Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, and thank Deputy Ó Cathasaigh for letting me go first in this slot.

First and foremost, I commend the Ministers, Deputies Michael McGrath and Donohoe, on bringing this budget to the House. It covers so many aspects. They listened and they mirrored what most industries, sectors and parts of society were looking for, and I commend them on that.

There is so much to cover that I will need more than the eight minutes' speaking time but I will focus on a few important issues that were funded in this budget. First, the €100 million for disability supports is an unbelievable boost for that sector. Disability services were running at 40%. I am thinking, in my constituency of Cork South-West, of CoAction. It is an incredible service where the service users get this unbelievable experience, but it was only running at 40% capacity and the service users were really losing out. This funding will be an incredible boost for the service users and for voluntary groups such as CoAction.

I must touch on the supports for the live entertainment industry, the fact that there is €50 million going to the Arts Council to be fed back into arts and entertainment, but also the fact that there was a change in the PUP, that they could retain PUP and also work intermittently. That is a significant boost and something that the sector had been calling for.

The hospitality sector, which is a big employer in my constituency of Cork South-West, has broadly welcomed the reduction in VAT from 13.5% to 9%, but also the Covid restrictions support scheme. The €5,000 per week in the latter is a considerable boost.

In terms of the commitment to rural areas and the €341 million funding for rural affairs and broadband, I would guess now we need to roll out broadband and ensure that funding is well spent.

Finally, since the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, is here, I welcome the extra funding for heritage and the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS. Let us use that wisely. Let us reform the National Parks and Wildlife Service so that we can protect wildlife and biodiversity.

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