Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Project Ireland 2040, which was launched by the Taoiseach on Friday last.

For me, in reading the document, the following foreword said it all: "We now have the opportunity to shape a new model of the physical development of our country which can drive substantial progress in economic, social and environmental terms as an island in a European and in a global context." This line sums up for me what this project is all about.

It is about building a future, a vision for our children and their children. I believe it is the first time a plan such as this has been announced, committing as it does to building up our infrastructure and public services. However, the main players in this are the people - all of us here, our children and their children - and the impact this forward-thinking will have on their lives in the future. This is a very significant announcement. It is a €116 billion plan, a roadmap for Ireland catering for a larger population, an extra 1 million people. We want to take different approaches to future planning by focusing not only on bricks and mortar, but also on social, economic and cultural development. We are investing in our towns, cities and, above all, rural communities.

Investment in our health service is a key element of the plan, and I am very supportive of the plans to improve and enhance our health service. Capital funding for our health service will be 165% higher for the next ten years than it was in the previous ten years. Through these investments, together with the implementation of Sláintecare, we have a solid plan to create a better future for our children and a better health service for all. A major programme of investment in health infrastructure will be guided by a recognition that the best health outcomes can be achieved by directing our health services towards primary and community care, where people's needs can be met locally, in order that our local people can have high-quality acute and emergency care provided to them in appropriate hospital settings. This will include completion of our national hospital projects already under way.

The development of our national children's hospital at St. James's Hospital is a landmark project which will deliver a state-of-the-art children's hospital for the country in 2022. I fully support this project and as I travel by it daily I see the real progress that has been made on the ground in recent months and the significant impact it will have on the area. I also welcome the plan to relocate the Coombe maternity hospital from its original site to St. James's Hospital, which will bring together adult, paediatric and maternity services all on the one campus. We have long awaited this, particularly our maternity services.

We will deliver 2,600 more acute hospital beds, which will make a real difference to patients and address in some way the overcrowding in our hospitals. In addition, we will deliver 4,500 new community beds, which will provide both long and short-term beds for the elderly. This is significant as in recent weeks many Deputies on both sides of the House have raised the significant problems faced by many elderly people trying to access long-term care beds and respite care.

There is a commitment to improve our mental health services with investment in a 120-bed hospital in Portrane, north Dublin, as well as a ten-bed child and adolescent mental health unit, a ten-bed mental health intellectual disability unit and additional acute mental health units across the country. I know the Ministers of State, Deputies Jim Daly and Finian McGrath, have warmly welcomed the opportunities that this could create for people with disabilities and older people into the future. We will also see construction at the National Rehabilitation Hospital of a 120-bed facility, which is badly needed to support services provided at the hospital. This plan will provide for the development of cancer facilities in line with the national cancer strategy, which is very important.

In my own brief, I look forward to continued commitment on our drugs strategy, Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery, and the Healthy Ireland initiative, which is making great progress in promoting a healthier and more active lifestyle for people young and old.

We in government are committed to supporting families. Much work has already been started in this area, such as the roll-out of the affordable child care schemes, investment in early years education, and the provision of parental leave. I hope this will continue. I also welcome the €8.4 billion investment in primary and post-primary schools, which my colleagues have spoken about. Here in Dublin, we are seeing a significant commitment to our transport network. I hope, if I am around in 20 years' time - at my age, I doubt I will be - to continue travelling as a senior citizen, with my free travel card, on the new Luas lines, underground and DART.

I also welcome the commitment to improve housing stock and availability under a new €2 billion urban regeneration and development fund. I continue to have people come into my office daily looking for both social and private housing. I hope in the future we can consider all people for housing and not just circle the wagons around one specific kind of housing because many people in this country right across the board need housing.

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