Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Looking at the figures contained in the Appropriation Bill 2021 in isolation, it really does tell us what areas are prioritised in public spending. The biggest areas of spending are education at almost €12 billion, social protection at almost €18 billion and health at almost €22 billion. Fourth on the list is housing, which is being allocated just over €5 billion. The overall amount of money we are being asked to approve here is just €73 billion.

I understand the current challenges to public spending which have presented themselves over the past 21 months or so and I understand our public spending had to be increased for a variety of reasons. I am making more of an observation here than a major criticism. However, it is very hard to deny that our public spending is like a runaway train. The level of public spending we currently have is unsustainable and almost out of control. The key question is what we have to show for it.

The big capital investment projects in recent years have been shambolic. The children's hospital, when it is eventually completed, is on course to be twice or three times as expensive per bed as the next most expensive hospital ever built in the history of mankind. How many people have been held to account for this failure or removed from their positions? If a private company were to propose a project costing €650 million to be completed in 2022 that actually cost €2 billion and counting and was completed two to three years later, heads would roll. We have contractors with the Minister's own admission trying to screw the taxpayer with overinflated prices and extra bills. The Minister, Deputy McGrath, said himself a few weeks ago before the Oireachtas finance committee that the vast majority of contractors' claims had been deemed overinflated by the development board overseeing the project and that, where we believe as a State they are unwarranted and unjustified, then we are defending the State's position but this will take some time to work its way through the system and, might I add, a lot of money.

I see a problem here. It is related to points Deputy Fitzmaurice mentioned in his speech on the sea fisheries report last week. The tendering process we use and the criteria which need to be met for a business to be eligible to tender for projects is skewed in favour of the big monopolies. Certain contractors responsible for the likes of roads, hospitals and other big infrastructure projects seem to know how to work the system. They know there are only a small number of operators with turnover large enough to qualify to do the job. They then put in a low enough bid to get the job. Once the point of no return is passed, they look for more money. Our system seems to be open to this problem occurring. I welcome the fact the Minister, Deputy McGrath has, acknowledged the problem, but the key thing is what will be done to prevent it.

That brings me on to the next area where the issue seems to be causing problems, the national broadband plan. It is a mess. I welcome the decision of the Minister of State, Deputy Ossian Smyth, to review the plan. A review is badly needed. The taxpayer is certainly not getting value for money. The initial target was to have 115,000 homes and businesses able to connect by the end of January. It looks as though we will be lucky to reach even a quarter of that. How many people have been held to account for this failure? This plan has been so badly implemented that a termination of the contract on the grounds of non-performance should be an option on the table. Either way, at the rate the programme is being rolled out there is fear it will be obsolete by the time it is completed. We do not want an expensive white elephant nor can we afford it. We see MetroLink and DART+, both proposed initially about 15 years ago and likely not to be completed for another ten to 15 years. Put simply, if Ireland was looked at from a business case perspective, the outlook would not be too promising. The performance evaluation on major projects would not make for good reading.

While I was gathering my thoughts on this subject, I decided to have a look at previous Appropriation Bills to compare the level of spending for the past five years.

The amounts for health in the previous Appropriation Bills were as follows: 2016, €13.6 billion; 2017, €14.3 billion; 2018, €15.5 billion; 2019, €17 billion; 2020, €20.4 billion; and 2021, €21.7 billion. At the rate of increase from 2016 to 2019, it looks as though health expenditure would have been very close to €20 billion this year without Covid. An increase from €13.6 million to €20 billion in the space of five years is astronomical. What do we have to show for it? In the health service, we have longer waiting lists and a crisis in the GP sector. Dentists are no longer taking new medical card holders. This is not because the health service is underfunded. It is more than adequately funded. It is a question of whether the funding is being used to achieve the best outcomes.

The front of today's Wexford Peoplenewspaper in County Wexford states, "ICU bed shortage issue is laid bare". Not one extra bed has been allocated in Wexford General Hospital since Covid began despite all the talk, but €85 million was spent by the HSE on ventilators, most of which never arrived. Of the 465 ventilators that did arrive, we gifted 365 to India because they could not be used here. We store the remaining 100 because no one has been trained to use them in our system. That is what I am told by medics. Who is being held accountable for this? Has it been adequately addressed? How much of the €85 million was recouped beyond credit notes?

I remind the Government that funding 5 million extra home support hours when we have no carers to deliver the care is spin. This money must be redirected to address the problem that results in our inability to recruit carers, namely, poor terms and conditions and the poor pay on offer to them. There is no use in increasing health expenditure every year if it means we only increase the amount of waste we see.

It jumped out at me when examining figures for previous years that expenditure in the Department of the Taoiseach has increased markedly. In 2016, the expenditure was €29 million, while this year's Appropriation Bill has a figure of over €50 million. This is a 72% increase in expenditure over five years.

The other remarkable comparison is with the budget of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. In 2016 the allocation was €1.3 billion, and in 2021 the allocation is €5.2 billion, representing a 300% increase in the housing budget. We need to see this increased investment bearing fruit for the many thousands of people who are simply unable to afford a home. The deposit requirements, lending rules and lack of supply are all conspiring to keep people out of the housing market until they are well into their 30s and 40s. I am sure most of us in the House could estimate how many families in our local communities moved into their forever home in their early 20s by comparison with previous generations. It is simply unattainable for the vast majority in the current housing climate.

The solution to our housing crisis is building housing of all types, but it is also about ensuring the small building contractor can build a house without onerous regulations or costs imposed by the Government. We do not need the big monopoly or big government to do it all; the small builder should have a major role to play. There is a major need to make it easier to build houses rather than put up barriers at every opportunity. In the UK a new build is VAT free.

It is a matter of ensuring people can see a future in living and rearing a family in rural Ireland. Over the past decade or so, there has been a trend in officialdom to want everyone to live in a suburb or town dwelling. As an Independent Deputy from rural Ireland, I will push back against the trend and extol the virtues and benefits of rural Ireland. This can be achieved by addressing the way in which housing and planning policy are designed. At the most basic level, our planning policy needs a serious review. I hope the funding increase will go towards the continuing professional development of the directors of services of planning and planning officials in our county councils so they can be educated as to what is law and what are guidelines and be given the wisdom to know the difference, thereby preventing a slew of unnecessary court cases in the future.

We need to acknowledge the massive financial cost the Government has imposed on the people via the climate action plan, which is estimated to cost €20 billion per year, roughly the same as what we spend on the entire health service. I voted against the placing of this financial millstone around the necks of the people, and I will continue to campaign for sensible, feasible and affordable climate protection measures.

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