Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The planning Bill should be completed. Huge work has gone into its preparation. It has gone through pre-legislative scrutiny and so on. That is an important piece of work. I recently saw a judicial review of a bus stop in connection with BusConnects. We need to streamline things and make sure we have a planning system fit for purpose because we have enormous projects to deliver in offshore wind energy, housing and infrastructure more generally. On housing, the first-time buyer situation has improved significantly under this Government. The future Ireland fund Bill is very important because, if passed, it will provide 0.8% of GDP for future-proofing pensions, healthcare costs and infrastructure. We will be putting money aside every year to create a fund that gets invested, and the return from that will fund the major challenges we will face in society in the future. I cannot think of a more substantive or important Bill or initiative as this in many a decade. Huge work has gone into the preparation of that. It went through Cabinet yesterday. That needs to get through this House. This is not about shoring up or clinging to anything. This is about a proactive approach to getting policy done, getting initiatives and infrastructure delivered and getting on with the normal business of government, which I and every other Minister is doing and will continue to do right through the lifetime of this Government. I think that is what the people want. People are not that impressed with politicians who keep on speculating about the next election. They are far more interested in delivery on matters of substance. We have made a lot of progress on housing; we have more to do. We have made a lot of progress on healthcare. Some 60% of the population now has ccess to a GP card, which is significant compared to where we were before this Government came into office. I could go on and on about a range of initiatives.

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