Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion. The National Surplus Act came into force in June 2019 to establish the contingency reserve for exceptional circumstances, or rainy day fund. We all agree we are living in exceptional circumstances. It is most definitely raining. The housing crisis this Government is presiding over is evidence of that. In fact, it is a torrential downpour as we can see from the state of the health service. Operations are being cancelled and Covid is not being used as an excuse this time. Waiting lists are getting longer and medical cards, GP and dental appointments cannot be got for love nor money. The health service is in disarray and it is not by accident. The public health service was deliberately run down by successive Governments to make the private health service more attractive. Sinn Féin in government will abolish the two-tier health system favoured by the parties that make up this Government and by the Labour Party. We will put patients first and give our healthcare workers an all-Ireland health service that everyone can be proud of. As Deputy Mairéad Farrell said earlier, when this legislation originally came through the House, Sinn Féin submitted amendments so that the fund will be used to invest in housing infrastructure and climate action. These amendments were ruled out of order or were opposed. Instead, the Government included a section that allowed the fund to be used for a capital injection into the banking sector. Sinn Féin in government will put ordinary workers and families ahead of profits or private companies.

The rainy day fund has turned out to be a bit of a damp squib. By now, we should have €3 billion in it, but it is empty. We need to spend this money wisely. We need to stop funding an over-heated private rental market with HAP and start building public homes on public land. We need to stop pouring money into private hospitals through the National Treatment Purchase fund and start reforming our health system to ensure that it is fit for the 21st century. I sincerely hope that is what happens.

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