Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Again, there was no accountability. Everyone scattered. We have to have a public inquiry, which the taxpayer will pay for, but we have to find out the truth. We know what happened. We know how they have been failed by this and previous Governments.

All of the measures introduced by the Government today are, by necessity, dealing with the fiscal space in the here and now but I do not want our nation restricted by what currently exists. We have the potential to reimagine our society and to turbocharge our national economy through Irish reunification. Sinn Féin believes that citizens have the right to national self-determination. Addressing this by holding the referendums included within the Good Friday Agreement is a Sinn Féin priority. Éire nua aontaithe, le cearta ár saoránaigh ag a croílár, atá uainn. The Irish Government has a constitutional obligation to pursue and prepare for unity.

A Sinn Féin Taoiseach would immediately begin structured and detailed planning towards Irish unity, underpinned by engagement with citizens across the country. We would establish citizens' assemblies on Irish unity to discuss all of the elements of reunification, to listen to all voices and to hear from experts. Sinn Féin backs the implementation of the Perspectives on Constitutional Change: Finance and Economics report, prepared by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. It recommends a Green Paper on constitutional change, the creation of a dedicated Oireachtas committee, a designated Department for constitutional planning, a whole-of-government approach across all Departments and State agencies, and deeper co-operation on the island on issues such as climate change, energy, education, transport and infrastructure. These are commonsense proposals backed by the entire Good Friday Agreement committee and they should be implemented without delay.

Across the island people who would not previously have considered unity are opening their minds to considering what future constitutional arrangements might work best for them and for their families. Those people across the country who are British, unionists and Protestants are a valued part of our nation. I respect their culture and traditions. I want them to contribute to the wisdom, ideas and hopes for a new and united Ireland. Together we can create an inclusive home that we all can be proud of.

Turning to the health, where is the transparency for the funding in health? The Minister mentioned all the national strategies for cancer, cardiac, stroke and maternity, but did not say how much. We have €30 million for new drugs, just reprofiling what was already there. Where is the money to expand the hospitals and community care, and for the mental health for older people? My litmus test is whether the trolleys will still line up outside Mayo University Hospital. My guess is they will. Will the beds that the Government closed in Belmullet hospital be reopened? How long more do we have to wait? It did not just happen; the Government made a decision to close them just as it did with many other hospitals around this country. People will not be fooled.

How many people's lives are shortened because they do not have the money to access timely treatment or they have to wait months for a scan? Sinn Féin's multi-annual plan will deal with overcrowding, reduce waiting lists, improve patient safety and deliver healthcare free at the point of use. As Deputy Doherty said, that includes increasing hospital capacity for an additional 150,000 people. Ministers tell people that the moratorium has been lifted. The moratorium has not been lifted. Valuable staff are waiting on panels while hospitals are waiting for people to be appointed. The Minister should not pretend that the moratorium has been lifted because it has not. He should go and see what is happening on the ground.

Half of all people living with a disability are at risk of poverty. This State has the lowest employment rate of people with disabilities in Europe because the barriers to employment for people with disabilities have never been tackled. For too long lip service has been paid regarding the rights of people with disabilities. Sinn Féin in government will deliver those rights. The Government has presided over the scandalous delays for people waiting for assessments of needs for years. Additional funding announced earlier this year will not keep pace with demand and longer waiting lists will be the outcome. Parents and guardians are forced to seek private assessments which in many cases they cannot afford since the Government has effectively abandoned their children. Last week we saw and every week we see Cara Darmody, a teenager, leading the demonstration outside the gates of this Parliament on this very issue. That child should be at school and not protesting here and begging for these issues to be addressed. This should be a source of deep shame for this Government.

I want to mention the inquiry into families affected by sodium valproate. Some people have multiple family members living with disabilities as a result of mothers following medical advice. Has the budget thought of them? They had to fight for years to get the inquiry that is now happening.

Denial of treatment reduces life chances - it does not take a genius to work that out. We are a rich country and we can do things differently yet the choices are made by the most senior politicians in this State to deny assessments, delay access and diminish outcomes. The Sinn Féin alternative budget would fund targeted recruitment and retention measures for children's disability services and establish a community care access fund to speed up access to mental health, disability diagnosis and interventions. Poverty rates by households headed by people with disabilities are unconscionably high with 39% of this group experiencing poverty. We must ratify the optional protocol to the UNCRPD and fully implement and resource the necessary actions.

Carers who provide unparalleled service to those in their care and to the State have also been forced by the Government to become campaigners. Mary Lou MacDonald has given a commitment to abolish the means test for carers. Many of the things we outlined in our alternative budget are to give advice to the Government and tell it what needs to be done. However, as we see here today, moving the eligibility threshold to €1,250 will not even be done until next July. That shows what it really thinks of carers. We would also introduce a pay-related carer benefit to enable carers who are in employment to access supports.

Our alternative budget provides access to vital therapies, respite services, residential care, personal assistant services, home support hours and day services. These are the measures that citizens need to live with dignity. In our alternative budget Sinn Féin has clearly outlined how we will reduce the cost of childcare to €10 per day, how we will really value childcare workers, how we will ensure that childcare providers are sufficiently funded, and how social enterprises and community providers can be encouraged and expanded.

Sinn Féin recognises the responsibility of all citizens to deliver on Ireland's objectives to meet our climate change targets. Climate change affects everybody and ultimately impacts several Departments. However, the party also recognises that this is a burden not currently equally shared by everyone. With this in mind we intend to ensure that those least able to carry more of the costs are supported in that journey to decarbonise by committing an additional €178 million to a new and reformed scheme delivering warmer, more efficient, less carbon-intense homes, improving health and well-being, and directly addressing the cost of living. I heard the Minister today laud the extra money to be given to the warmer home scheme. There is a 26-month waiting list for the warmer home scheme. I have known people who have died waiting to have their houses insulated even for basic insulation.

In conjunction with the retrofitting scheme we also acknowledge the importance of decarbonising our energy supply and the security of our energy supply. Furthermore we recognise as we focus on delivering economic growth in a more circular bioeconomy with sustainability at its heart, we have the ability to generate a plethora of new jobs with the green economy, building community wealth across the country, ensuring that all can benefit from transition. We have also committed an additional €75.5 million to be invested in green spaces and nature restoration to address biodiversity demands, and expand afforestation and grow our national parks, all underpinned by the development of a pipeline of skills and expertise in new jobs to support economic, environmental and social sustainability at local and national level.

As children must be able to get to school safely, we have made provision for an extra 100,000 seats for children on school buses. Adequately resourcing on climate can deliver tangible benefits in health, education and agriculture in the economy. Investment in climate solutions can present opportunities and benefits for all. Sinn Féin demonstrates that addressing climate change is not just a prerogative of those less fortunate in society; it is everyone's prerogative. This budget should deliver more fairness and equity for society and more benefits for the environment than the Government proposes. What is happening is that the money will go to the richest people. Other people will be left in homes and left shut out of schemes that are wrongly designed by the Government. Why are people not accessing the schemes? It is because everything this Government does is skewed in favour of those who do not need it and those who have money already. The Ministers know this from the retrofit scheme and what is happening in their own constituencies.

Sinn Féin fully acknowledges the importance of the agrifood industry to the Irish economy. The industry provides employment for more than 173,000 people across 135,000 farms, 2,000 fishing vessels and more than 2,000 food and beverage producers and is the glue that holds the rural social fabric together. It binds communities together and delivers wealth to rural towns and villages across the 32 counties. Much of the revenue the industry delivers locally is spent locally between retail, the service sector, food processing, manufacturing and engineering. The list goes on. This is why we in Sinn Féin firmly believe it is imperative that direct supports be assured and strengthened to ensure that farms can remain viable, sustainable and profitable to deliver the high-quality foods and public goods now demanded.

Sinn Féin’s alternative budget is not just about the food produced. It is also about the social contract that has been broken by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. It is also about the public goods that agriculture delivers as we commit to supporting areas of natural constraint and pledge to set up a commission on the future of family farms. Our party understands the value of family and the value of family farms. It is not just about onshore food production. We recognise as an island nation just how important aquaculture and our fishing fleet are. This commitment to the industry is copperfastened by €8.1 million for the introduction of a continuity fund for the inshore fishing fleet and a further €9 million identified for a number of industry support schemes.

A Sinn Féin government would have a Minister dedicated to fishing and the marine because we value them.

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