Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Tá sé an-tábhachtach go bhfuil an t-am seo faighte againn. It is very important we have this debate and can participate fully in it. It is really important to note that since 2011, over 380,000 people who were unemployed have joined the workforce. They and their families are in a much better position as a result of the improving economic situation and the work ethic, confidence and investment policies of our Government and commercial and business people. It is hugely important that the growth continues. This will be the first time in at least a decade that our budget will be balanced. It speaks a lot about the sensible, practical, pragmatic, business-like way this Government is running the country. I acknowledge the support the main Opposition party has given in the context of the policies we are pursuing, particularly in this budget and in health and housing.

One measures a society by how it looks after those who are weakest. As a result of the improvement in our economic position and the increased number of people working, it is right and proper that social welfare payments have increased, particularly the €5 per week. Pensioners, people with disabilities, widows and so on will appreciate this contribution their income. They cannot work and they may never work again. They cannot participate in the growing economy where incomes are growing by about 4% per annum. The restoration of the Christmas bonus to 100% is hugely important for people on lower incomes at a most difficult time. Christmas is a hugely important family time and people will be able to have a successful Christmas with relatives and friends.

For those who are ill, the prescription charges have been reduced. The €10 decrease in the monthly payment for the drug payment scheme is a continuing reduction in a charge which is, in my view, a tax on sickness. Hopefully, it will ultimately be done away with. One can earn €25 more per week and qualify for a GP visit card if one is under the new threshold. It is hugely important for people who are working but who cannot benefit. It is a huge advantage to them.

There has been significant investment in the future of our young people and in education. There will be more than 1,300 new teachers and 950 additional special needs assistants. These are hugely beneficial to our society and to students who are at disadvantage.

Climate change is happening. Tonight the biggest storm in over 100 years will strike Florida and the coast of America. We will have a storm this weekend. We must prepare for climate change and step up to the mark. The Oireachtas committee, which has been established with the consent of all parties, must do as we do on other issues. We must put together a programme of improvements and establish how to benchmark improvements in climate change, make sure houses are more efficient, change our transport policy and incentivise those reducing their use of energy and penalise those who use too much. That is the way forward. It can only be done in an organised way by the Oireachtas stepping forward. It is a very difficult debate for many people, and I understand that. We must step forward together as an Oireachtas with planned and thought-through policies that people are aware of and which we can debate and discuss. That is hugely important.

In terms of the health budget, I am concerned about the Health Service Executive. In our office, we call it the hide and seek executive because it hides and it is not accountable. There is no transparency. It seeks and gets more funding. It is hugely important the Government holds the HSE to account in terms of increased transparency and increased accountability about how it is spending the money and where it is spending it. It must get at the bureaucracy that controls everything and which leads us into many crises without the political system being fully alerted to or aware of them.

I welcome the fact this is the biggest housing budget in the history of the State. It means there will be at least 10,000 more social housing units next year. Over the next ten years, we intend to build over 150,000 social housing units, which will significantly address the deficit that is there. I welcome the commitment to the Land Development Agency. I welcome the fact that all State, local government and semi-State-owned land is being, and will be, made available and will be actively pursued in terms of getting houses built and getting services to them. That is absolutely the way forward. I acknowledge that homelessness is a hugely difficult problem, particularly for those who are homeless. The work that is ongoing by our voluntary agencies, such as the Peter McVerry Trust, is hugely important. We need them more and more and we need to support them in what they are doing.

The last point I will make is about landlords. About two years ago landlords in my town were getting €700 or €800 a month for their properties. Now they are getting double that. Landlords have never had it so good in terms of the incomes they are charging. They have never been as well off, with incentives to continue as landlords. There are incentives to repair properties. I do not gainsay that. I will make a point about rent pressure zones and empty or abandoned homes that have been vacant for a significant period of time. Social justice demands that homes in rent pressure zones that lie empty for significant periods of time, which are not principal private residences and where the owner is not out of the country, sick or in a nursing home should be taxed if they are not made available. Fine Gael, in government, must step up to the mark on this issue. The people want this. In my town, there are homes that have been vacant for more than two or three years. They could and must be put into commission. In County Louth, the county council has taken over 92 empty homes which were abandoned or left vacant in the past year.

It has compulsorily purchased them and at an average cost of less than €100,000 per home it is putting families into them as I speak. That is the way forward. It is making use of scarce resources needed in a time of great difficulty for families. On the one hand, people who are homeless are living in hostels and in very difficult circumstances, or in homes that are overcrowded while on the other, there is the scandal of long-term empty properties. That must end and this Government must bring in this tax. There is support in the community for it. I have discussed it with voluntary agencies and they believe that is part of the way forward. This Government cannot have landlords with all carrot and no stick. We must use the stick to make sure every property is occupied.

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