Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I concur with the remarks of Deputy Lowry on those aged over 66. It is very important that we do not leave out these people as they have surely contributed a huge amount. At the beginning of Covid they lost out in their businesses and were put to the pin of their collar to try to survive. They deserve more than this.

I want to raise a number of issues with regard to the budget. As we know, the LEADER programme, which is a rural development programme for Ireland, will finish on 31 December. Over the past five years, it provided €250 million in funds. However, the new programme will not be in place next year so we will have a gap. I am very surprised to see there are no plans in the budget to provide for transitional funding for next year. The fund itself provides for projects in community development, job creation and economic development in rural Ireland with a bottom-up approach. Over the past five years, we have seen what the benefits have been for rural Ireland. In these strange times, it would be very remiss of the Government not to take on board the fact we cannot have a drop-off cliff-edge point and wait for another 18 months to start a new scheme. It is very important we have some way of providing continuity to this sector over the next 12 months.

I want to raise the issue of young people who want to buy homes. I welcome the continuation of the help-to-buy scheme for first-time buyers of new homes. I believe the scheme should be extended to include first-time buyers of second-hand houses. Likewise, the Rebuilding Ireland home loan scheme also needs to be expanded to allow first-time buyers of second-hand homes to get mortgages for the refurbishment of these homes. In our budget submission, the Regional Group asked for an incentive for young people to be able to purchase vacant houses in towns and villages.

This was an incentive of approximately €15,000 per house. That has been ignored, and in these times when we are all talking about building houses, at the same time we talk about the number of vacant houses in towns and villages throughout the country. I see these small but very effective schemes as a way of delivering homes and incentivising young people to buy homes in the towns, refurbish them for modern living and bring life back into the towns. Anything we put into this will give a dividend back and will also help us take care of the many people on the housing list.

As the Minister knows, the post office network is under very severe pressure. The prospect of unrestrained closures is facing us next year, given the existing supports will be running out in June of next year. We had a debate in the House last week on this issue. Grant Thornton, in its analysis, reckons that what is required is a €70 million intervention to keep the post office network operational. Again, I would argue this subvention will only add to the prospect of the post offices delivering between €334 million and €776 million annually in social dividend to this country. We have seen through the pandemic the amount of engagement post offices have had with people in isolated areas, where to have the post office van call is the only contact for people who are living on their own and vulnerable.

Beyond that, the post offices have lost 25% of their turnover between 2019 and 2020. There is a crisis facing us in the coming months and I would like to see the budget take into account the fact we need to do something. The budget as it is framed is putting a lot of money into the economy, and it is good we are putting money into people who are putting it into the economy so the economy will continue to survive. It is also important, however, that we are not just throwing money at problems. From a budgetary point of view, we need to see that the money we put in is spent wisely and it is important we make sure, whatever we put in, that the outcomes are being delivered.

With regard to health and the issue of disabilities, we have a lot of work to do in these areas and we are putting a lot of money into these budgets. My fear is that we are putting in so much that we do not know how to account for it at the other end. How are we making sure it is filtering down to the people who need it most? How do we make sure it gets to the front line, to the people with disabilities, to give them the transport, services and home help they require?

In that vein, it is important that we prioritise delivery and investment in the bottom-up approach. Carers, who are trying to keep people out of nursing homes, thereby saving the State millions of euro, should be dealt with in a way that is fair and reasonable. It is very important that we should not stand over the fact it takes 15 weeks to process a carer’s allowance application, and then maybe another five to six weeks if a person is under review, and even longer if a person is going for an appeal. All through that time, the carer gets no return and no support. I ask the Minister to bring that back to the Cabinet table.

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