Mairead Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This is a technical motion and it relates to capital carry-over from one year to the next. Sinn Féin will be supporting it. This year it represents money included in the 2020 voted allocation that has been unspent. Since the 2004 Act we have a facility to carry over unspent capital expenditure. Section 91 of the Act specified that the provisions would be up to a maximum of 10% of the capital allocation by Vote. This applies only to capital expenditure and not current spending. To allow for spending of the capital carry-over amounts in the following year, the Minister is required to make an order not later than 31 March of that year determining the capital carry-over amounts by subhead, which will be available for expenditure in those subheads, consistent with the amounts by Vote included in the Appropriation Act.

Dáil approval of the draft ministerial order is required before the Minister can make the order. Once the order is made, the carry-over amounts become a first charge against the subheads considered. This allows for spending of the capital carry-over amounts from the previous year. This process was put in place in the hope of improving departmental budget management and improved flexibility rather than rushing to spend the budget at the year end, Departments can carry unspent money over and look at budgets more in terms of multi-annual envelopes.

When I spoke on the Appropriation Bill in December we thought the underspend was approximately €740 million, but this was only an estimate and today we know that the actual underspend was approximately €710 million. To be precise, the exact capital carry-over for 2021 was €709.9 million. This represents approximately 7.2% of the 2020 allocation that will be carried over. This reduction is accounted for largely due to the Department of Health having a larger spend than was thought in December. The Department did not have a sufficient level of savings at year end and, accordingly, its carry-over has been adjusted on the order to the lower amount of €68 million. The total underspend is striking when compared to 2019 when approximately €200 million was carried over. Covid restrictions have obviously played a major part in that. The furloughing of large sections of the construction industry brought many building sites to a standstill and that has meant that many Departments were not able to progress capital projects in the manner they had envisaged pre-Covid. Delays have arisen not just in construction but also in the areas of planning and procurement. It goes without saying that the amount of carry-over being sought this year is considerably higher than the amount requested in previous years and this is against the backdrop of the impact of Covid-19.

We must ensure the capital expenditure allocation and the amount that is carried over is used to deal with the creaking infrastructure.

One example of substandard infrastructure that is not fit for purpose and is extremely dangerous for local people is the pier at Inis Oírr. Last Sunday night the passenger boat could not dock at the pier because of heavy swelling and overtopping. The boat attempted to dock again on Monday morning to bring the doctor who serves both Inis Oírr and Inis Meáin to the latter but could not do so. As a result, Inis Meáin was left without a doctor in the middle of a pandemic. I have seen footage of this overtopping, with waves coming over the pier wall onto local residents who were attempting to get the boat. This is extremely dangerous. Those people could have easily been swept into the sea and there could have been fatalities. I will send copies of that video to the Minister so that nobody in Government can claim they did not know anything about it. The weather was bad this week but it has been a lot worse previously.

This development was promised in 2015. I have written to the Minister for Community and Rural Development and the Islands, Deputy Humphreys, about this and have raised it with her previously. I urge the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to work with her on this as a matter of urgency. The Government must communicate with the islanders who have been left in the dark and must ensure that funds are made available for this development before someone is seriously injured or killed. Nobody here can say that they did not know.

Tá contúirt mhór ag baint leis an gcéibh, rud a chonaic muid arís ag an deireadh seachtaine. Ní raibh an bád farantóireachta in ann dul i dtír oíche Domhnaigh agus arís maidin Dé Luain nuair a rinne sé iarracht eile. Mar gheall air sin, ní raibh an dochtúir in ann dul ó Inis Oírr go hInis Meáin agus ní raibh dochtúir ag muintir Inis Meáin i lár géarchéim sláinte. Bhí éirí mór san fharraige agus bhí an taoide ag dul trasna na céibhe. Chonaic mé físeán dó agus tá mé chun é a sheol chuig an Aire. Bhí beirt ag siúl chuig an mbád agus chuaigh an taoide os cionn balla na céibhe agus thar na daoine sin. Ba éasca go dtitfeadh duine isteach san fharraige mar gheall air sin. Tá sé fíor-chontúirteach. Gealladh céibh nua in 2015 agus táim ag impí ar an Aire anois é seo a phlé lena chomhghleacaí, an Teachta Humphreys, agus a cinntiú go bhfuil an t-airgead ar fáil agus go dtógtar an céibh nua sula ngortófar duine go dona nó níos measa fós, go maraítear duine. The Minister has no excuse. He must speak to his colleague, Deputy Humphreys, and make sure that this development happens.

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