Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Last night I lay awake thinking about the budget announced yesterday. It is a paper budget which, with any drop of rain, will disintegrate. With the possibility of a hard Brexit, there is more than a drop of rain coming.

The budget does not provide anything for the people of Ireland, especially the hard-working people in rural areas who have more difficulties ahead of them. The Government announced yesterday that it would increase the health budget to €17.4 billion. I express my complete and utter disappointment in the Government for not providing adequately for people with dementia. They and their carers are still struggling on a daily basis, sometimes silently and painfully, owing to the lack of services and supports. The time to end this struggle is now.

What is happening to the money being allocated to the health sector? Why are all waiting lists across the country so long? Where has the money been spent? The Minister has never explained it properly to us. Why is the waiting list for cataract procedures so long? Some people in Cork are waiting up to five years and travelling all the way to Belfast as the waiting list is too long. Where has the money been spent? The waiting lists for hip and knee operations are appalling. Again, where has the money been spent? The people need to know where it is being squandered.

I am delighted that the Minister for Education and Skills is present. I welcome the €1.9 billion being invested in special education, with 400 additional special needs teachers and over 1,000 special needs assistants being hired. I heard a horror story yesterday about 100 parents at a school open evening in Cork city. All of them were looking for a place for their special needs children next year, only to be told that there was only one place available.

We all know how important special needs assistants are to the education system. We have heard so many promises from the Government in committing to increase the number of SNAs. Will it guarantee that this time it will deliver as a matter of urgency? It is vital that the children of today be given the supports they need at both primary and secondary school level. I have asked the Minister before to ensure special needs assistants will be as readily available to secondary school children as they will be to primary school children. Parents should not have to go pleading and begging that these supports b put in place for their children.

I take the opportunity to stress that the pupil-teacher ratio needs to be looked at throughout primary school classes, from junior infants through to sixth class. The ratio needs to be reduced. I would appreciate it if the Minister would clarify if this has happened in the budget.

There was mention of the capitation grant being increased. I would welcome such an increase. The Minister might clarify the amount by which it will be increased. I am on a school board of management and we are scraping to put a few quid together to pay oil, electricity and other bills, meaning that, as well as fundraising, the parents of schoolgoing children have to pay out of their own pockets. It is not good enough to have people going to beg to pay a school's oil bill.

Teaching principals are almost burnt out for what they earn. The budget was an ideal opportunity to factor in that they needed more time behind the desk, instead of trying to juggle teaching and principals' duties which will leave many burnt out not far down the road. I have spoken to many of them in the past 12 months. They are neglected and the Minister will see many early retirements among them if he does not step in.

On carbon tax, the Government took the easy way out. It put a few cent on fuel to catch the ordinary man and woman and struggling families who will be hit at the filling station. They will also be hit when buying the odd bag of coal or briquettes or trying to fill the oil tank to heat their home. Does the Minister realise what will happen? Adults and children will be wrapped in blankets on couches throughout the country because they will not be able to afford to put home heating oil in the tank. Most of the families I meet in west Cork are only putting a small amount of oil in their tanks. They cannot afford to fill it and certainly will not be able to do so after this budget.

Last night I heard a Minister say the Opposition had no other plans for dealing with our carbon footprint. I had when I made a proposal to the Taoiseach for a park and ride system in west Cork which would have taken tens of thousands of cars off the roads in west Cork, but no one up here was listening. Private operators like Damien Long in Skibbereen are going to pick up the bits and do their best to run the park and ride system from Skibbereen and Bantry which was announced last week. It is receiving significant support and, if supported, will be a game changer in west Cork. However, if the Government was interested in the environment, it would give all coach companies in Ireland a fuel rebate or even an exemption from VAT. For example, last night one coach operator had 11 coaches in Dublin from west Cork for a concert at the 3 Arena. The operator estimated that for every bus it had taken 25 cars off the road. That meant it had taken 275 cars off the road last night. This is the way to go to tackle our issues with the environment. It is a no-brainer. However, instead, the Government took the easy way out and hit the hard-pressed man and woman in the pocket at the filing station and when they bought a bag of coal or a bale of briquettes.

I called for the budget to cater for those 18 years and over with disabilities who were not given a free transport service. Throughout west Cork parents are taking these adults by car when a service could have been made available, even with the funds allocated which are being squandered.

Was appropriate funding made available for school transport? Many children from the Balineen area who are trying to attend secondary schools in Bandon have been left on the roadside. They were told last week that it was all sorted and that all 18 were to be picked up and taken from Balineen to Bandon. Everybody was happy. Now they realise it has not been sorted. Ten children were left on the roadside this week. Eight have been taken and ten left behind. What are we doing? Enniskean is a feeder school for Bandon secondary school. The parents were told that the issue had been resolved and went on social media. Everybody was patting themselves on the back. I headed off and thank God I did because I realised on Monday that that was not the case. The parents have been left in a very difficult position, with ten children left on the roadside.

The Minister said the revenue from the carbon tax would be available for the better energy warmer homes scheme. What happened to that scheme during the year? It ran out of money and the Minister was sound asleep for a couple of months when we were trying to tell him that the scheme had run out of money. It is very important for people on low incomes to allow them to have their homes insulated. We can speak about the carbon tax, but there are other ways of improving our environment that are not being tackled and the Government is taking the easy out by shoving a few cent on a litre of petrol and getting money in that way.

Obviously, there has been a budget for housing and any extra budget should always be welcomed. We discussed a rural resettlement programme at great length. Many rural communities are dying. We have lost post offices, pubs, shops and different services. Rural communities have fantastic facilities to offer. There was considerable discussion in government about rural resettlement. I know that it was done successfully in Deputy Harty's Clare constituency a number of years ago. However, I do not know if it has been factored in to this budget.

Have we factored in the fact that no basic funds have been available for social housing on islands off the coast of west Cork? My constituency includes eight beautiful islands, including Bere Island, Dursey, Whiddy, Long, Cape Clear and Sherkin. I have probably forgotten one or two of them. They are not forgotten when I get back to west Cork, but they have been forgotten by the Government because there is no social housing policy for them. New families cannot live on the islands and have to move to the mainland if they want to find housing.

I do not want to dwell too much on the fishing and farming sectors because I spoke about them last night. I know that many issues are being dealt with because of Brexit. The beef crisis needed some movement in the budget, but it did not get it. It was bad news. There was a proposal to provide €200 per suckler cow. Deputy Harty spoke about farmers. I stood with them in Bandon and at the factory in Cahir with Deputy Mattie McGrath. We stood by them the entire time. We did not just visit them, we stood by them for the length of time they were there because we knew what they were suffering, but the Government forgot what they were suffering.

I see that there is a budget of €19 million for the fishery sector. The Minister, Deputy McHugh, is from County Donegal. If Brexit happens as it appears it will, the fact that we have handed away our fishing rights all over the country will be a problem. We have continued to do this for decades, even recently in the North with the six nautical mile zone. If it happens, €19 million will be a drop in the ocean for the hard-working men who have worked tirelessly in the most difficult of circumstances. Some of the boats will be parked and fishermen will lose their livelihoods that they have worked hard for all their lives.

I hope the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund is factored in to the budget.

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