Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The background to yesterdays budget is unprecedented and never before in our lifetime have we faced such challenges. This time last year we could not have imagined the situation we face today. I have always said I will support this Government when I feel it is doing the correct thing but I will not support it when I feel it is not.

The Government is faced with a very challenging situation. From an economic perspective we face two enormous challenges, Covid and Brexit and I am pleased that the budget is framed mainly around them. As spokesperson for tourism, arts, culture, Gaeltacht and sport for the Regional Independent Group I am pleased that the devastating effect of Covid was recognised in yesterday's budget. The tourism and hospitality sector directly employed more than 260,000 people pre-Covid. Those jobs were spread throughout the country and were of enormous benefit to the many towns and villages like Dundalk and Carlingford. I welcome the decision to set aside €55 million for a tourism business support scheme and €5 million for tourism product development. I urge the Minister to ensure that these supports are available immediately for the many businesses directly affected. I would not like to see a situation whereby the supports are in place but access to them is slow and cumbersome.

Covid has had a devastating effect on the arts sector. Many venues throughout the country lie empty which has affected both the artists and those businesses that provided many services to the venues and artists. As such, I welcome the allocation of €50 million in live entertainment supports and the increase in funding for the Arts Council to €130 million. This sector needs our support to get it back up and running and while the support announced yesterday is welcomed this sector will need additional supports the longer this pandemic stays with us.

I am chairman of the Louth GAA county board. I know first hand the effects Covid has had on our communities and have seen the heroic efforts of our GAA clubs to support those most vulnerable during this crisis. Many clubs in Louth provided the most vulnerable with basic essential services during the lockdown, collecting their grocery shopping, collecting essential medicines and many other vital supports. We must recognise the service that these clubs provided and now support those same clubs which in a lot of cases in financial difficulty. I welcome the Minister's announcement of an additional €36 million in funding for Sport Ireland and €7 million for large scale sports infrastructure. In Louth, the whole GAA family is working tremendously hard to deliver a new county ground in Dundalk. This is an extremely important project for Louth GAA and one that I expect the Government will help us get over the line.

Sport plays a vital part in the lives of many people both young and old. It is a vital outlet for the those still lucky enough to be able to participate in it from both a mental and physical point of view. Sport plays a vital role in the mental well being of those who participate. I have seen this over the years in my time as a player, manager and chairman. Sport is also a vital social outlet for those who enjoy going to matches, with the familiar tradition of heading off to the match, meeting up with friends and foes and the robust discussions that take place prior during and after the match.

All of this has unfortunately disappeared this year. The Government must do all in its power to ensure that sporting events and activities can be resumed as quickly as possible when it is safe to do so.

The hospitality sector will welcome the VAT reduction from 13.5% to 9% but what benefit is this to businesses which are forced to close? If a business is closed it will get no benefit from a VAT reduction, even if other schemes announced yesterday like the tourism support scheme will help those businesses who are forced to close. The tourism sector has always relied heavily on the overseas visitor and as we in Louth have seen ourselves but this year we have seen a lot more people stay in this country. This was one of the few good things to emerge from this terrible pandemic. I want the Government to build on this and put in place measures that will support holidaying in Ireland. The tax credit announced earlier in the year is simply not workable. It is too cumbersome and has too much red tape. We need a simpler solution and money in peoples hands to be used to holiday here is one. We must make it easy to use and accessible. The was a very successful scheme in the North where food had a 50% price reduction on certain days and up to a certain price. We should consider something like this.

Yesterday the Minister said that our experience of Covid-19 has reminded us all that our health service is a core public good, important not only for medical services but a bedrock of the nations social and economic well-being. I fully agree. Many Governments have tried to grasp the challenges of the health service and many have failed. It is now time to develop and implement Sláintecare. We have seen time and again that throwing money at a problem will not solve it. From dealing with the issue of the Louth County Hospital in Dundalk, I know we could benefit by increasing services in this hospital which is a great facility and should be used more. It would take very little expenditure to increase the services in the hospital but the benefits to the local community would be immense. I have spoken to the Taoiseach about this and I believe he sees the benefit.

One area in yesterday's announcement needs more attention. An additional €38 million will be available to implement new measures under the Sharing the Vision, our national mental health strategy. Mental health needs our full attention right now, particularly for our younger and older generations. If a person's mental health is not right then life for him or her can become unbearable. There are so many pressures on the younger generation and they need our support. It is important that we help them build their resilience so that they can manage the many challenges they will face, and well-being has a major role to play in this.

While I support the additional funds being made available, I hope that these funds will be used in a way that gives the taxpayer full value for money. During this pandemic we have heard much about how the workplace has needed to change and we have seen this very clearly in the number of people who have had to work from home. This is a positive thing but only if the right measures are put in place. If a person needs to work from home, he or she must have an environment that is right for him or her. Many people who have been forced to work from home are simply working in a spare bedroom and even from the kitchen table. This is not sustainable long term. For working from home to be successful several things must in place, including dedicated space in the home for work and fast and reliable broadband. If these two things are in place then working from home could become the new normal. Yesterday the Government missed an opportunity to help these workers. There should be an incentive scheme in place for workers to convert a part of their home for work purposes, perhaps in a tax credit or similar. It looks like this pandemic will be here for the foreseeable future and now is the time to support those workers who can work from home. The opportunities this offers include less traffic on the roads, less pressure on public transport, and people having the opportunity to live in areas that are further away from the main cities. The quality of life of many will be greatly improved and it will breathe life into our rural areas. Many in my home town of Dundalk are benefitting by not having to travel into Dublin to work. The companies themselves are also seeing the benefits of working from home with many of them commenting that work productivity has increased. I ask that the Minister consider a scheme that will incentivise those who can work from home to improve parts of their home to make it more suitable for work purposes.

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