broome Lodge, 80 new units of sheltered accommodation available in the heart of Dublin 7. Similarly, we will start making progress tomorrow on St. Mary's Mansions on Railway Street and Foley Street, a housing project that has been crying out for support for a decade. We all wish this could have happened sooner, but the work is under way and we are now putting a huge amount of resources into housing and into efforts to ensure we make progress on the commitment that everyone in this House has - and which the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, certainly has - to tackling this issue.

Regarding health, it is a fact that amid many of the difficulties to which Deputies have referred, waiting lists in a number of key areas are beginning to decline. It is also a fact that while the recent patient survey published by the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, this week pointed to things we want to change, it also pointed to things that are happening in our hospitals and primary care centres that are good for patients and that deliver the kind of support and health care they need at vulnerable points in their lives. We are seeking authorisation for a very large amount of money; the amount that would be authorised by the Bill is €46.8 billion, which is an increase of almost 5% on the sum authorised in respect of the Appropriation Act 2016. In recent years, we have increased expenditure by 15% to respond to the issues we have. We have accompanied this through reform of our public services. An example in this regard is the 2020 public service reform plan I launched earlier in the week. Passing the Bill would give legal authorisation to spend money this year. Crucially, this would then allow us to spend money from 1 January to meet our citizens' needs.

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