Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)

I am due to be sharing time with other Deputies, who will no doubt be here imminently. We are splitting 25 minutes between four of us.

On a serious note, before I commence this debate, I sincerely and personally commend the work of the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, who has left the Chamber. That sentiment was echoed by the Ceann Comhairle. Her closing line was an appeal to men of my generation - I am a man of a certain age - to mind not only their own mental health but that of those around them. It cannot be said enough. I have no doubt that is a point on which we are all in agreement, regardless of which side of the Chamber we sit.

It is my pleasure to commend this budget to the House and to speak in favour of this financial resolution. As a Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, I am cognisant of the world around us. I am cognisant of exactly what is happening in countries around us, not just from a societal and political point of view, but also from an economic point of view. We stand at a juncture. Countries surrounding us are entering into effective recession. We are in the teeth of a global tariff war and see the return of protectionism. All of that is against the backdrop of a global economy still recovering from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and, indeed, continuing to reel from the economic outflow of Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine and the cost-of-living issues that have impacted so many people. It is in that context that we witnessed a budget brought forward to this House, for the tenth year as either Minister for Finance or Minister for public expenditure, by Deputy Donohoe.

The budget is absolutely rooted in the principle of resilience. Listening to some of the commentary in this Chamber and beyond in recent days, it is amazing that a €9.4 billion package, focused on investment and balance, is somehow cravenly being labelled as an austerity budget. I was in these Houses as a staff member in the dark days coming out of the financial crash. It was not then about the possibility of cutting some spending. It was about cutting everything and the only question was by how much. We were at that time increasing all taxes and cutting all spending. The budget delivered this week by the Ministers, Deputies Donohoe and Chambers, will form the way for a financial resolution. We have already had votes on original motions and have a finance Bill making its way to the Government next week, which will be followed by a social welfare Bill. This is absolutely a budget of resilience that ensures there is investment. It is a pro-business budget. I say that sincerely.

It seems to some people that it is bad to be pro-business. Being pro-business is being pro-jobs and pro-profits. It is good for a business to make profit because as the Ceann Comhairle knows, as someone who ran her own business for long enough, the more profit you make, the more people you hire, the more tax you pay and the more funds go into the economy to pay for all the services that everyone requires. Some of us on this side of the House believe fundamentally in the social market economy. In order to make your society work, you need an economy that works. That is why I am not ashamed to say that this budget absolutely backs businesses of all sizes. It backs investment and will continue to do so. That level of resilience is going to be tested in the coming years, if it is not already being tested.

We have effective full employment. The economy continues to grow. There is continuing investment in the State.

Nearly 90,000 new jobs will be created this year. Quite frankly, we have the opportunities that other jurisdictions around us do not have. That does not happen by accident. It happens through hard work and sensible decisions. Every commitment made in the programme for Government that we have all signed up to will be delivered during the Government's five-year term. This is the first budget of five, and we will continue to push on.

I will take a few minutes to speak specifically to the areas within my remit, as a Minister of State at the Department of foreign affairs. The first is the diaspora. I am delighted that the budget for the emigrant support programme this year will increase by €1 million. Our diaspora is our greatest asset in so many ways. It is made up of the individuals and the descendants of individuals who had to leave this State during much more difficult times. Those were times of famine, civil conflict, double-digit rates of inflation, mass unemployment and a social system which did not respect the rights of minorities or women and which, in comparison with what we have today, did not involve decency. Many of them have found themselves in tough times and are reliant on the organisations that support them, be in Great Britain or, in particular, the United States. Many others are part of a second generation who dearly love this country, care for it and want to make sure they increase our business, artistic, sporting and societal impacts around the world. That is really important and is done through the work of the emigrant support programme.

More pertinently, I am delighted that at a time when so many western countries are cutting their aid budgets and overseas development aid, ODA, budgets, we in Ireland are saying very clearly that we are not doing so. At a time when the United States has completely abolished its aid budget, when the UK is moving from 0.5% to 0.3% and when traditional donors such as the Nordic countries and the Netherlands are cutting their aid budgets, Ireland will probably be the only EU country next year that will increase its ODA budget. The increase, by €30 million, will bring our ODA budget to €840 million next year. This is a record amount. It is 51 years since Dr. Garrett FitzGerald created Irish Aid, which will now have a record budget.

This is at a time when the world needs that record level of investment because many will give us their hot take to the effect that we are spending money on or giving it to people elsewhere. It has to be said that development and aid represent an investment. We think about the issues that confront some of our constituents on a daily basis, from grocery prices to energy security to the issue of irregular migration to radicalisation to the sheer uncertainty about the direction the world is taking. All of these stem from instability in the global south. While other countries are turning their backs and allowing other actors to fill the gap, Ireland is saying very clearly that we believe in investing at source. Rather than waiting until they come to our shores and dealing with them then, we will invest in communities overseas not just because it is the right thing to do - and it absolutely is - but also because it is in our interests. It is both the selfless and the selfish thing to do.

This investment is being made against a backdrop of so many countries turning their backs on the multilateral system. Ireland believes in the United Nations. Ireland believes in the European Union. Ireland has signed up to being a global contributor. We are now one of the 20 richest countries in the world. That is something that should not be taken for granted - it is not taken for granted - and we have to ensure that we deliver a budget that can maintain that level of resilience when so many other countries are looking to make cuts or increase taxes. We have a great opportunity in front of us for the next five years, but we face so many challenges. The only way we will face those challenges is with a resilient and strong budget. It is my privilege to commend this budget and this resolution to the House.

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