Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Sorry, I was genuinely not aware of that. However, we still need to know the information.

Other Departments have told us how many gardaí, teachers and SNAs they will have. If the Government can figure out the pupil-teacher ratio for our schools, it should be able to understand the staffing ratio needed for hospitals, including how many ICU beds they need. Obviously, we need to take on board the INMO statement that 90% of nurses are facing burnout.

More than 900,000 people are on waiting lists and the only solution Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Green Party can agree on is to outsource patients to the private sector. We will never develop the capacity or the skilled workforces we need if the approach is always to pay private investors for access to for-profit healthcare. An extra €250 million is allocated to waiting lists, of which €200 million goes to the HSE and another €50 million to the NTPF. Next year €150 million will be spent on outsourcing public patients. We cannot continue doing this.

The NPTF has been back since 2017, first with an allocation of €20 million; €55 million in 2018; €75 million in 2019; and €100 million in 2020. Last year's budget allocated €130 million in 2021 and it is to be €150 million for next year. We will have spent €500 million for public healthcare in private for-profit hospitals, which we should not. That ship needs to turn. Who will be brave enough to turn it? That €500 million is not working. It reinforces prejudices. It reinforces the fact that people can get private care in public hospitals. People who have money can get healthcare while those who need it most are sitting at the back of the queue.

University Hospital Limerick is the closest tier 1 hospital to where I live. It has opened extra beds but 91 people were on trolleys on Tuesday, which is the highest number since the start of the pandemic. To bridge the funding and staffing shortage in Limerick and bring it to the national average for a model 4 hospital would cost €41 million. If we do not address that deficit, we will never get on top of waiting lists.

I welcome the funding for free contraception, something the Labour Party has pursued for years. We need work out how to ensure that we support students during a difficult time going to college. The measures the Government announced for students - the €200 increase, the maintenance grants and the changes in income limits - should be backdated to last month or some action should be taken on it. If it cannot be done fully, it should be done partially. If we wait for another year, a number of students will drop out because they will not have the means to stay in. Doing this would be of some help.

There was nothing for renters. Tax cuts for workers will not cover the rent increases they are expected to face next year. As I have said, the State is not building enough homes. I heard what the Taoiseach said earlier about the zoned land tax. How many years will it take? We are two years down the road. I have read it and I understand it. I introduced the first version of this and I know about the limitations and the constitutional issues. I have been down that road and I support the Minister on this. However, much of the analysis has already been done by local authorities. Why is it taking so long? I introduced it in 2015. I believe it should go up to 7% eventually. Considering that Fine Gael has been in government for the past five years and it was not working during all that time, why is it only getting around to fixing it now? This this levy should be brought in quicker. The local authorities and relevant organisations have the data. I know because I have seen them. I know the structures in place.

For many this budget was a major disappointment with everything spread so thinly. It was a confetti budget that failed to deliver relief for anyone. It kicks to touch again the need for proper terms and conditions for those in our Defence Forces. It gives no certainty of jobs into the future for those in healthcare. It gives no certainty to our talented childcare workers regarding the issues they have. For those on low pay and the minimum wage, it delivers little to meet the rising costs of living. The living wage of €12.90 is even further away for many people. There is barely an acknowledgement of the crisis faced by young people out of work. We need a new deal for a fairer Ireland.

As I said at the start, the people will judge the Government on how it works to resolve the problems they face in their everyday lives. There was little to give them hope on work, care, climate and housing. As we come out of the Covid pandemic, this budget was an opportunity to tell the people we are going to do things differently and to face them and deal with the issues they now prioritise after coming through such a pandemic. It was an opportunity, but it was a missed opportunity. The budget shows complete compromise across three parties, meaning that ultimately it delivers very little for anyone.

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