Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The two words that best describe yesterday's budget are "underwhelming" and "unsatisfactory". From a health perspective, the budget increases spending in the sector but misses the key issues of capacity and staffing. It delivers little for the more than 900,000 people, including 43,656 on waiting lists at University Hospital Limerick, and offers no solution to the trolley crisis. In housing it is unsatisfactory. There is nothing there for renters and little for those who are looking to avail of social and affordable housing. For those who work in childcare there were some fine words and acknowledgement of the fine work they do. However, when it came to giving them a standard of living the budget gave very little to them. The budget misses the mark when it comes to the big issues. It missed the mark on health, housing and the cost of living, especially childcare and carbon taxes. The Government does not seem to listen to its citizens. It does not recognise the many crises it has exacerbated over the years.

The problems in healthcare remain. Already in October, University Hospital Limerick has had 729 people treated on trolleys. This is an average of 81 people a day. This is an absolutely appalling failure of policy. This problem is not going away. There has been a 22% increase in emergency department admissions when comparing 2019 with 2021 but the Government has not detailed how it intends to solve the crisis. To put it simply, the budget does not deliver on capacity. We would have provided the capital funding to deliver 600 additional new public beds in the alternative budget we launched.

On the issue of mental health, one of the biggest things the pandemic demonstrated once again is how woefully underresourced our mental health services are. Mental health is as important as physical health. Mental health concerns are as big an impediment to active life as physical injury. As with injuries, resources must be provided so that mental health challenges can be addressed. In Limerick we saw the child and adult mental health services overwhelmed with referrals. The additional €24 million promised to the mental health budget is nowhere near what is needed. What was needed was an investment in child and adult mental health services, the expansion of counselling to provide universal coverage and investment in dual diagnosis supports. We propose an ambitious investment of €113 million to try to address this issue for the first time. The Government has offered the equivalent of a lick of paint when the whole structure needs investment.

Under the education fund I welcome the announcement of funds under the Department of Education ex gratia scheme to implement the European Court of Human Rights judgment in the Louise O'Keeffe case. I pay tribute to the survivors of abuse at Cuanlee who campaigned over the past number of years. I wish them and Louise O’Keeffe especially, who has done powerful work on this issue over the years, the very best in the future. After the struggles they faced, they deserve the very best.

Perhaps the biggest challenge facing voters in the State is housing. Renters struggle to pay the rents while saving for a deposit. There are those who have been approved for a mortgage but cannot afford properties in their preferred areas and those who are approved are faced with the second-highest mortgage rates in the eurozone. There are thousands of people on the housing list, either seeking social housing or rental assistance in the form of housing assistance payments, HAP, and in Limerick there are more than 6,000 people on this list. The budget aims to deliver 9,200 social housing units and 4,000 affordable units. This is simply not enough. We would deliver 12,000 social houses and 8,000 affordable houses for purchase or for rent. The absence of support for renters will drive home the feelings of many about this Government.

On the issue of justice I welcome the additional 800 gardaí who are supposed to be delivered. I also welcome the additional resources for the youth justice strategy. It is important that we see these gardaí on the street and see community gardaí back in our communities.

Clearly, the budget as offered by the Government will have little positive impact on the life of our citizens. It is a wasted opportunity and there is no major change on the living issues affecting people in health, housing and the cost of living. Sinn Féin in government will deliver for its citizens. We will listen to our people and will serve the aspirations of the many, not the vested interests of the few.

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