Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to focus on the region I come from in County Leitrim and the difficulties that exist in rural areas in the west of Ireland. The first thing that comes to mind is the people who come to my constituency office and the problems they have. For the vast majority, the main problem relates to healthcare issues. The hospitals are overcrowded and they cannot get beds. They cannot get services when they want them owing to long waiting lists. Sligo Regional Hospital is an example of that. Much of this is down to years of underinvestment. I appreciate that there was something in the budget for some of that.

There is only a temporary cath lab in Sligo hospital. The present cardiologist in the region, who has done great work for many years, will retire shortly. To find somebody else for that job, Sligo hospital needs a permanent cath lab. For almost 20 years, the hospital has sought funding for that. That is just an example of the problems that we have. People in areas with low levels of population feel that they get low levels of investment - much lower than they need.

Regarding the environment, COP26 is taking place this week. It is ironic that in the same week the Minister for Environment, Climate and Communications is signing licences for exploration in County Leitrim for gold of all things. We would certainly like to get the gold in Leitrim, but a mining industry for a luxury product like that is not what we want to see coming because it a high-carbon industry. We were told we were supposed to be moving away from high-carbon industries. We would love to see jobs based on renewable energy and other things, but not jobs in that kind of industry.

By pushing people in this direction, the whole concept seems to be jobs at all cost and profit at all cost, which is what has brought us into this crisis with global warming in the first place. The Government needs to step back from that and invest in real jobs, allowing people to live and flourish in their own communities. Going down the direction of mining will certainly not do that.

When we go out and about in our constituencies, we always meet people who have something to say. I met a man who said this was a budget for the big shots. That is the way many people see it. There were tax cuts that will mainly benefit the high earners with most of the pressure put on the people at the bottom who are getting most of the taxes. That needs to change. The Government has brought us down a particular direction from which it needs to do a U-turn. It is very dangerous for the economy and the ecology of the country.

There has been much talk in recent times about the farming community with the need to reduce the number of cattle and all this sort of thing. For the vast majority of people in my community, farming is the only industry. It is all they have. The Government keeps telling them that they will need to have fewer cows and do less, without telling them what they are going to do. There is no incentive or drive to show what alternatives will be in place. When I go to a farmer beside me who may have ten or 15 suckler cows at the moment and tell him the Government's idea is that he needs to reduce that by 15%, 20% or even 30%, he will ask me where he can make a living. That is not the message the Government is giving farmers. It is only giving them the one message, the negative one. The Government needs to provide a positive message and show people that there is a future and that it will provide the resources and investment to create the future for people.

I have a young family and my children are being educated. They and their peers may do well in third level education and get degrees. However, unfortunately there are very few jobs for graduates when they come back to Leitrim, Sligo and other places in the north west. That needs to change. The budget was about maintaining that status quowhich has failed so many generations who live in places like Leitrim. I appeal to the Minister to re-examine the way in which Government has structured all these things from the health service, to the education system to how it invests rural areas. It needs to turn away from its current direction because we need no more budgets for big shots.

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