Maria Bailey (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes. I wish to share time with Deputy Durkan. The indicators we use to measure our economic growth such as GDP or GNI* are going in the right direction. Crucially, there are more people at work today than ever before. An additional 62,100 jobs have been created this year alone and while full employment has yet to be achieved, we are well on the way to reaching our target. Fine Gael is committed to ensuring the jobs created this year and those that will be created next year will offer job security.

The greatest casualty of the crash was the people. The damage of that crash is still felt the length and breadth of our island. I never want our country but, most importantly, the future of the next generation to become a casualty of the previous bad politics we saw in this House. The Minister is clear that the next budget will not be a giveaway budget. We will not be putting the fate of our country at risk for auction politics or political gain.

The economic growth we are experiencing, while very much welcomed, has caused some positive issues with respect to our infrastructure, which is not at a rate that we can keep up with our economic growth. That is as a result of underinvestment of previous Governments where spending was focused on receiving votes rather than what was in the best interest of a sustainable economy and improving living standards.

Housing and planning is an area on which I am focused and about which I am passionate, but housing cannot be looked at in isolation. We all need to plan for the future of our country. The lack of infrastructure is a contributing factor to our current housing crisis.

The Government has developed Ireland 2040 to ensure the lack of infrastructure is addressed now but also to safeguard infrastructure development into the future and create the environment where opportunity, growth and inclusive communities can flourish. Ireland 2040 is the first national development plan to be put on a statutory footing, giving it the certainty and financial package it justly deserves. Budget 2019 will see the first allocation of funding under Ireland 2040 of €1.5 billion in capital expenditure which has been committed. Ireland 2040 will build on the foundations Rebuilding Ireland has generated; it builds on a recovered residential construction industry that collapsed by 90% during the bust. The Government is committed to addressing the housing crisis. We all have a responsibility as legislators to safeguard the future of our people and to protect the most vulnerable in society.

Since 2016 between current and capital spending housing has received an increase in funding of 125%, from just over €800 million to €1.8 billion. Budget 2018 provided €1.06 billion in Exchequer funds for new builds and acquisitions. That represents a 145% increase of capital spending on housing since 2016. I welcome those figures and all indicators that are moving in the right direction. I heard previous speakers say we are in danger of overheating the economy or the construction sector. I remind people that at the height of the boom our GDP with respect to construction was over 20%, well into the mid-20s in percentage terms; it is currently 7% to 8% and it is not expected to go above 9% next year.

I would like to address some of the criticisms that were made of the Government that are unwarranted as the alternative suggestions and policies that are coming forward have not been tested or thought through. The Government will miss its medium-term objectives due to technical reasons and the positive rate of growth in the economy, but it must also be recognised that the total corporation tax intake represents 16.5% of GDP. We are determined to hit that target next year to ensure we avoid the mistakes of previous Governments.

An insurance policy against future downturns in the economy is badly needed. The rainy day fund is that insurance policy. There will be an initial €1.5 billion investment and subsequent €500 million investments for the next three years at least. The rainy day fund would be used in the event of a downturn to ensure we can continue to build infrastructure, to prevent a future shortfall and to offset some of the adverse weather conditions that might come our way. Representatives from the ESRI said at a meeting of the Committee on Budgetary Oversight last week that if we had had a rainy day fund in 2008 to 2009 we could have used it to continue to build social housing which would have both prevented the collapse somewhat of the construction industry and have alleviated some of the challenges we face today in our deficit in social housing building from 2008 onwards. I find it bizarre that Members are opposed to the creation of the rainy day fund, a measure that could be used to ease the effects of a possible downturn and prevent the level of harsh cuts of the past.

Calls for us both to borrow and spend today are unhelpful. The Government is borrowing a small amount to invest in infrastructure. In essence, we are borrowing to invest in our future. We are not in the business of borrowing for electoral promises today, which would be a mistake. We cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of the past.

Fine Gael has historically been elected to government to fix a broken country. Today we have fixed a broken economy. The recovery is structurally under way and more still has to be done. With the looming threat of Brexit and perhaps of an election, we will not go down the historic path of a giveaway budget for political gain. In fact, we will go down the road less travelled and put our country, not our party, first.

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