Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

First, I will comment on the approach of success Irish Governments and why I think it was absolutely the correct approach to back and support an IT sector, a multinational sector and an international sector that has provided employment, that has invested in this country and that will remember long into the future the fact that we backed and supported it. Now we have the added benefit that we have a windfall from it. We have the best of both worlds. It has absolutely been the correct approach. We will continue to have the support and the confidence of this sector but now we have €13 billion or so that we can invest back into this country or save for a rainy day, whatever approach is taken.

As has been said, we all have our shopping lists. We all have ways in which we feel that this money can be invested. I certainly have a few ideas and it is important I use this time to share and to speak about them.

Uisce Éireann, wastewater infrastructure and water services is a theme that has cropped up consistently in contributions today and there is a reason for that. Uisce Éireann over the past couple of years has proven that it is not up to the task. It is not able to deliver, in particular wastewater infrastructure, at a scale and at a speed that is required for this country to progress and for towns and villages to flourish. I would go so far as to say that much of this money could be used to restructure Uisce Éireann or perhaps go as far as giving this investment money back to the local authorities and let the local authorities do what they were good at, that is, investing in wastewater infrastructure, building wastewater infrastructure and water supply. That can be seen in my constituency as much as in anyone else's constituency.

Over the summer, in Rosscarbery, one of the most popular tourism destinations in Ireland and which is an absolutely beautiful destination with Warren Beach being the jewel in the crown, they put up with some horrible experiences where on two occasions they were no-swim notices put up at Warren Beach. This has devastating consequences for the businesses there which rely on tourism, for the visitors who visit the area but also for the locals because Warren Beach is one of the only free and fully-open amenities to the public and to the residents of Rosscarbery, Owenahincha and west Cork and the surrounding area. When the no-swim notices come, it closes off the beach, essentially, for any use for a number of days, and that has devastating consequences. It also rocks the confidence of those who would visit Warren and that area. It just so happens that in between these two beaches, Warren and Owenahincha, right on the headland that separates them, there is Uisce Éireann wastewater infrastructure that, I can tell the Minister, is not working. It is not effective. It is not treating the water in the way in which it should and that is the reason we are getting increased E. coli levels in this water. Of course, it denies it. It says it has absolutely nothing to do with it. Of course, it does what is usually done; it blames the agriculture sector. However, when agriculture is not seen to be compliant and when it is inspected and found not compliant, it is penalised financially. We are seeing, with loss of derogation, that they are having to reduce stock numbers and, therefore, reduce supply and, therefore, reduce income. They pay real penalties. Uisce Éireann is answerable to nobody. It is accountable to nobody and that has to change. I suggest that we give this money to local authorities and they will solve our wastewater treatment infrastructure.

The same is happening in Shannonvale, a village near Clonakilty, where we are seeing wastewater and sewage seep up through what is the village park where people would gather and have community events. Uisce Éireann is nowhere to be seen. It is not even included on the 2025-2029 plan. This has to change. Uisce Éireann needs to be accountable.

In Dunmanway, one of the main towns in my constituency in west Cork, one cannot build a single house. People cannot get planning permission. There is essentially an embargo on planning permission because Uisce Éireann infrastructure, wastewater infrastructure that was only built ten years ago, is now no longer fit for purpose. This has to change. This is repeated right throughout Ireland. We seriously need to have a look at Uisce Éireann. This money, this €13 billion, provides an opportunity to invest in local authorities. Let the local authorities look after this and resource them with personnel and the skilled labour force who can look after this.

Another area where investment such as this could be put to incredibly good use is in disability services. We, as a State, have to hold our hands up and say that we need to do a lot more in terms of disability services, especially in special education and special schools. In Cork, we have a special school fighting for therapies, be it speech and language therapy or occupational therapy, for the students who attend that school. It would take a small amount of money to solve this but the issue is personnel. The issue is that we need to recruit the qualified therapists to give these incredibly important therapies so that therapy can be given in the community and in the school and here is an opportunity to do that.

We need to invest in marine infrastructure - piers, harbours, slipways. This is local authority-owned infrastructure. There is such an enormous potential right around the coast for marine tourism, for marine leisure, for rowing, for sailing, for kayaking, for whale-watching, whatever it may be. There is a massive opportunity presented to us to invest properly in piers and harbours that are owned by the local authorities. The Cork coast is the longest coast in Ireland. There are so many havens, so many sheltered harbours, but we do not have the piers and slipways. This could be an opportunity.

We could invest in future energy, in fixed and floating offshore wind. There is huge potential for Ireland, as has been said time and again, to become a global superpower when it comes to clean renewable energy. It is there in abundance off the west coast. Right around the coast, in fact, it is there. We need to invest in the ports. We need to give developers confidence that there is potential in this incredible technology so that we can electrify our heating systems, electrify transport and have clean renewable energy that we can export to Europe and invest the proceeds back into the economy.

The possibilities are endless. We have talked about investment in housing. Absolutely, that is necessary. We have talked about the need for investment in health. We can all agree 100% that is necessary. However, one of the key things to unlock driving Ireland forward and using this money to its full potential is having the personnel, the skilled labour force and the qualified workforce in order to deliver all of these things that we are asking for and have on our wish lists. This €13 billion that we have at our disposal could be key to unlocking that skilled workforce, whether it is investing in higher education, in apprenticeships, in third level education or in qualifications. However, we must remember as well that right across the globe we have thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of Irish qualified workers skilled in trades, in health, in nursing and doctors and consultants who are not choosing to live here right now. This funding could be used as an incentive to attract them back, to bring them back, give them financial incentives to move back to Ireland, to live here, to stay here and to work here, to build our roads, to build wastewater infrastructure, to work in our hospitals and to fill those HSE jobs that we cannot fill right now. There is huge potential there and this €13 billion offers that potential. These are all things that should be considered.

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