Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There has been a 42% reduction in family homelessness in emergency accommodation, with a 19% reduction since the beginning of this year. We want to continue to make progress on that front. Expanding Housing First is a key initiative of ours which we will do. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, is committed to doing that.

In my view, there is need for, and there will be, a more active State in certain areas. In the health service, it will be bigger. It will far outdistance any other Department in terms of public expenditure. There will be very significant projects within that. There has to be a transformation of health service into the future. Many serious initiatives have to be undertaken. We have to learn lessons from Covid in regard to our health service, but it has stood up well. The €600 million we allocated before Christmas in terms of the winter initiative has been a very positive initiative which has not got the attention it deserves because of Covid, understandably, but it has resulted in certain initiatives that can be imbedded into the health service into the future in terms of primary care, community care and diagnostics, a better flow through the hospital system and a higher volume of home care packages, all of which have been provided this year arising from a huge allocation in terms of the health budget.

We have provided protection for tenants that is consistent with the Constitution and the legal framework. Without question, we have done that. We also want to support sectors of the economy, such as the hospitality, tourism and aviation sectors, as we emerge from Covid. Many Deputies spoke about low-paid employment and so on. Some sectors have definitely suffered more than most. We need to consider how we can help those sectors as we emerge from Covid. We have made clear there will be no cliff edge from the existing supports, including the Covid restrictions support scheme, CRSS, the employment wage subsidy scheme, EWSS, and the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, and other related supports around rates relief and so on. They have all been extended until the end of June, when we will then consider, in the context of the national economic recovery plan, how we evolve those support schemes and what new initiatives we need to support those sectors that have suffered the most. We intend to do that.

There are a number of initiatives here, including the recovery and resilience plan which we will submit to Brussels as part of the European-wide recovery and resilience. Depending on how once prices it, over time Ireland stands to get approximately €153 million from that initiative. We will again focus on the green economy, creating jobs there, and on digital transformation and other initiatives to create jobs. We are also applying for the Brexit adjustment reserve fund and it is hoped funding will come our way from that fund. We have a number of initiatives to deal with the issues the Deputies have raised.

In terms of the living wage and Deputy Gannon's point, as a Government we have taken an initiative on that. It has been referred to the Low Pay Commission for examination. We want to progress that initiative. It is an objective in the programme for Government. In terms of the broader issue and the points raised by Deputy Paul Murphy, we want to create jobs in our economy and we want an economic model that works and creates jobs and incentivises enterprise, in particular small enterprises to facilitate them in growing their companies. In terms of inward investment, since the beginning of the year, thousands of jobs have been announced, which is a good thing that then creates jobs in our indigenous sector as well. We have supported workers to an unprecedented extent through the various interventions we have taken.

In regard to JobPath and the local employment services and so on, the Minister for Social Protection will bring proposals in that respect to Government. Again, our objective is to help workers but also to provide opportunities for them. There are issues around public procurement we have to observe, but the Minister is hearing and listening to what is being said. We understand the important work local employment services do and the contribution they have made to date.

In regard to the North-South interconnector, the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications has spoken about the review that is under way. The Deputies' know the position of EirGrid. It believes it cannot be undergrounded. I have pointed to areas around the country where certain initiatives have been undergrounded. The context is the all-island single energy market and so on. There is a review.

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