Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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I am sharing my time with Deputies Stanley and Ó Caoláin.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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Is that agreed? Agreed.

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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Yesterday my colleague Deputy Pearse Doherty, Sinn Féin's spokesperson for finance, described the budget as profoundly lacking in any vision. I totally agree with him. It lacks any vision or any attempt to sketch out the most basic contours of what a fair Ireland could look like and what we might achieve. The Government, which remains in power only as long as Fianna Fáil deems it politically useful to further its own lust for power, squandered a real opportunity to produce an imaginative and progressive budget. Such a budget would have begun to grapple seriously with the enormous deficit we have in our shambolic public services. Instead, what we have is a budget that fails to tackle some of the most basic yet fundamental inequalities in our society.

Any attempt to put in place the building blocks of a universal health service free at the point of access and based on need is obviously now not even on the back burner. It is totally off the agenda. There was no attempt to deal with the issue of educational disadvantage, class sizes, third level funding or the restoration of the Traveller education grant. With regard to capital spending on infrastructure, the budget has failed miserably. Bizarrely, the big-ticket item for the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport in the absence of the announcement of a single new project is an allocation of €25 million in additional funds for the regional and local roads programme. As noted by my colleague Deputy Imelda Munster, our spokesperson on transport, "€25 million is a pathetic allocation for road improvements on secondary and regional roads." By the Minister's and his Department's own admission, we need €3 billion to bring regional and local roads up to a reasonable standard. Therefore, we need €580 million per annum to keep the network in proper condition. The Minister's allocation of €275 million per year will actually ensure that our roads continue to deteriorate after almost a whole decade of neglect. This is another example of the Government's disinterest in the maintenance and provision of infrastructure outside the greater Dublin area.

The bottom line is that when we start to talk about investment in key public services, investment in infrastructure, capital spending, public transport, housing, education, training etc., Fine Gael and those propping it up do not seem to get it or care. All of the services I have listed above are considered necessary and, indeed, normal in European countries except, it seems, Ireland. It seems the political classes who run this State, including Fianna Fáil, could not care less about children sleeping in emergency accommodation, working families living in homeless shelters or the hundreds of thousands of workers who are left to eke out a meagre living while working long hours in poor, precarious working conditions. This is the very same political class that did, of course, look after itself. The Taoiseach and Minsiters are in line for a huge increase in their wages, and Deputies are expecting a wage rise of €5,000 over the next two years. Sinn Féin opposes this.

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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Sinn Féin supported the legislation when it went through last December.

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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We will introduce legislation to change that if we get the opportunity. The pay hike came exactly the same week that the Government, including the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Mary Mitchell O'Connor, announced it had accepted the recommendation of the Low Pay Commission that workers on the minimum wage should get a 10 cent increase. How fair is that? Deputies are expecting a raise of over €5,000 and we offer those on the minimum wage 10 cent. It is difficult to find words to describe this paltry and disgraceful recommendation other than to say that it is an insult to workers and a supreme example of the gross hypocrisy at the heart of our political establishment.

This hypocrisy and gross indifference continue when it comes to young people who happen to find themselves on jobseeker's allowance. If Fianna Fáil's phoney concerns for young jobseekers were genuine, it should have raised them while writing the budget for 2017 with Fine Gael. It is a bit rich for Fianna Fáil to be crying crocodile tears now over the tiny increase young jobseekers will seek when it itself had a central role in negotiating and drafting the budget. This is a Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael budget; one should make no mistake about that. Fianna Fáil agreed to the budget that was announced this week, including the increase for jobseekers. Perhaps Fianna Fáil has only now realised that this is an issue.

Sinn Féin remains consistent in its call for the full restoration of the jobseeker's payment for all recipients regardless of age. In our alternative budget, we included a €40 increase in the payment for the under-26s as part of the restoration. I did not see this in Fianna Fáil's half-hearted, uncosted so-called "alternative budget". Does that party believe it is acceptable to abandon young people, some of whom are our most vulnerable?

I have first-hand experience of the impact of poverty and the neglect of young people on communities and society. Forty thousand of the young people on the live register are under 26. Of them, 1,625 live in Limerick and are depending on the State for their income. Shame on Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and the Independents who support them for producing this pathetic budget.

On the allocation to the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, budget 2017 saw a 10% increase in the Department's capital allocation to bring it to €555 million. This includes €52 million supposedly to support job creation and innovation and assist Irish companies to respond to Brexit. This is simply not enough. As pointed out by a number of speakers already, Brexit is happening now. Jobs are at risk as we speak. Most stakeholders will state the currency challenges and drop in sterling has already threatened 7,000 jobs in the food export sector.

The IDA has received an increase of 22%, bringing its allocation to €137 million, with a view to establishing and progressing advance factories and potentially building factories in Dundalk, Limerick and Galway. That is very welcome but it is merely the tip of the iceberg.

We have a major problem in this country of uneven spatial development with the result that the greater Dublin region is overdeveloped at the expense of the development of the rest of the country. What we need is a major capital investment programme in infrastructure across the whole country. This is not rocket science. For example, we need a proper motorway between Limerick and Cork, which is not mentioned in the Government's budget. This is a critical piece of infrastructure which everyone in Cork, Limerick and the regions says is needed for spatial strategy and spatial building. We also need to know when the much-heralded broadband programme will be rolled out. How will we ever attract foreign direct investment to the regions outside of the greater Dublin metropolitan area if we do not invest in these crucial projects?

I want to put on record my disappointment with the retention of the 9% VAT rate for the hospitality sector. This sector employs some of the lowest-paid workers in the country and is characterised by precarious and flexible - in the worst meaning of the word - work practices. It is now making huge profits yet continues to refuse to engage with the trade unions to set decent pay and conditions for the sector. As detailed in our alternative budget, Sinn Féin would have removed the 9% rate for hotels but left it for pubs and restaurants. In the interest of fairness and decency, the Government should have done the same.

The move to increase the self-employed tax credit is welcome. My party would have gone further, increasing it to €1,300, as detailed in the fully costed pre-budget submission we made. This is a fairness issue, and I am disappointed that the increase represents a dragging of feet on it. The tax credit, like other credits, should be tapered off so there is no open-ended gain for the higher earners.

There are other provisions in this budget that are also found in the Sinn Féin alternative budget. Where the Government does the right thing we will support those measures and make sure they are implemented. When it comes to tax and the USC, the measures announced in budget 2017 fail the test of fairness, fail to help those in need of a break, fail our public services and lay the seeds of another economic disaster. These are the wrong choices and they will further delay job creation and sustainable labour market development.

Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein)
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This budget, which we had anticipated and hoped would bring some good news, is disappointing. There are some measures in it that Sinn Féin looked for, as the previous speaker said, but unfortunately, they are very few and far between. There are a number of questions to be asked about the budget. Has it reduced the cost of living for those on low and middle incomes? Has it put money into their pockets? The answer to both questions is "No". Another question must be asked: will the budget improve the crisis in our public services or even deal with it in any substantial way? No. It fails that test. Will it create jobs and address the lack of investment in badly needed infrastructure such as housing, hospitals, roads and water services? Again, it fails that test.

The budget is a disappointment. It has failed to address key issues such as housing, the crisis in our health services and water services. Provision is not even made for the abolition of water charges, which the party sitting to my left promised to do prior to the general election. We have an underinvestment in infrastructure, and that is a fact. The figures are there. The EUROSTAT figures show that we are almost at the bottom of the pile in this regard. The proposed increases in expenditure on health are minimal and will do little to sustain our hospitals, such as Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise, which are stretched to breaking point year in and year out. There are 560,000 people on the hospital waiting list. What do we get? A sum of €15 million through the privatised National Treatment Purchase Fund - €15 million taken out of the system to deal with the hospital waiting list crisis.

We welcome some measures proposed in the budget. Sinn Féin has been very clear and puts a lot of emphasis on the fact that if we are critical of a proposal, we will try to address it and put forward clearly thought out, costed alternatives that work in other countries. This is not pie-in-the-sky. We set out very clearly a substantial investment in health, capital investment and day-to-day spending in health to address the shortfall in staff - in nurses and doctors - and all the other areas that need to be addressed.

We set out a clear housing programme. What does the Government do? It gives rebates to people who can purchase houses for as much as €600,000. Are they middle-income earners? Measures such as this drive up the price of houses. This is straight out of 1977 Fianna Fáil economics or maybe even boom-time, 2006 or 2007 Fianna Fáil economics. It is a replay of that.

Regarding broadband, an area about which I am very concerned, the Minister responsible has not given a definite date for the completion of the procurement process. It was supposed to be completed this year. Then, in answer to a Dáil question I submitted a few weeks ago, he said it would not be rolled out until next year. Two days ago the Minister could not confirm on what date in 2017 it will happen. In the midlands, in Laois, south Kildare and counties such as Offaly, we are very concerned about this. We need broadband to create and sustain jobs and for economic development.

As I said, we set forward very clear commitments on social housing, in which we need to invest. We need to bring down the cost of housing, and measures need to be brought in to deal with the cost of land. That is for another day, but we need to deal with it.

Regarding the cost of living, there is no point in giving €1.97 extra per week to those on €20,000 or €2.93 extra per week to those on €30,000 if the money flies out of their pockets or is taken back in other ways. We set out a number of areas in our budget proposal that we would address, and the cost of living is the key issue. We would abolish property tax and water charges and end the motor tax instalment penalties, which disproportionately affect low-income earners.

Regarding measures for the self-employed, we propose an increase in tax credits to €1,300. We welcome the fact that the Government has increased them to €900. That is a good move by the Government, but it needed to go further to bring parity with PAYE workers.

We proposed extending medical card cover to children with disabilities. We looked for that and the Government did it. A reduction in prescription charges needs to be revisited. The Government failed on that.

We proposed to increase the school books grant and tackle third-level fees, which were increased four times by the last Government, even though it promised not to increase them. Ruairí Quinn signed the famous pledge. The fees have now risen to €3,000. We wanted to reduce them, and we costed that.

Regarding rent controls, for God's sake, I have two Independent Ministers in front of me, and if they do one thing, they should try to get it into their heads that we must bring in rent controls. The rent threshold limits were increased recently, which is welcome, but we told the Government at the time, and we have been saying for five years, that if they are increased without bringing in rent controls, people will still become homeless. The last case that came through my constituency office door the other morning before I came to the Dáil was that of a family paying €600 per month in rent. They had a letter in their hands stating that the rent was now €850 per month. That is way over the limit. It is €240 over it.

There is a number of areas the Government needs to address, and this budget fails that crucial test on employment, public services and fairness.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Budget 2017 provided the Government with an opportunity to invest in and create a fairer economy. It could have been about cutting the cost of living and improving our public services and infrastructure. Ar an drochuair, a mhalairt a bhfuair muid. The budget is not about what is best for our people, economy and services. It will not end the crisis in health and housing, it will not deliver tax fairness and it will not end water charges. The Government, with the support of its friends in Fianna Fáil, has crafted a budget that will benefit a wealthy minority that will reap the rewards in the form of tax breaks for landlords and a return of €20 million in capital acquisitions tax to a few thousand people, all to the detriment of those most in need. Plus ça change.A better way is possible. Sinn Féin brought forward proposals that would invest in our future, lift the burden on working families, ensure tax fairness and deliver homes, health care and education.

The announcements made regarding the provision of disability services are miserly. There is no mention of an increase in personal assistant hours or funding for housing adaptation grants. There is no investment in our neurological services.

Those with neuro-rehabilitation needs have been ignored for too long and they deserve to lead full and meaningful lives by giving them quality, tailored rehabilitation and support. It is for that reason that Sinn Féin, as part of our alternative budget proposed an additional €3.412 million for neuro-rehabilitation teams and transitional services.

I refer to the issue of broadband. I note with concern the strong indication from the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Naughten, that there will be further delays in the procurement process of the national broadband plan, which is totally unacceptable. When the national broadband plan was initially announced in 2012 the Fine Gael and Labour Government indicated a completion date of 2018. The latest indication of a delay in awarding the procurement contract is just the latest in a string of delays to the national broadband project. All we have got in budget 2017 is another miserly €15 million.

Just over a year ago, I raised the rural broadband scheme with the then Minister, Mr. Alex White, emphasising the difficulties faced and the disadvantages involved for broadband users and aspiring users in rural areas. He told me:

The Government recognises that high-speed broadband network deployment is of strategic importance for growth and innovation in all sectors of Ireland's economy and society. On 29 September last, the Government approved an allocation of €275 million for the national broadband plan which will provide the initial stimulus required to deliver the State intervention. Combined with commercial investment, this will ensure 85% of Ireland’s premises have high-speed broadband by 2018, with 100% coverage by 2020.

Now the Minister cannot confirm the procurement process will be complete by this date, which means it is likely that the roll-out process will not have even commenced by 2018.

The provision of high-speed broadband to every home in the country would significantly benefit the economy. The Government has failed to ensure broadband is available to all the families and businesses across rural areas, so much so that we have the most pronounced two-tier coverage in Europe. Ireland sits in 20th place in Europe for national broadband connectivity and this situation is hampering job creation and development in many parts of the country - in particular in rural areas and certainly, as I know only too well, across the counties of Cavan and Monaghan. It is unacceptable and I have chosen to major on that point as so many of the others have been covered by colleagues over the three days of this debate. Ireland cannot afford further delays to broadband roll-out, as the Acting Chairman will know all too well.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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The next speakers on the Government side are the Minister, Deputy Zappone, and the Ministers of State, Deputies Halligan and Kehoe.

Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent)
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I am grateful for the opportunity to give my remarks on budget 2017.

During the negotiations leading up to the formation of the minority Government, I emphasised the importance of creating sustainable social and economic growth and greater equality through investing in services, as I believe this is the formula to tackle inequality and to drive the economy more fairly. I hope and believe this budget is better for my contribution to it as the only Independent woman in Cabinet and fairer to our citizens because of the collaborative involvement of the wider Parliament. I proposed a 4:1 ratio between spending and tax cuts back in April and I am happy that we, as a minority Government supported by Fianna Fail in opposition, are moving towards this with a total budget adjustment weighted at 3:1 towards spending.

I agree that the reduction of tax burden on working people, especially among the low- and middle-income earners, and self-employed through the cuts in the USC and improvement in the earned-income tax credit are needed, although the services in areas such a childcare, health and education will make even bigger impact in people's lives. The ground-breaking investment in child-care services which I will come back to later, along with increased spending in education, increases social welfare payments and increased health budget will outweigh the impact of any tax cuts to households on low- and middle-incomes because the enhanced public investment will provide greater potential to build a social economy with more quality jobs and equality.

I welcome a number of progressive measures in this budget that are particularly opportune. I welcome the modest increase in pensions and all working-age social welfare payments including those for lone parents. These changes will not be enough, but I am certain will somewhat help to reduce poverty and income inequality.

I also welcome the increase in income disregard for one-parent families and in the job seeker's transition allowance from €90 to €110. This is something I have campaigned for and I am proud that the minority Government has been able to deliver this in its first budget.

I am particularly pleased with the additional €500 allowance for parents in receipt of back-to-education allowance. The continuing access to higher and further education especially for lone parents has been of particular concern to me. I am pleased to see a measure that will help to make education more accessible for lone parents. The child-care package will also help to assist lone parents to achieve their career and education goals.

As a Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, I am delighted that 50,000 additional children are to benefit from school meals. Food poverty is one of the saddest manifestations of child poverty. Children suffering from malnutrition as a result of poor diets and having to attend school on empty stomachs is one of the most distressing aspects of child poverty. I will continue to do what I can to combat causes and consequences of child poverty.

I also welcome that the medical cards scheme is to be extended to all children in receipt of the domiciliary care allowance. These children need extra help and it is good that we can make a contribution to this.

Investment in education is good our society and our economy. As an educator, I am passionate about providing all of our people with opportunities which ensure greater equality across geographic regions and socioeconomic backgrounds. For this reason I strongly welcome the increased spending in education which will allow for the recruitment of an additional 2,400 teaching posts, including 900 resource teachers.

I also wish to congratulate the Minister for Finance on his effort to address further cases of misuse of our tax code by certain companies in light of the amendment proposed in the forthcoming finance Bill. However, there is scope for additional changes in this regard.

The reality of being part of the minority Government means that one sometimes has to make sacrifices in order to deliver on other goals. Raising the ceiling of capital acquisition tax is a regressive measure that will benefit very small group of individuals who are already in receipt of a windfall regarding wealth. The relatively high CAT ceiling puts our citizens on an unequal footing when some of them can now inherit such a large amount of wealth without paying any tax on it. However, as I said, I am supporting the budget, which I believe is progressive although I do not agree with this particular regressive measure.

Budget 2017 sets out a radical new approach to child care. I appreciate there has been a lot of information to digest a very short period of time in this regard. There are two new developments. First, we are targeting those on the lowest incomes; let us remember that 220,000 children woke up this morning in poverty or at risk of poverty. Each child aged between six months and 15 years from these low-income families can receive a subsidy of up to €8,000 a year. All households whose net income is below €47,500 can receive a subsidy. People on very low incomes will see their weekly contribution to full-time child-care reducing from €85 a week to about €4 a week. By anyone's standards that is radical. This creates new opportunities for these families in terms of education, training and work. More importantly it gives each child a level playing field on which to start their life's journey. In addition, we have a new universal scheme which is aimed at all children between six months and three year. They will be entitled to a subsidy of 50 cent per hour, meaning that a family with a child using the maximum of 40 hours a week will benefit by €960 a year.

I am encouraged by the response to date. I greatly welcome the public, media and political debate on child care, which is long overdue.

In that regard I certainly value parents and grandparents who do stay home, but people who want to go out to work have to be assisted and their families also deserve a chance to improve their lives. It is worth noting that 96% of eligible children are accessing our existing free preschools. They come from families of all backgrounds and circumstances, including with parents who stay at home. This weeks announcement is just the start and it is in line with years of campaigning and my election commitments. My first actions are aimed at helping those on the lowest incomes, as well as a universal measure to support families from all income backgrounds.

As Minister for Children and Youth Affairs I have specific responsibility for the provision of accessible, high quality and affordable child care for working parents. There is a lot of work to be done and I am looking forward to continuing the journey to transform Irish child care forever. With 30 years involvement in community child care in west Tallaght and as a campaigner I am keenly aware of the challenges in the sector which must be addressed. As I travel around the country meeting people on the ground there are concerns about pay, high staff turnover and the red tape and administration which the sector faces. That is why I have established a National Early Years Forum to listen to and act on the concerns of the people providing this vital service in communities.

We have taken some steps in the budget to assist providers. A total of €14.5 million is being made available. The average provider with 25 children will receive €2,400 a year as recognition for the time they must spend on paperwork and planning. We will continue working with them as the scheme is rolled out in the coming months and years. There is also a very important discussion taking place on the role of childminders. Immediately after the budget I met a number of representative groups, including Childminding Ireland, and we are working to get more childminders registered and for their role to be recognised. We have almost a year to get this right and I encourage every Member of this House, as well as the sector and those who campaign for children's rights, to have their say. As Minister, I value Deputies' inputs.

I am pleased that I secured an increase in €37 million in current funding for Tusla for 2017, which will be added to the capital provision of €13.56 million already provided to the agency for 2017. This will allow Tusla to provide child welfare and protection services to children waiting to be allocated a social worker. At the moment 20,019 children have an allocated social worker. While Tusla has made progress on this, a further 5,050 children are still waiting for an allocated a social worker. I have been assured by Tusla that all urgent cases are dealt with immediately and do not go on a waiting list. Reducing the number, and eventually eliminating the waiting list, is a key priority for me and for Tusla.

There will be a strong focus on adoption legislation in the coming months. The Adoption (Amendment) Bill has passed Second Stage and deliberations will commence on Committee Stage in early November. In addition, the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill will be enacted this year. Funding has been provided for the allocation of additional staff to help with the adoptions of children who will now be eligible for adoption and for an information campaign to ensure that birth parents and adopted persons are aware of the provisions of the Adoption (Information and Tracing) Bill. As a Minister of this Government, I recommend this budget to the Oireachtas and I hope it will deliver equality and fairness to the Irish people as that has certainly been its aim for all of us.

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
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I welcome the opportunity to address the House on budget 2017 and in particular, the increased allocation in my Department’s innovation budget for next year. Innovation and technology are key drivers of Irish economy. Continued investment in innovation, research and development has been crucial for attracting, creating and maintaining high value jobs as well as developing and nurturing a technologically advanced workforce. I am pleased to say that in budget 2017 the Government is committed to increasing the funding available for research, development and innovation supports. My Department’s capital allocation for 2017 for investment in research, development and innovation will be €323 million, an increase of €15 million over 2016 levels.

This Department of Education and Skills investment is part of the picture in terms of the wider goals set out by Government in Innovation 2020. The investments through the Department have to be considered alongside the investments through the Department of Education and Skills and other Departments. The 2017 capital allocation of €323 million will assist a range of key research funding supports and activities led in particular by Science Foundation Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and the Tyndall National Institute.

I will outline some of the key research and innovation initiatives that will be supported in 2017. Science Foundation Ireland, SFI, will see its capital budget increase by €5.5 million bringing it to €162 million in 2017. This capital investment will enable Science Foundation Ireland to invest in excellent and impactful research for Ireland. It will allow SFI to make the following new investments in the coming 12 months: an increase in the number of large scale research centres, additional new strategic partnerships with industry and funding of up to 50 new awards to excellent senior, mid and early-career researchers through the SFI Investigators and SFI career development award programmes.

The SFI budget in 2017 will also allow it continue to support its existing 12 SFI research centres of excellence that are focused on areas of national strategic importance. In 2017, SFI will support the recruitment of eight to ten internationally renowned researchers through the SFI research professorship and SFI research funding leader programmes. A number of strategic partnerships with international research agencies will also be supported with an increased focus on UK research councils and other funding bodies, in light of Brexit. Education and public engagement are also critical, through the SFI Discovery programme. SFI will invest in projects which promote STEM, science, technology, engineering and mathematics education and public engagement.

Enterprise Ireland will see its capital budget for research and development supports increase by €4.4 million in 2017 bringing it to €122 million. Enterprise Ireland’s increased capital allocation for research, development and innovation programmes will enable the agency to develop new supports aimed at increasing the ability of indigenous companies to carry out research and development, develop new products and services and access new markets. The additional capital allocation will fund a number of new initiatives including a new programme for business innovation initiatives aimed at driving company innovation towards more customer focused product and service solutions. The funding will also enable the roll out of a small business innovation research programme, following successful pilots, to leverage the considerable national public procurement budget to drive innovation in small and medium enterprises. It will also assist in scaling up of activity under the recently launched Health Innovation Hub Ireland, and enhance the supports to help companies access non-Exchequer research funding, including through the EU Horizon 2020 programme. I am pleased to inform the House that, to the end of September, Ireland has won over €336 million in competitive Horizon 2020 funding. This figure is ahead of where

we expected to be at this point in time with regard to our national target.

I am pleased to announce an increase in the budget allocation to the Tyndall National Institute. The capital investment of €4.5 million will enable this fantastic institution to grow its interactions with industry substantially both in Ireland and internationally and target non-Exchequer income of up to €6 million in 2017. The funding will help the institution to build on its national leadership in postgraduate training by producing up to 30 highly skilled postgraduate researchers at PhD level for industry in 2017.

The objective of this investment is to foster and enable Ireland to delve into world class innovation systems. The investment also ensures Ireland is connected and respected internationally. Ireland’s ranking in the Innovation Union Scoreboard has moved from tenth place in 2013 to sixth place in 2016, and Ireland is currently grouped with other nations known as strong innovators.

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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The combined 2017 defence allocation of €922 million is comprised of €692 million on defence Vote 36 and €235 million on Army pensions Vote 35. This represents an increase of €10 million within the defence Vote and €6 million within the Army pension Vote in 2017. This increased allocation will allow the Defence Forces to deliver on their operational outputs, at home and overseas. The 2017 pay allocation of some €497 million allows for the pay and allowances of up to 9,500 Permanent Defence Force personnel, 550 civilian employees and 350 civil servants. Funding of over €2 million for the Reserve Defence Force is included in the allocation.

2 o’clock

The Permanent Defence Force has conducted a recruitment campaign targeting an intake of approximately 600 general service recruits in 2016. In addition, there have been 97 officer cadets in 2016, the highest cadet intake in the history of the State. Plans are also in place to continue with general service recruitment in 2017. I am committed to ongoing recruitment in the Defence Forces to reach the established strength figure of 9,500. We will recruit significantly more personnel this year and next year than in previous years, and I have ensured the Defence Forces vote has the necessary funding to do this.

A capital spending allocation of €74 million represents an increase of €7 million on the 2017 defence allocation contained in the 2016 to 2021 capital investment programme. This allocation will facilitate the investment necessary to ensure the Defence Forces have the equipment and infrastructure to deliver on all their roles as set out in the White Paper. Broad areas I identified for capital expenditure in 2017 include the acquisition of armoured logistical vehicles for overseas missions, the further development of the armoured personnel carrier fleet, the replacement of Air Corps aircraft and the replacement of naval vessels in the Naval Service flotilla. In 2017 we will also continue to invest in the Defence Forces built infrastructure, improving barracks throughout the country. Next week, we will commission the third ship in the naval vessel replacement programme. At a total cost of €199 million, these purchases represent excellent value for money and have strengthened Ireland's capabilities quite considerably. We will continue this investment and I confirm an additional ship of the same class as the previous purchases is due for delivery in 2018 at a cost of €67 million.

I recognise the work of the men and women of the Irish Defence Forces. As of 1 September, Ireland was contributing 498 personnel to 11 overseas missions. This includes continued commitment to search and rescue humanitarian efforts in the Mediterranean. The work of the Irish Naval Service is a great source of pride. Its efforts in rescuing more than 13,400 migrants represents the very best of our Defence Forces contribution to international peace and security efforts. Many lives have been saved as a result of their efforts. We should also be very proud and appreciative of the overseas peacekeeping efforts of all Defence Forces in various missions. I acknowledge the contribution of the Reserve Defence Force. It is powered by a strong volunteer base and its dedication to its support role to the Permanent Defence Force is greatly appreciated and I look forward to the continued development of the Reserve Defence Force.

The allocation also supports civil defence. I thank the 4,000 civil defence volunteers for their efforts in supporting front-line emergency services and the tremendous value they provide to every community in the State.

There will be a €6 million increase in the provision for the Army pensions vote for 2017. Approximately 12,200 pensioners will be paid by the Department from the Army pensions vote, and the increased allocation will help address the growing demands on this vote. The increased allocation for 2017 will ensure continued provision of the necessary resources to the Defence Forces to enable them undertake all roles assigned by the Government at home and overseas. It recognises and acknowledges the high levels of professionalism and ability evident in the Irish Defence Forces.

Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The backdrop to the budget is a housing crisis that is being felt in every part of the country. We face intertwined problems of endemic homelessness, spiralling rents, insufficient social housing and a stagnant private market. For an entire generation, the basic aspiration of home ownership is slipping away. The dream of having a place to call one's own around which one can build a vibrant family life and play an active role in the local community is disappearing. Instead of putting down roots, young people are paying up to landlords.

We need to give ordinary workers who are getting going in their lives, who are newly married or who are starting a family a real chance at owning their own homes. However, the first time buyers grant announced is not the solution they need. The Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Coveney, has conceded that the first time buyers grant is not a silver bullet, but he is firing the starting gun on a new property price race. Overall, the €20,000 grant will see more money chasing the same few homes. Builders will simply boost prices to get higher profits, which they need or which their banks demand. The cost of building a new home will remain fundamentally unaddressed. A young couple will find themselves using the grant just to try outbid other couples armed with the same amount looking at the same home.

This will have wider implications beyond just first time buyers. Homeowners looking to trade up are the Cinderella of the property market. These families, who have outgrown their old home or who have just escaped from negative equity, will also be hit by artificially spiked prices. Those trading up have been entirely neglected in the Central Bank rules and will now have to compete with first time buyers armed with an additional €20,000 to outbid them. The help to buy scheme or, rather, the help to sell scheme, is a demand-side solution to a supply-side problem

The extremes of the scheme are the sharp end of Fine Gael's two-tiered outlook on this country. The €600,000 limit imposed is completely off the wall. It is out of sync with the reality of ordinary first time buyers. The average overall cost of providing a three-bed semi-detached house of 1,214 sq. ft. in the greater Dublin area is €330,493, including VAT. The €600,000 limit is almost double this, which effectively turns the scheme into nothing more than a mansion grant. A new home worth €600,000 would require a €98,000 deposit and an income of at least €145,000. This is four times the average industrial wage. A couple earning this when starting out in life does not need €20,000 from the State, which is struggling to tackle a social housing waiting list of 130,000 homes. It means ordinary taxpayers are directly subsidising people earning four times the average wage to buy a home worth three times the national average price of a three-bed semi-detached house.

I do not agree with the scheme. I expressed my concerns to the Minister, Deputy Coveney, about the potential of the scheme a number of weeks ago. I asked him to carry out an impact assessment. This morning, the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Bruton, told us this was carried out. If it was carried out, and I doubt it very much, it will have serious implications for the Cabinet and it needs to be published immediately.

I beg members of the Government to examine the scheme and see the blatant unfairness of it at its extremes, by which I mean not capping the grant for houses at €400,000 and allowing the grant to €600,000. Those who can afford to buy such homes are not the squeezed middle. They are not an ordinary young couple, just married, looking to buy a semi-detached house and start a family. They are not young gardaí, young nurses or young teachers. They are not young professionals who have studied hard and worked hard while their parents paid a lot to put them through college. What the Government is financing and giving to those who can afford homes at this rate is a mansion grant. If they were considering buying a house three weeks ago for €580,000 they do not need an extra €20,000 now to pay €600,000 for it. This will undoubtedly turn a two tier recovery into a two tier property market. Those first time buyers a few years into their careers, struggling to save and pay rent will be not be served by further spiking prices on homes that will never be within their reach.

I want to make clear that Fianna Fáil believes in home ownership. We believe it is good for families and good for communities. Having something to pass onto future generations and a firm sense of place is a basic and fundamental human desire.

This means that the State should provide the framework and stable market to enable people to buy their own homes in keeping with their needs, but we cannot allow that dream transform into a nightmare cycle of highs and lows and booms and busts. We put forward a clear proposal in our manifesto to help first-time buyers to save their deposit. It is a gradual scheme over a number of years that would ensure prices did not increase rapidly while helping ordinary couples to get the money together to buy their first home. In contrast, the Government has gone for a big bang approach. It is an electoral Trojan horse that is using young couple’s legitimate aspirations against them.

The key issue to be addressed is supply. A total of 25,000 units per annum are needed to meet demographic demand. We need to address the cost of construction rather than turbo charge house prices. The VAT rate, finance costs, certification costs and development levies could all be reduced by direct State intervention, but the Government has not chosen to take that route. My colleagues and I are committed to playing a constructive role and will table amendments to the Finance Bill when it is brought forward. I hope the Minister and the Government are willing to engage in meaningful discussions on how we could, at the very least, improve the scheme if it is to proceed. If we do not learn from the past, we are condemned to repeat its mistakes. Let us not go back to back to the future with this proposal. We can do better and an entire generation who are renting and scrimping and saving every spare few bob deserve better, but they will not be served by this scheme.

I mentioned to the Minister a number of weeks ago my concerns about the proposals being reported in the media related to the scheme. I said that at the very least he needed to conduct a regulatory impact assessment and make the findings public. If that has been done, we need to see them quickly, but I have my doubts because every dog on the street will tell us the impact the scheme will have. It will drive price increases, while the Government fails to address the supply issue. The Minister refused to consider a proposal put forward by the Housing Finance Agency under which the State would take equity in homes. In the event of an upturn, this would generate a benefit to the State and if there was a downturn, it would mean that there would be a safety net for purchasers. That would have been an acknowledgement of what happened in the past and learning from it. Instead, we have the big bang approach and populist politics. It is an effort to appease south Dublin Fine Gael voters. No mistake should be made about this. A cap of €400,000 needs to be set in Dublin city where the crisis is greatest and in adjoining counties such as Louth, Meath, Kildare and Wicklow. I plead with the Minister not to allow this to happen. The Government is sleepwalking into another crisis and price war. If the limit was set at €400,000, land prices would be fixed and if people wanted to continue hoarding land, the Minister could levy them. At least they would have to cut their cloth to the measure of the building sector which could then provide homes to meet demand. People are struggling as it is to buy homes at a cost of €360,000 or €380,000. That will not be the case after the scheme comes into force and I ask the Minister to reconsider. We will table amendments which we expect him to take seriously. We also expect him to acknowledge that what he has proposed cannot be allowed to happen.

Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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I am happy enough as education spokesperson that some of the items for which Fianna Fáil has fought in the past few months have been addressed by the Government. We agreed in a confidence and supply agreement with Fine Gael some months ago a number of education policy initiatives which we wanted to have implemented. However, it has been like pulling hen's teeth or like getting blood out of a stone to get the Minister for Education and Skills to realise the importance of the issues we have highlighted.

The Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Helen McEntee is present. The second level mental health strategy mentions the importance of guidance counselling and the service has been allocated €2 million, one of the smallest allocations made in the budget. I had to have meetings, issue press releases and beg and remind the Minister of what had been included in the confidence and supply agreement, while my colleague, Deputy Dara Calleary, had to do the same with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. It is extraordinary. There was a similar scenario regarding third level funding. The Minister only published his action plan - an action plan for Action Man - a number of weeks ago and there were only two lines in it about third level funding. To prove his lack of vision for the entire education sector, following the exertion of significant pressure by Fianna Fáil to do the right thing for students and invest in third level, a three-year plan was announced in the budget to fund higher education, which I welcome is so far as it goes. However, the Minister had to be dragged kicking and screaming to do the right thing. There was nothing in the action plan, but because of the severe pressure exerted by Fianna Fáil and the third level sector, we have succeeded and he has been forced to address the issue of third level funding. It is a pity that that had to happen because it was the right thing to do. It is important for the country and the initiative is about action, not words. We are glad that we played a role in the making of the €35 million allocation to the third level sector, but the Minister needs to go further and take third level education seriously. His lack of vision is a danger to the education sector.

The Minister and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform also belatedly addressed the issue of the remuneration of newly qualified teachers. They accepted that something would have to be done by starting the process of negotiation. We knew that this would happen because something similar had been done for firefighters, but, again, the Government had to be dragged kicking and screaming to do something. The agreement was inevitable, but instead of arriving at it promptly, it was not finalised until after the summer and, most dangerous of all, following the announcement by the ASTI that it would ballot its members for industrial action. I tried to make the Minister aware that an announcement on newly qualified teachers should be made before the ASTI ballot. Whatever happened between the Departments of Education and Skills and Public Expenditure and Reform, that message was not understood and the announcement was not made until afterwards. There is a protest outside Leinster House, which is unnecessary, because if the Government had done its job in dealing with the issue of newly qualified teachers for whom €10 million has been allocated in the budget, everything could have turned out differently and there might be industrial peace in the education sector among teachers, whom we value greatly, regardless of whatever union they are members. Fundamentally, education is about teachers and pupils. The Minister's lack of vision, therefore, is deeply worrying. Action plans and lists of items to be ticked off are not sufficient. It is not enough to say, "We are publishing this report in quarter 4 and this document in quarter 2." There must be an overall vision of what education means. Education is about providing the best prospects for young people, imparting the best rounded value system to them and informing them about what they need to know about life, how to engage in society and find a job. That overall vision will never be achieved by a box ticking exercise related to administrative tasks within the Department. Unfortunately, officials in the Department seem to be engaged in such an exercise in order that they can say they have completed all of these tasks, while the sector is left to fend for itself in many ways.

The issue of reform of the junior cycle curriculum was raised at the education committee earlier. A sum of €10.5 million has been allocated for the reform programme, while ignoring the fact that half of schools are not delivering the programme. We are at this point because of the lackadaisical attitude towards the end of the previous Government and at the beginning of the current one. According to the Minister, pupils will lose 10% of their marks in the junior certificate examinations if they attend an ASTI school. The Minister of State with responsibility for mental health services can ask her officials and experts to assess what impact this will have on pupils, given the stress they will have to endure this year. It is entirely unacceptable. The reforms have to be undertaken in some schools in December. The ASTI will have to ballot its members again if the decision is to be reversed and time is running out.

I understand that, from last November until June this year, when the new Government got settled in, almost nothing was done in respect of junior certificate reform or talking to the ASTI to resolve its issues. It was left blowing in the wind and children are left to suffer when this happens. The Department needs to go beyond ticking boxes but it did not even tick the box in this case. It allocated €10.5 million but ignored the elephant in the room, which was the fact that it was not being taught to half of our students, with all the consequences that entailed for them. It is simply not good enough.

Fianna Fáil is disappointed with some of the items in the education budget. The Minister spoke about an extra €485 million for education, but only approximately €130 million is actually new money, the rest being for demographic change and to provide new teachers for the increased number of children in our schools. We welcome progress on the postgraduate grant, on guidance counselling and on third level but there has been no reduction in the pupil-teacher ratio this year. In line with the confidence and supply agreement we have with Government, this will have to be addressed. It is a condition of Fianna Fáil's willingness to abstain on budget votes and to allow the Government to remain in office so the Minister will have to look at it for next year. He should forget about the action plan and ticking boxes and look instead at the overall vision and practical measures to help schools. The pupil-teacher ratio is one we have identified as a priority but capitation is also in this category. If capitation was properly dealt with we would take a huge amount of pressure from schools, principals, boards of management, parents' councils and children themselves. Rather than putting out reports, many of which have been shown in this budget to be meaningless by the complete change of direction on third level, the Minister should concentrate on those issues which will have a real impact on the lives of our pupils at primary level, such as the guidance offered to students and funding for third level which will result in more teachers. These are practical items which we have been pushing and the Minister needs to draw up a shortlist of those that will work. It is a short list but it will make a difference.

We are getting lot of criticism from Sinn Féin but I do not really want to talk about them. Deputy Pearse Doherty mentioned Fianna Fáil 30 times in his speech in the Dáil the other day. Our Members' ears are burning and if one did a word count of the speech one would find that Fianna Fáil was right at the centre of Sinn Féin thinking. However, Sinn Féin and Fine Gael are not at the centre of our thinking, nor should they be. The people of Ireland are at the centre of our thinking, as are the policies that will make change happen for them. It is not about party political nonsense or playacting or putting motions down that mean nothing but trying to get results. At times it is difficult to get results but at least we are trying and we can show that we are getting results. We can show that guidance counselling is back in education and that postgraduate grants for the poorest in society are back. We can show that the effort and noise Fianna Fáil made on third-level funding has been listened to and has had an impact in the form of more teachers in that sector next year. Fianna Fáil is about delivering for the people and about keeping the promise we made to the electorate and this is exactly what we have done. In an age when there is huge cynicism about politicians, keeping one's promise is something we feel is deeply important.

Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail)
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The next speakers are the Government Ministers, Deputies Simon Harris, Catherine Byrne, Helen McEntee, Finian McGrath and Marcella Corcoran Kennedy. They will speak for 20 minutes and be followed by Fianna Fáil Deputies Billy Kelleher, Niamh Smyth and Aindrias Moynihan for 20 minutes. Is the Minister sharing time?

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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Yes, I will speak for eight minutes. I agree with one point made by Deputy Byrne, namely, the one on the centre holding. There are many people on the extreme of Irish politics who would not have thought that we could have delivered a budget and who did not do anything to contribute to that process.

I am grateful for the opportunity to address the House on the budget and the 2017 health Estimates. This is my first year as Minister for Health to address the House on this important matter. I am particularly pleased to be in a position to talk about a budget that will place the health service on a more sustainable financial footing and allow the Health Service Executive to set realistic and achievable targets for service areas in the year ahead.

I believe the message of the people at the last election was very clear - they wanted to see the gains of a recovering economy invested in the services people depend on and I believe this budget demonstrates that the Government has listened to that message. This year, 2016, is the first in many years that the health Vote has come in on budget. This is a direct result of the Government providing an additional €500 million funding to the health Vote last July to improve the base funding of health and to break the cycle of Supplementary Estimates that had developed in recent years.

The improving economy has enabled the health service to achieve much-needed budget increases in each of the past two years. The fact that it has come in on budget means we can use the funding we have received in this year's budget for services and service development, rather than to fill some black hole or overrun. The additional funding provided during the course of 2016 gave me, as Minister for Health, the opportunity to address some immediate issues facing colleagues, such as investment in a winter initiative to manage overcrowding in emergency departments, in addition to meeting commitments in A Programme for a Partnership Government.

I am pleased to announce that once again the Government is asking the Oireachtas to allocate additional Exchequer funding for the health sector for 2017. The gross current budget for the health sector for 2017 is €14.152 billion. This is equivalent to an increase of €457 million on the 2016 allocation of €13.695 billion voted through the year. The provision for 2017 represents a 7.4% increase on the original voted budget for 2016, and a 3.5% increase on the final projected 2016 outturn. The health Vote for 2017 has increased by 9.4% over the 2015 outturn position, recognising the Government's commitment to providing a health service that seeks to improve the health and well being of the people.

The additional funding secured will continue to ease the pressure on the health service to provide the optimum level of safe services for patients within the budgetary limits. However, there are still real fiscal challenges facing the health service. Health care demands continue to rise due to our growing and ageing population, an increasing incidence of chronic conditions and advances in medical technologies and treatments. Accordingly, we must continue to focus on effective financial management, cost containment and cost avoidance.

I am pleased to confirm that there will be no increase to prescription charges, the monthly DPS threshold or income thresholds for eligibility for medical or GP visit cards. Funding for fair deal will be maintained at an appropriate level to meet demand and keep waiting times at a maximum of four weeks. I believe this shows the Government's continuing commitment to stabilising the direct cost of health services for citizens. I am grateful to my ministerial colleagues, Deputies Noonan and Donohoe, for their support and understanding in dealing with the challenges faced by the health sector.

The level of health services to be provided within the available funding will be set out in the HSE's 2017 national service plan, which is currently being prepared by the executive. However, I will outline some of the issues which will be more extensively covered in the service plan. My ministerial colleagues, Deputies McGrath, McEntee, Corcoran Kennedy and Byrne, will be setting out information related to their own areas of responsibility so I will not do so here.

Under this budget, an additional €15 million will be allocated to the national treatment purchase fund, NTPF, to deliver a waiting list initiative in 2017 specifically directed towards providing treatment for our longest-waiting patients, because this is vital. This brings the funding available to the NTPF to €20 million in 2017, rising to €50 million in 2018, a total of €70 million illustrating this Government's commitment to improving waiting times for patients. In August, the HSE developed a waiting list action plan focused on reducing the numbers of longest-waiting patients. Throughout 2017, my Department will continue to work with the HSE on reducing waiting times through driving efficiencies and process improvements, with a particular focus on adherence to chronological scheduling and validating waiting lists. The NTPF is up and running now but this is not an excuse for the rest of our system to do everything it can possibly do to improve waiting times.

I am delighted that the €40 million allocated as part of the additional €500 million voted in July has been provided on a recurring basis for the winter initiative. This is important because winter happens every year. This funding is crucial in enabling winter-preparedness measures across our health service and in reducing overcrowding pressures in our hospitals.

The coming winter the initiative will deliver an additional 950 home care packages, an additional 58 transitional care bed approvals weekly; an additional 55 acute beds and an additional 18 step-down beds, as well as expansion of community intervention teams across four areas of the country and minor injury services in the Dublin area. The winter pressures on hospitals cannot only be resolved by additional provision in acute hospitals. We must also drive down the number of delayed discharges. I accept that there is a need for a bed capacity review and, probably, much more investment in bed capacity, but there are beds in the health service that are being occupied by patients who do not wish to be in them and do not medically need to be in them. For this reason, the focus of the winter initiative and the budget is on home care packages, transitional care beds, step-down beds, community intervention teams and so on. We also need to put in place a new GP contract.

I welcome the additional funding for acute and emergency services, which represents an increase of over €90 million on the revised allocation in 2016. The increased allocations in 2017 for acute hospitals, the National Ambulance Service and the National Cancer Control Programme demonstrate my commitment and that of the Government to driving key policy and strategic initiatives to improve and expand acute care and emergency services for patients. This funding will enable continued progress to be made on initiatives such as the delivery of the new national children’s hospital, implementation of Ireland's first maternity strategy and the winter initiative and drive improvements and expansion in cancer care for patients, ambulance services, waiting lists and paediatric services. We are also making provision for 1,000 new nurses to join the health service. I was pleased to be able to announce today an improvement in the pay of nurses who graduated between 2011 and 2015 by way of the restoration of their increments from January next.

In 2017, in line with the commitment in A Programme for a Partnership Government, we will increase investment in ambulance services. The capacity report identifies significant deficits in ambulance services which we will need to address incrementally in the next few years. Additional funding provided in 2016 has allowed us to start that process and the provision of further additional funds for 2017 will facilitate the development of the intermediate care service. This service focuses on providing transport for low acuity patients, including inter-hospital patient transfers. Through investing in the intermediate care service, we aim to free up the emergency fleet for emergency calls, thus improving the service overall.

On primary care services, it is proposed to progress the delivery of medical cards for all children in receipt of the domiciliary care allowance, as well as the new GP contract that is badly needed. My colleagues will outline other measures.

Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)
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I welcome the €3 million being provided to support drug and social inclusion measures in 2017. This will bring the total funding available to the HSE for social inclusion services to over €131 million. The Department also provides more than €6 million for drugs and local task forces. The additional funding announced in the budget will enable the HSE to continue to provide initiatives aimed at improving the health outcomes of the most vulnerable in our society, including those affected by addiction issues, those experiencing homelessness, Travellers and the Roma community, asylum seekers and refugees. It will also help to fund the national drugs strategy, the pilot supervised injection facility, services for young people under 18 years and detoxification beds for adults. The Government, in providing this €3 million, is committed to a health-led response to the drug problem.

Other areas that come within my remit are housing and homelessness. I welcome the €42.4 million being provided for the social inclusion and community activation programme, SICAP, through which approximately 45,000 people will receive direct one-to-one labour market training and support, 2,800 local community groups will be assisted, 20,000 individuals will receive educational support and 25,000 individuals will receive employment support. I am delighted to announce that €2 million is being made available for the roll-out of a new community development scheme which will be targeted at disadvantaged urban and rural areas and fund projects that seek to enhance communities, address disadvantage and improve social services at local level. My experience during the years has been that very often community groups require small levels of funding to build capacity and get projects off the ground. I hope the new scheme will be the starting block to enable communities that do not often receive funding to begin some work on the ground.

Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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This is the first budget of the new partnership Government. It is also the first budget comprised of input from members of all parties and Independents in this House through the Committee on Budgetary Oversight. This is a new and positive move.

The context of the budget is the need for fairness. We must see a matching social recovery to mirror the economic recovery and give people a sense of hope and certainty. That is why the balance of spending is 2:1 in favour of public services. Again, this spending must be prudent and sustainable or we risk giving false hope and having to cut back again if times become tough internationally.

Throughout tough economic times in this country we have continued to invest in mental health services. Between 2012 and this year, funding increased by€150 million, or 16.25%. In budget 2017 the investment of recent years in mental health services will be consolidated and increased. I am pleased to say €35 million for new services will be initiated in 2017. This is in addition to the €35 million provided in 2016 which remains in the base of the funding. As in previous years and anticipating that projects initiated next year will not all be completed in that calendar year, I have decided to allocated capital funding of over €50 million for the award of the contract for the construction of the new national forensic mental health service in Portrane, the total cost of which will be in excess of €115 million. This major capital project will include a new 120-bed hospital, two new ten-bed units for mental health intellectual disability and mental health child and adolescent services. It is a huge step in the bid to bring services into the 21st century. Overall, €74.7 million in additional funding will be spent on mental health services next year.

It is also my objective to be able to allow older people to make their own choices in as much as possible. This will require the provision of a range of services and supports to allow them to remain in their own homes and communities for as long as they can, ensuring that if and when the time comes, affordable and quality residential care will be available to them. As the Minister has pointed out, the nursing home support scheme will be funded to the tune of €940 million in 2017, which will allow waiting times for placement following approval of funding to remain at a maximum of four weeks. Overall funding for services for older people has increased to €765 million, an €82 million increase on the amount provided in last year's service plan. This funding is focused on additional provision of home care services to ensure older people can remain in their homes and facilitate the discharge of older people from acute hospitals.

Two thirds of the €40 million provided for the winter initiative 2016-17 is being spent on social care services, home care packages and transitional care beds which cater primarily for older people. The budget provides for a continuation of the €30 million provision and the provision of an additional €10 million for home care packages in 2017. Further details will be announced in the service plan when work on it has been completed in the coming weeks.

The budget matches vision with prudence and progress with sustainability. It represents stage one in the three-year agreement of the partnership Government and the collective work of all parties but most especially the work of Fine Gael and its Independent colleagues who have taken responsibility in government and are not seeking credit from the sidelines. I thank the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, for their work on the budget which I commend to the House.

Finian McGrath (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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I welcome opportunity to speak about this important budget. While listening to the debate in the past few days I heard many colleagues speak about the need for vision, planning and so on. A programme for a Partnership Government and the budget are big on vision in having a comprehensive implementation plan and providing for a huge investment in health, disability and education services. These are all practical items.

Being in government is not about having power but about using power to effect the changes, provide the opportunities and compassion we need and desire in our society. A Programme for a Partnership Government references a strong economy and a fair and compassionate society for everyone. The budget is about meeting that objective.

On disability services, I welcome the increased allocation provided in budget 2017 to address a number of priorities, as provided for in the programme for Government, including the additional funding of €31 million secured earlier this year. The allocation for disability services will increase to over €1.654 billion in 2017, compared to the €1.562 billion provided in the national service plan 2016, or an increase of €92 million.

The additional funding includes money for pay, as well as to fund development and meet key priorities. The key priorities for me will be the provision of residential and day care places for all adults with disabilities. We must also ensure we deal with speech therapy and occupational therapy issues. These are important services which will be dealt with in the next 12 months. It was an historic moment when €10 million was provided for medical cards for children who qualified for the domiciliary care allowance. This is very important because the measure will benefit more than 6,000 children.

It is important to note the major contribution of the Independent Alliance to the budget, particularly in the extension of medical cards but also in the 25% reduction in the maximum prescription charge from €25 to €20 per month for the over-70s with a medical card. We worked very closely with all of our colleagues on the investment of €50 million in the National Treatment Purchase Fund and, of course, the increase in the social welfare Christmas bonus from 75% to 85% of the full weekly payment. Those who say the budget is not full of practical ideas should note that it is riddled with practical, sensible ideas and based on having a just and compassionate society.

Marcella Corcoran Kennedy (Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Everyone is aware of the need to take more action to promote and improve health and well-being. It is clear from the results of the first wave of the Healthy Ireland survey launched late last year that there are many threats to the health and well-being of people living in Ireland. Obesity, tobacco consumption, alcohol abuse and physical inactivity rates are leading to increases in the levels of chronic conditions and putting a significant strain on the health service. I will launch the second round of results of the survey next week to build on the evidence available on the need to take action on this front. The results of the survey are assisting us in targeting actions to promote healthy lifestyles.

I am delighted that the increase in expenditure on health and well-being initiatives is 4.9%, versus an overall increase of 3% in the health budget. This shows that the Government understands the importance of prevention and is committed to helping people to stay healthy.

In 2017 we will commit €2.5 million to fund the continued extension of BreastCheck to all women aged 50 to 69 years on an incremental basis. That decision was made by the last Government and is being continued with by the Government. I am delighted that we are able to allocate €7.8 million for the expansion of the child vaccine programme to allow us to commence the rotavirus and meningitis B vaccines programme for newborns.

I welcome the increase in the price of tobacco products as this is positive for health and well-being and achieving our aim to have Ireland tobacco-free by 2025. While we have made significant progress in getting smoking rates into a downward trend, it is clear that we must continue to make progress. I recognise that many people are addicted to nicotine products. I also know that many of the people concerned wish to quit. I urge them to contact the HSE's QUIT service to avail of the supports available.

I look forward to having discussions with my officials and the HSE in the coming days and weeks to agree ways by which a range of priorities can be advanced in tackling obesity, physical inactivity, smoking and alcohol consumption levels, as well as promoting sexual health and childhood vaccination. I am particularly pleased with the establishment of the Healthy Ireland fund, a major initiative that will allow the Government to support innovative, cross-sectoral, evidence-based projects, programmes and initiatives that support implementation of key national policies on tackling obesity, smoking and alcohol consumption levels and promoting physical activity and sexual health. Healthy Ireland seeks to empower people and communities to improve their health and well-being. In that regard, the fund will make a real difference. It will help us to work with our partners in other Departments and agencies to provide appropriate support and guidance on how best to address these broad determinants of health.

I refer to the sugar and sweetened drinks levy, on which the Minister for Finance made a strong statement on its introduction following a public consultation process which will close on 9 January next year. A consultation paper was published on budget day, on which day the Department of Health also published the evidence that supported the policy which aimed to reduce consumption and effect behavioural change.

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the opportunity to speak in the budget debate in the context of where we are as a society, an economy and a people but also politically in terms of the make-up of the Parliament subsequent to the general election. It is a new dispensation for many Members and it is important to accept that we are finding our way to see how we can work to ensure stability in government, as well as ensuring we have a Government that will do the right thing for the people. In that context, it is fair to say we are trying to move the Government in a different direction. The budget is the first phase in that process. When one analyses the impact and changes in direction in the budget from those which were regressive in the past five years to one which is more progressive, one sees a welcome initiative, but, of course, it is only a step. A great deal of harm has been done to society in the past few years in the pressure exerted on families and individuals. A great deal must be done to ensure it is healed and that we will have a cohesive society which can collectively work through the various challenges confronting individuals and, more importantly, society.

I would like to elaborate on the budget a great deal more than I can, but we are short on time. There are a number of issues that confront us, including Brexit and the profound implications it may have for the economy. The greatest threat to investment and business is uncertainty which diminishes confidence and the capacity of business to invest, create jobs and generate tax revenue.

The other key issues include the broader global political issues beyond our shores. Elections are to be held in France and Germany next year, not to mention the presidential election in the United States of America. There is also in the background, of course, the Apple tax issue. There are concerns about whether the decisions of the Revenue Commissioners and their questioning by the European Commission will undermine our ability to attract foreign direct investment. They are big picture issues, but they impact on our ability in the Chamber to divert scarce resources towards the areas most in need. In that context, we must be ambitious. While we are constrained by the Stability and Growth Pact, we must become imaginative about how we access funding on the capital markets to invest long-term in the provision of infrastructure. I am not only talking about roads and railways but also the expansion of the economy to ensure we will have the capacity to deal with the inevitable demographic pressures, the potential upturn in the economy and the fallout, both positive and negative, from Brexit in companies looking to have their headquarters in this country and use our facilities to access the European market. There are many challenges but opportunities also. To a huge extent the Stability and Growth Pact has tied our hands in seeking access to money, but the State can now borrow at a rate of 0.33% for a ten-year bond. This is the time for us as a people to be imaginative, brave and ambitious for ourselves and those who will come after us. We should be making long-term investments in the productive economy. However, that is an area in which the Government has fallen down to a certain extent. The capital programme and the statements that support it lack ambition. They show no creativity and imagination in setting out a vision for what we need as a people to ensure the productive capacity of the economy can be sustained in the years ahead. Much of that issue needs to be revisited. We have called for the establishment of a commission on infrastructure and public investment to analyse in a critical way what will be required in the next few years and beyond the horizon and plan accordingly.

In my area of responsibility, health, Fianna Fáil welcomes the fact that the Minister, Deputy Simon Simon Harris, spoke earlier. He showed a commitment to ensuring we will have sustainable health budgets. The last five were pretend budgets; they were made up. The Government would wander in with a figure which had been plucked out of the sky to pretend that it actually had a sustainable budget to fund health care services. Obviously, it did not because we consistently and regularly had supplementary budgets. The confidence and supply arrangement between my party and the Government includes provision to ensure multi-annual budgeting. The health system cannot plan on an annual basis. It must look at what will happen in the longer term in terms of recruitment and investment to ensure it will have the necessary capacity.

I welcome some of the initiatives announced. Everybody is falling over each other to take credit, but I want issues to be addressed and resolved. There are action plans for education, health, transport, disability services and a plethora of other areas, but we need action plans that can be implemented in a meaningful way.

Has Sinn Féin again taken up its abstentionist policy? There is no Sinn Féin Deputy in the Chamber. Sometimes they turn up. It would be welcome if they were here now because yesterday Deputy Mary Lou McDonald referred to the National Treatment Purchase Fund in a sneering way. We had campaigned for its establishment in order to ensure the issue of waiting lists would be addressed. The people I represent do not have the luxury of having private businesspersons to fly them first class to the United States to avail of private health care and check-ups. The people Deputy Mary Lou McDonald purports to represent do not have that luxury. The National Treatment Purchase Fund was put in place to shorten waiting lists and ensure people could access health care and diagnostics in a timely manner. I do not think anyone should be condescending about the effort made in that regard. The fund is required and should be broadly supported as it will have a meaningful impact on people's lives in shortening waiting times in accessing diagnostics and seeking interventions.

I look forward to implementation of the plans outlined in the budget.

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Acting Chairman for giving me the opportunity to discuss this most important budget, the first to be introduced by the new Government. Without a doubt, it is a Fine Gael budget, but Fianna Fáil agreed to facilitate the minority Government based on the confidence and supply agreement. Budget 2017 reflects much of the framework policy agreed to. Unlike other parties which threatened to plunge the country into another general election, Fianna Fáil stood up to the mark earlier this year and ensured we would have a stable Government. That meant we were able to avoid the political paralysis seen in Spain which is facing its third election this year. From the outside, Fianna Fáil has been able to apply pressure in a number of ways. One of the key ways in which this has happened is through the agreement that in the framing of any budget available funds would be split 2:1 in favour of public services, but on this occasion that push from the outside reached much further and there is a 3:1 split. This has enabled provision to be made for additional resource teachers to support students, additional gardaí to protect communities, additional CLÁR funding for rural communities and to allow a partial restoration of guidance counsellors in schools. The funding for ex-quota guidance counsellors is significant, but the remaining posts need to be restored to enable more students to benefit from this measure. It is important that young vulnerable people have this support available to them at a key time in their lives. The increase in teacher numbers is important and the measure will help to deal with the demand from a growing population, although the issue of pupil-teacher ratios has not been addressed. It needs to be dealt with, especially at the lower end of the scale in smaller schools where one teacher teaches first, second and third class. Smaller rural schools took a bigger hit in previous budgets.

Is ábhar buartha dom é nach bhfuil go leor airgid á chur ar fáil do Straitéis 20 Bliain don Ghaeilge i mbliana. Anuas ar sin, baineadh 35% den bhuiséad caipitil don Ghaolainn agus Gaeltacht. Braithim go léiríonn sé seo neamh-shuim an Rialtais i gcúrsaí Gaolainne. Go forleathan timpeall na tíre, tá atmaisféar báúil, fuinneamh agus suim ann. Teastaíonn daoine a bheith páirteach sa Ghaolainn agus i gcúrsaí a chur chun cinn. Braithim go bhfuil an Rialtas ag caitheamh uatha an deis iontach sin atá ann. Tá sé riachtanach go rachadh an Taoiseach agus an Rialtas i ngleic leis agus go gceartóidís an botún atá déanta acu ansin.

There is no need for uncertainty as to when social welfare payments will increase. It is not good enough. The increases should be paid as quickly as possible. The money must be available, based on the figures included in the budget. The Government should be able to clear up the uncertainty and increase the payments at the earliest possible date.

The Macroom bypass project is constantly referred to as a source of anxiety for people living in my constituency. In his Budget Statement the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, referred to a number of road projects, including the Tuam and New Ross schemes but not the Macroom bypass project. Last week, when he discussed construction projects on the horizon with the CIF, he referred to a range of road scheme, including the Dunkettle interchange in Cork but overlooked the N22 road project. This is a source of serious concern for many in the mid-Cork and Kerry region. To put the matter in context, this is happening at a time when there is a disappointingly low level of investment in transport in the budget, which is causing anxiety. We are facing a mid-term review of the capital programme and the message that the Macroom bypass project must be prioritised does not seem to be getting through. It must be prioritised.

The money allocated for broadband provision is important and we will hold the Government to account on the issue. Broadband provision is important for rural communities and needs to be delivered.

Tuigim go bhfuil an t-am ag éirí gairid mar sin. Scaoilfidh mé leis.

Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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I am pleased to have an opportunity to contribute to the debate on budget 2017. As Fianna Fáil spokesperson on arts and heritage, I welcome the modest increases in funding for the Arts Council, Culture Ireland, the Council of National Cultural Institutions and the Irish Film Board. However, we must acknowledge the reality. The arts, culture and film budget was increased from €156.5 million to €188.5 million in 2016, but it is to be reduced to €158.3 million in 2017, a cut of 16%. This is a retrograde step following the additional investment made by the State in the arts and culture sector to fund the commemorative programme this year. The same investment should have been made in the Arts Council.

Fianna Fáil has a strong tradition of supporting the arts and culture sector. It has always acknowledged the impressive contribution the arts community has made to the country. We are committed to protecting the independence of the arts community and ensuring a stable, sustainable and secure funding model for the arts through progressive increases in State expenditure in line with improvements in the economy and the public finances. We are committed to enabling full community engagement to benefit from State funding for the arts and supporting the arm’s length principle to promote the Arts Council’s autonomy in distributing State funding to artists and arts organisations. We are committed to enhancing provision for the arts in the education sector and, in particular, the roll-out of local arts in education partnerships through ETBs across the country. We are committed to ensuring local authorities will implement local arts action plans which benefit local communities and artists and bring the arts directly to the people.

The budget presents minimal measures to cope with the fundamental challenges posed by Brexit. In the light of this, encouraging active co-operation between the Arts Council and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland is now more important than ever. In June Fianna Fáil placed the arts front and centre in a Private Members' motion which called for sustained increases in arts funding. The motion won cross-party backing and reflected widespread public support for improved arts funding. I am delighted that an additional €5 million will be allocated to the Arts Council, with a further €2 million for the Irish Film Board and €1 million for Culture Ireland.

3 o’clock

The arts are essential to the well-being and advancement of the people and a thriving arts and culture sector can make a positive contribution to the country as a whole. Not only do the arts have an intrinsic value of their own in national life, they also represent an important economic sector in terms of employment and tourism. It is, therefore, important that further increases are secured in the years ahead. In our election manifesto we committed to year-on-year increases in funding for the arts and remain committed to this. For our part, Fianna Fáil believes rapid progress should be made in successive budgets to increased our allocation for the arts.

I have previously urged more funding too for the film industry. I think we all accept that the indigenous film and television production sector has a significant cultural and economic impact in Ireland. It is a sector that has enjoyed many successes in recent years and competes well on the world stage. However, there was a growing belief that assistance was needed, particularly in the form of increased funding for the Irish Film Board. Therefore, I am pleased that we have extra funding approved in that way. There is a €1 million allocation to the Heritage Council, which is less than what I had hoped to see. While the allocation has been warmly welcomed by the chief executive, we had made a very strong case for an additional €5 million. For every €1 spent by the Heritage Council, the tourism industry generates €4.40 through increased tourism revenues. More than 75% of its annual budget is allocated to creating and supporting employment in the heritage sector. When the revised estimates were published in December of last year, additional funding was secured for the Arts Council. Therefore, if there is a repeat of this in December I hope the Heritage Council will benefit from it.

Moving away from my own portfolio, we have also seen the introduction of the first-time buyers grant scheme. It will only drive to push up prices and risk another boom and bust within the sector. A reduction in construction costs has not been forthcoming. In my constituency of Cavan-Monaghan, as in many counties across the country, there are not the new homes within the county for young people and young first-time buyers to actually access this new scheme. In Cavan-Monaghan, there have been no builds for the past decade. I am sure it is the same across the country. There are a lot of builds that are one-off private houses. Houses to buy are in high demand but they are not available in Cavan-Monaghan. Therefore, this first-time buyers grant is null and void when it comes to buying new homes in Cavan-Monaghan because they do not exist.

This is a huge problem. A lot of my constituents will not be able to avail of the scheme. In that way, it could be argued that it is discriminating towards young people and young buyers, particularly in rural Ireland. I have had numerous calls since budget day from very concerned young people who are trying to get their heads around the fact that the second-hand houses will not be a part of the scheme and that they therefore cannot avail of it. This initiative will see first-time buyers chasing more than 10,000 new homes and apartments earmarked for construction next year. The scheme is useless without accompanying measures to increase supply. It could exacerbate the housing crisis by overheating the new builds market, which, in turn, will lead to increased house prices.

I will conclude with two other observations that I have found most pertinent within my own constituency, one of which is the lack of the local improvement scheme, LIS. I am disappointed to see that this has not been reintroduced in this budget. Again, it is forgetting about rural Ireland. I know that the Government may state there are discretionary funds available and that it is up to the local authorities to take the money out of that. The local authorities have suffered cut after cut over the last eight or ten years. My local authority has suffered a 48% cut on roads. There are no discretionary funds. My constituency is made up particularly of a farming community in which farmers and families depend on getting in and out of their lanes in good weather and bad. The LIS was hugely important. It was introduced in the House by my own late uncle, Paddy Smyth, and that was a long time ago. As far as I know, it ran up until 2008. It is very disappointing not to see that scheme re-introduced. I am sure every Deputy in a rural constituency has had the same experience.

I do not see the Brexit-proofing that I would have liked to have seen in the budget. It is of little consolation to the mushroom growers in my constituency of Cavan-Monaghan who at this time are on their knees due to the plummeting sterling prices. Jobs are being lost. Some 95% of the produce goes to the United Kingdom. One local grower told me that the cost of exporting is due to the plummeting sterling price. Given that situation, many businesses are under pressure and some have been wiped out of business.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Ar an gcéad dul síos, ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil as an deis labhartha ar na moltaí buiséid a cuireadh os ár gcomhair Dé Máirt, fiú amháin má tá cuid mhaith dóibh pléite go leor cheana féin. I start from a position of being the only elected Teachta Dála in my constituency to take issue with this budget authored largely by Fianna Fáil and presented by Fine Gael. I am the only Teachta Dála who recognises that this was certainly not a budget for all, least of all those that are already struggling. Being the only dissenting voice among the compliant rhetoric of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil elected Members in my area, I feel a certain responsibility to advocate on behalf of all my constituents who feel let down by Tuesday's measures.

We have heard Fianna Fáil claim in the media in recent days that their fingerprints were all over the budget. I find it startling that, although Teachtaí Micheál Martin and Michael McGrath are elected by the constituents of Cork South Central, they failed to advocate or deliver on so many of the issues that face their constituents daily. I am sure UCC students will be delighted to see the lack of investment in third level education, passed by again in this budget, despite shouting from the rooftops on the publication of the Cassells report. I am sure both the students and residents of the area will be delighted to see spiralling rents unaddressed once again, not to mention Fianna Fáil's decision to vote against rent certainty legislation that has been brought before both this House and the Seanad as recently as yesterday evening. I am sure all of those young jobseekers will be very happy with their extra cup of coffee a week they might get from the €2.70 a week increase in their allowance. Fingerprints, indeed. Smiles all around.

Cork Simon Community's latest figures for August have shown an increase of 58% in the number of people sleeping rough compared to August 2015. This was the first budget involving the new Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Simon Coveney. He could have laid down a marker of intent but instead, like those who have gone before him, he has attempted to put a plaster over the gaping wound that is the housing and homelessness crisis. Failure to do anything to control rent increases will undermine anything else the Government does in this budget. Tá tionchar ag na cinntí a dhéanann an Teach seo ar shaolta na mílte daoine are fud na tíre ar bhonn laethúil. The announcement of a pay increase for Teachtaí Dála was audacious to say the least. For many, it would seem like salt in the wounds following on from Tuesday's budget. They have every right to be angry, with Teachtaí Dála due to benefit by €5,000 and the Minister, Deputy Simon Coveney, set to benefit to the tune of €11,000. Tá sé sin cothrom le leath d'ioncam bliantúil daoine atá ag obair go lán-aimseartha ar an bpá is ísle.

It became clear in the run-up to the budget that it was no longer possible to ignore the outrageous burden placed on parents by the cost of child care. It has become one of the headline issues from the budget. Naturally, additional funding for child care is welcome. However, I believe it is also safe to say the money that has been allocated to the sector, an extra €35.5 million, is entirely inadequate when looked at in the context and considering the amount of investment required. In our alternative budget, Sinn Féin proposed an investment of close to €190 million in the early years sector. That would not only have provided a greater subsidy, but would also have made it more sustainable, dealing with quality and workers conditions. Child care professionals have for far too long been forgotten about and this is once again the case. If we are even to begin to take child care seriously and give a proper commitment to the funding of the early years as a matter of priority, we must invest in the backbone that ensures the child care sector stands upright. The workers themselves must be commended and the commitment they have to providing a high quality service to those children who attend their pre-school goes unquestioned.

On a similar note, much greater assistance needs to be provided for childminders to ensure they can register, starting with the restoration of the childminder advisory service to ensure as many parents and workers as possible can avail of the scheme announced. Caithfimid an tacaíocht atá uathu chun a gcuid oibre a dhéanamh a chur ar fáil agus luach a chur ar an obair sin.

Sinn Féin provided for workers in the form of the extension of the ECCE scheme by five weeks to 43 weeks. This would minimise the time workers would find themselves signing on for unemployment benefits during the summer months as the facilities they work in are unable to pay their wages. Sinn Féin provided for workers in the form of increasing both the lower and higher rate of capitation for preschools and crèches that would allow for extra funding to pay for both quality child care and the improvement of pay and conditions of workers in the area.

All of the above is with a long term vision of professionalisation of the child care sector and giving the workers the respect they deserve. Tá súil agam go bhfuil an fís chéanna ag an Aire.

Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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I will confine my comments on budget 2017 to the child care scheme. I acknowledge the Minister's efforts in terms of the early years sector and welcome some of the steps she has taken in tackling the crisis of child care costs for some families. However, we have a broken system that has been haphazardly plastered over year after year with ad hocmeasures. It is a sector which has been ignored and sidelined, resulting in a complicated system, with parents and professionals fending for themselves to the best of their abilities.

This crisis is so much more than crippling costs of child care to parents. It is a crisis of varying quality standards and a crisis in working conditions for those providing the care. Child care professionals have been doing their damnedest to maintain standards under increasingly impossible circumstances. Not unlike the treatment of nurses in the State, staff in the early child care sector, those who carry out some of the most important work for our most vulnerable citizens, continue to be treated with little or no respect. It is clear that the Government does not comprehend the scale of the crisis in the early years sector. If it did, it would have known that an extra €35.5 million is nowhere near sufficient to tackle it.

We in Sinn Féin proposed an overall package that focused on many areas within the child care sector and allocated in the region of €250 million as a first step. We proposed €111 million for a subsidisation measure that would not only assist and target those at the very low income end but would also subsidise parents who are struggling to make ends meet every month when facing crèche costs of up to €1,200 per month. Our proposal would have provided an average relief of €96 per child per week, whereas many will receive only €80 over the course of a month under the Minister's new measures. Unfortunately, the issue of quality does not seem to feature much in the Government's proposals. Our desire to see a 60% degree-led ECCE workforce by 2025 is backed by our proposal to open up the learner fund to levels 7 and 8 qualifications. This would also have benefited staff by allowing them to progress in their careers.

The elephant in the room is the crucial issue of staff pay and working conditions. We can talk all we want about the cost to parents, accessibility and quality standards, but if those who are the very backbone of the sector are burnt out, surviving on little more than minimum wage, who will be left in the sector to care for children? It is a cart-before-the-horse approach. The affordable child care subsidy announced by the Government is still based on staff earning below the living wage and signing on over the summer months for social welfare. There is no focus on the sustainability of the sector via improvements of child care professional working conditions or pay. These issues must be addressed immediately if the State expects the sector to survive. With minimum increases in the ECCE subvention, equivalent to seven days, and no increase in capitation weeks, there is a long way to go in improving working conditions. Our proposals on increasing capitation and providing an additional five weeks would have allowed for better pay and working conditions. In addition, under our proposals, all facilities seeking to avail of our early years subsidisation scheme would be required to allow the recognition of a trade union and minimum working standards and appropriate wages for their staff.

While I commend the Minister for prioritising the issue she has chosen, the truth is that parents and those working in the sector were really hoping for so much more. It comes down to investment and political choices. If we do not meaningfully engage with those working in the sector, hear what they are saying and seriously take those issues on board, the same issues will resurface year after year and the crisis in our child care sector will only deepen.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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Budget 2017 was a series of minor changes to what is a grossly unfair and broken system. There have been some marginal improvements here and there, but mostly what we saw was Fine Gael pandering to its pet audiences in the privileged classes. In the last election Fine Gael's vote shrunk throughout the country, except in one area, south Dublin. It is clear that this demographic is increasingly Fine Gael's focus.

Introducing a €20,000 grant for individuals purchasing a starter home worth €600,000 while 6,000 people languish in emergency accommodation for months on end is brutally inequitable. Giving 2,000 people €20 million as an inheritance tax break while emergency mental health services throughout the country pull shutters down at night time is callously unfair. Before the election, the Labour Party targeted Ashbourne Annie as its fictional voter. It is clear to me that Fine Gael's target fictional voter now is Rathgar's Ross O'Carroll Kelly.

Another point of note from this budget was the ability of Fine Gael Deputies to take to their feet in this Chamber and act like they are just in government. This is the sixth year Fine Gael has been in government. For six years it has presided over worsening health care, housing and education.

It is also clear that Fine Gael's marketing department has not been fired since the "Keep the recovery going" nonsense six months ago. Measures were presented to us in this budget to mitigate Brexit but they were actually, simply, repackaged measures dealing with pre-existing crises among farmers, self-employed persons and the hospitality sector. This budget will not fix the deeply unfair economic system built by Fine Gael.

Those languishing on hospital trolleys and the hundreds of thousands of people waiting on expanding waiting lists will see no respite in the budget. Education spending will be grossly inefficient and insufficient to meet demand. Buying a house, or even trying to afford rent, will be an impossible goal for hundreds of thousands of people in the State.

Sinn Féin seeks to radically change the system. We are looking to change the way things are done. We would invest €1.8 billion in public services. We would inject €462 million in the health services to bring about an additional 500 beds. We would reduce prescription charges and invest in ambulance and mental health care. We would invest €278 million in education, tackling the cost of so-called free education in the State, reducing pupil-teacher ratios and beginning the process of abolishing the punitive third level fees. We would invest significantly in child care, with a €252 million package, including an investment of €111 million to subsidise child care costs for children between the ages of six months and three years. We would scrap the water charges and the household tax to help the squeezed middle.

I heard some Fine Gael Deputies speak about families on €100,000 per year being the squeezed middle.

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Sinn Féin supports it in Northern Ireland. There is a household tax of over £1,000 in the North.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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In the North the Deputy will find we actually have no water charges-----

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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There is a household tax.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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-----owing to the fact that the Sinn Féin Minister, yet again, ensured they would not be brought in.

John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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One speaker, please.

Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Debates have to based on fact.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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At the same time, we have Fianna Fáil stating one thing about water charges, yet every time it is given the opportunity to put its money where its mouth is in this Chamber it refuses to do so. It backs down.

The budget is a clear declaration of priorities. Money goes to what the Government sees as important. From 2008 to 2014, arts, culture and film investment saw a 76% reduction. This year it will see a further 16% reduction.

It is intolerable that we do not have a Minister in the Chamber for all of the speeches of Opposition Deputies. If a Minister needs to leave the Chamber, he or she should have cover. Otherwise, the only representatives of the Government we will have are Fianna Fáil Deputies.

Perhaps the Government sees the new ideas of the creativity sector in the arts as a real threat. Perhaps the contrast between the idealism of 1916 and the pay increases of members of the Government is enough to bury the heritage sector in cuts.

Not only is the Irish language the poor relation in this budget, but it has been treated with sheer contempt by the Government. We were informed that a deal had been done by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael on the Irish language. What happened to this deal? The 20 year strategy on the Irish language, which was launched several years ago with cross-party support, set a target of having 250,000 daily Irish speakers by 2030. That strategy is now in flitters. As matters stand, Irish as a community language in the Gaeltacht will come to an end with this generation. It is shocking that the Government is presiding over this development.

To ascertain the Minister's understanding of the current position with regard to achieving the 2030 target, I recently asked how many people speak the Irish language daily outside the education system. The Fine Gael Minister had no idea what the numbers were. One of the easiest ways to transmit a language is from parent to child. It costs nothing to do so. Outside the Gaeltacht, the Government spends only €20,000 per annum on this area. This is the entire amount the Government spends on supporting families who raise their children in Irish outside the Gaeltacht. This illustrates the priority the Government attaches to the Irish language.

In the years following 2008, funding to the Irish language sector was cut by almost 90%. Last year, against the tide, funding to the sector was cut again and while most sectors secured an increase in expenditure this year, funding for the Irish language has been cut by a further 9%.

The Irish language is a key element of our identity and the linguistic diversity of the globe. It has been a key repository of knowledge, literature, arts and the thinking of this nation for 1,000 years. That it has been flicked off the Cabinet table and thrown into the budget bin is an absolute disgrace.

Ba mhaith liom ceist nó dhó a chur ar an Aire. Cén fáth nach bhfuil an Rialtas seo sásta cothrom na Féinne a thabhairt don Ghaeilge? Cén fáth go bhfuil siad ag baint airgead amach as an mbuiséad sin bliain i ndiaidh bliana? Cén fáth nach bhfuil na daoine atá ina gcónaí sna Gaeltachtaí timpeall na tíre tábhachtach? Nach bhfuil sé tábhachtach postanna a chruthú i nGaillimh, i gCiarraí, i bPort Láirge, i gCorcaigh, i Maigh Eo, i gContae na Mí agus i nDún na nGall? Nach bhfuil sé tábhachtach na pobail sin a chothú as seo amach? Is é an rud is measa ná nach raibh an Rialtas sásta Aire sinsearach le Gaeilge a chur ar an gComh-aireacht. Sa Dáil dheireanach, cheap an Rialtas Aire Stáit nach raibh fiú in ann labhairt as Gaeilge. Caithfidh mé a rá go bhfuil díomá uafásach ar phobal na Gaeilge timpeall na tíre mar gheall ar an gcúlú infheistíochta sa Ghaeilge atá beartaithe sa bhuiséad seo.

Brendan Ryan (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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In recent days, everyone has struggled to define exactly what to make of this budget. The only consensus seems to be that people do not make much of it. As far as I am concerned, it is a missed opportunity because it showed poor judgment and made bad choices. It was a missed opportunity to use the economic recovery to make bold choices about the future direction for our country.

One of the better choices made by the previous Government was to introduce a VAT rate of 9% for the tourism sector. This measure helped secure jobs at a time of rising unemployment and helped the sector expand and the country to move out of recession. Between the second quarter of 2011 and first quarter of 2016, the number of people working in the accommodation and food services sector nationally increased by 31,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis, taking total employment from 114,900 to 145,900. This increase of 27% compares to an increase of 7.2% in overall employment over the same period. This indicates the measure may have been successful in terms of job creation and has made a significant impact on the competitiveness of the tourism product.

However, as we have returned to stability and growth, it is time to reassess the 9% VAT rate, which was introduced initially as an emergency measure. Any extension of the measure should have been contingent on the hotels sector engaging in sectoral wage and conditions agreements with trade unions. I put this to the Minister for Finance prior to the budget in a parliamentary question. In his response, he stated:

Ireland has a robust suite of employment rights legislation to protect all workers, including minimum wage legislation. These rights apply across all sectors. Other wage setting frameworks include joint labour committees, registered employment agreements and sectoral employment orders which are underpinned by recent legislation. Engagement in these frameworks is voluntary on the part of the stakeholders concerned.

The 9% VAT rate is also voluntary and it is a voluntary decision by the Government to retain and continue with it. What we will continue to ask is that we leverage the benefits the lower VAT rate has delivered to the industry to improve conditions and protections for workers in the tourism and hospitality sector. The Government has made the choice not to make the continuation of the 9% rate contingent on employers engaging with these industrial relations frameworks. I urge the Minister to have a serious discussion on this matter with the hotels sector before the year is out.

The 17% cut in the sports capital payment is an extraordinary move, particularly as it is included in a budget that features an announcement of a future tax on sugar sweetened drinks, purportedly for public health reasons. I will first speak briefly on the proposal to introduce a tax on sugar sweetened drinks, possibly in 2018. Before doing so, I should declare a previous interest in this area as I worked for Coca Cola for many years. My opinions on this matter are informed not by that period of previous employment but my previous occupation as a food scientist.

While the Labour Party included a tax on sugar sweetened drinks in its alternative budget, I am opposed to that proposal. After announcing the introduction of a tax, the Minister for Finance proceeded to declare that "much analysis needs to be undertaken between now and then." One would expect an analysis to be completed before the announcement of such a tax. The Minister also announced that a public consultation had begun and would continue until 3 January next. However, the consultation is on the "form and practical implications of the tax" when it should, in the first instance, be on the advisability of introducing such a tax on its own.

Reducing obesity requires a broad range of interventions. While fiscal measures may be part of the mix, parallel actions are required in the areas of food marketing, educational measures, physical activity, etc. A recent report by Public Health England concluded it was "unlikely that a single action would be effective in reducing sugar intakes." A 2012 report on work carried out by the Institute of Public Health in Ireland on behalf of the Department of Health concluded that the evidence of the relationship between consumption of sugar sweetened drinks and weight gain was suggestive of a positive relationship but it was not conclusive. International evidence suggests that for a tax on sugar sweetened drinks to be effective in reducing consumption, it would have to be set at between 10% and 20%.

Renowned professors in Ireland differ on the matter. Professor Donal O'Shea argues in favour of a tax on sugar sweetened drinks, whereas Professor Mike Gibney argues that while the introduction of such a tax could be a politically popular move, it would not help to reduce obesity levels. What about other sweetened foods such as sweets, chocolate and ice cream? What about jam, fast foods, chips and bakery products? Other than providing a political feel-good factor for some, the proposal to introduce a tax on sugar sweetened drinks on its own will not have the desired effect.

While it is appropriate that we are concerned about growing levels of obesity in Ireland, it is wrong to suggest that a tax on one ingredient in one category of food products is the answer. If it is the case, as indicated by IBEC, that such drinks account for only 3% of total calories consumed here, how could it be the answer? The introduction of a new tax will increase the cost of sugar sweetened products to consumers without having a significant effect on overall obesity levels.

To return to the reduction in funding for sports capital grants, the sports capital grant scheme, while not perfect, is a very good method of providing direct investment in grassroots community infrastructure.

Every euro of sports capital funding is a benefit to voluntary sports clubs and to the men, women and children all over the country who enrich our communities through healthy sporting activity and competition. People need to see tangible evidence of recovery in their pockets, in their services and in their communities. The once-off payment for the sports campus in Abbotstown is worthy but not at the expense of so many communities which will suffer when the sports capital grant scheme is opened in 2017.

While this and other bad choices since he came into office have left me questioning the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport's commitment to delivering for the people through his portfolios, I will commend the Minister for the further commitment to metro north. We in Fingal want to see that project begin and to see real progress on it. I welcome the continued support for the project in this budget announcement.

The Government's choices in education seem to pay no heed to its own programme for Government. Although contained in the programme for Government, it chose not to take the opportunity to reduce class sizes further. It made a deliberate choice not to continue the reduction of class sizes begun by the Labour Party in government in our last budget this time 12 months ago. Instead, the spreading of a few bob across most sectors in education will do nothing more than to keep these sectors standing still, rather than moving forward. I look forward to the Labour Party's Private Members' Bill next week which will tackle the poor choices made by the Government in the education budget.

The first-time buyers help-to-buy scheme included in this budget is imbued with good intentions but, unfortunately, there is real frailty and unfairness in the detail of the scheme. The scheme will provide first-time buyers with a rebate of income tax paid over the previous four tax years, up to 5% of the purchase price of a new home up to a value of €600,000. The scheme will push up house prices, of that there is little doubt, and tax credits and rebates have demonstrated this to us on so many occasions. It is why we in the Labour Party have been against a tax credit for child care for so long.

Another fundamental unfairness in this scheme, and something which runs contrary to the Government's own stated objective of attracting back emigrants who left our shores, is the fact that to qualify for the scheme, one must have paid tax in Ireland for the previous four years and the rebate is of taxes paid in this country. This is like a kick in the stomach for any emigrant who, for economic necessity, had to move away due to the crash, but has worked hard, paid their taxes, perhaps in Canada, the UK or Australia, and saved up money to put towards a deposit for when he or she comes home. This is a very real disincentive for many of our young people to ever return home. I believe the Minister needs to rethink this scheme and present a scheme that will work for all of our first-time buyers, as opposed to hiking up prices further.

I want to read the Minister a message from Australia which I received on WhatsApp in recent days. It reads: "Isn't that first time buyers grant a load of crap? Punishing people who had to leave the country due to recession!" It is from my daughter, so I have to apologise for the language contained in it. It is probably her mother's influence rather than mine. Nonetheless, there is a serious matter involved here, and there are many like her.

The annual budget is the best opportunity to bring in transformative change in society. A fiver a week is not transformative but that was the Government's choice. It was its choice to spread the available funds as thinly and as broadly as possible, to such an extent that it really will not impact much for many people. Instead, people will be left wondering what our Government is actually doing and what choices it is going to make on our behalf to improve our quality of life. Hopefully, they will start to think when they will get the choice to elect a new Government which is not afraid to make bold and decisive decisions, as contained in the Labour Party's alternative budget.

Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I wish to share time with Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Is that agreed? Agreed.

Gino Kenny (Dublin Mid West, People Before Profit Alliance)
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As with all budgets, the devil is in the detail and this budget is no different. Since 2008, the social damage done by successive budgets has been incalculable. For the average person listening today, the budget will not change their economic situation one iota. The housing crisis, which is the crisis of our time, still rages without abate. At this very moment, there are over 1,500 families in emergency accommodation. This situation is not only completely unacceptable, but the measures in this budget do not go anywhere near challenging the fundamental issue of why so many families find themselves in this position.

The announcement by the Minister of €105 million for the housing assistance payment, HAP, scheme only copper-fastens the desocialisation of social housing. This will only compound the already long waiting times for people to be housed by the local authority. Essentially, what the Minister announced on Tuesday is a boon to landlordism and the construction industry. It is misleading to state that 21,000 applicants for social housing will have their housing needs met. I say this as a person who has been a council tenant, as my family have been. What is wrong with local authorities building houses? I utterly reject and find it offensive that, somehow, local authority housing and the people who seek to be housed by the local authority equate to social problems. Let me be crystal clear. HAP and RAS are not social housing; they are the privatisation of social housing by proxy.

Like many in this House, I have received numerous e-mails, phone calls and correspondence in regard to home care hours. As a former home care worker myself, I know the impact home care hours can have. Some 950 home care packages simply is not enough. The health system is playing catch-up due to the lack of home care hours. Some 8% of the population aged over 65 are in receipt of some form of home care services, and the average is five hours per week, based on need and availability of resources. In 2008, 12.63 million hours were delivered to 55,000 clients whereas, in 2015, seven years later, that figure was down by 2 million. Since 2010, there has been a 17% increase in the number of those aged 65 and over, so there has been no attempt to keep pace with the demand for home care hours and packages. We can clearly see there is a gaping hole in home help hours and packages that still has not been addressed. Although the 650 home care packages are welcome, this does not go far enough, by any stretch of the imagination.

There was a lot of talk in this Chamber about mental health and how the Government would address funding to mental health services. Historically, the mental health budget is 50% less than the average in Britain. In this budget, I cannot see a firm commitment to implementing A Vision for Change in regard to mental health services. Much has been made of the €5 being given to social welfare recipients, including pensioners. The ongoing age discrimination against those under 26 sends out the message that this is no country for young people. Youth unemployment stands at 16%, more than double the figure in 2007. Let us make it relative to other pay increases, namely, the pay rises of €5,000 for Deputies in this House. I want to put on record that Deputies are not worth the rise; they get enough as it is and they are very well paid. Ordinary working people who have been crucified over recent years in taxes, including stealth taxes, do not get anything like the pay rises awarded to Deputies. What makes Deputies so special? Deputies seem to think they are God's gift to pay rises.

Overall, this is the crumbs from the master's table. The vested interests, the very wealthy and the corporations have not been challenged yet again. Until the Government challenges the real reasons for wealth inequality and the nature of our economic and political establishment, we will continue to firefight the scandals of the housing crisis and the two-tier health system.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I am going to talk about some of the details of the budget shortly but I feel the need to respond to some of the debate that has unfolded since Tuesday.

Interestingly enough, I wish to respond in particular to a number of attacks on AAA–PBP by our friends from Fianna Fáil. True to form as birds of a feather who flock together when challenged, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have waxed lyrical about the need to protect the centre in politics and about their great prudence. They have attacked what they describe as the extremes in politics, which they believe are characterised specifically by People Before Profit and the Anti-Austerity Alliance. Apparently, we are extremists. It is important to respond to that quite ridiculous charge. Notwithstanding the theatrics of Fianna Fáil today in distancing itself from some of the increasingly unpopular measures taken by the Government in the budget, particularly the proposed tax break for first-time buyers, both parties banded together to try to attack those on the left and characterise them as extremists.

In a very good book called The Extreme Centre: A Warning, the author, Tariq Ali, rightly seeks to turn on its head the narrative of the centre versus the extremes. I find it very difficult to understand how a party whose policies precipitated the greatest economic collapse in the history of the State and unloaded the cost, €64 billion, onto the backs of working people, the poor, the deprived, women, children and the disabled can talk about being part of a prudent centre. It is laughable in the extreme.

Nothing is more extreme than the economic collapse that Fianna Fáil precipitated in 2008. That was the most extreme event we have had since the foundation of the State. It resulted in an average drop of 20% in the incomes of ordinary people. Some 30,000 public sector workers' jobs were axed. There was a €3 billion cut to the health budget and the social housing building programme was effectively ceased. There were brutal attacks on the disabled, lone parents and public sector workers. Fianna Fáil cut the minimum wage. Levels of poverty and deprivation doubled in some categories. That is extremism. The extremism that led to the crisis was, of course, a product of the extremism characterised by the pampering and supporting of the greediest people in society. I refer to bankers on obscene salaries and to allowing them to dictate policy. I refer also to the private developers and landlords, whose naked greed for profit was supported and championed by the Government at every hand's turn. The cost was an absolutely catastrophic economic crisis. That is what I call extremism.

It is very telling that the very policies Fianna Fáil championed and that led to the crisis of 2008 are now being continued or resurrected by Fine Gael, specifically in this budget, proving once again that there is not a whit of difference between the two parties. Notwithstanding the theatre that we get in here, whereby the two parties jockey for political position and posture in front of the public, their policies are always the same in reality, regardless of which is in government or whether both are in government, as is now the case although one is pretending to be in opposition. Their policies are the same and that is what we got in the budget.

Faced with the worst homelessness and housing crisis in the history of the State resulting from the policies of championing the interests of developers and bankers and the vicious austerity the Government imposed, what is the answer of Fine Gael? Unbelievably, the answer is more tax breaks and subsidies for private landlords and developers. Really, you could not make this stuff up. The truth of the much-trumpeted Coveney housing plan has been exposed in its stark reality in this budget.

How many nonsense figures were circulated by the Minister responsible for housing, Deputy Simon Coveney, and his predecessor, Deputy Alan Kelly? We were told 110,000 social housing units would be delivered, and then we were told it would be 140,000. In the budget, we see the reality. There are not to be 140,000 or 110,000 new social housing units but 1,500, as is evident in black and white in the expenditure report. Not even all the 1,500 units are to be local authority units. The number includes houses of approved housing bodies, acquisitions and the rapid-build things the Government is promoting rather than the bricks and mortar people want. One thousand five hundred houses will not even cater for the new applicants put on the housing list in the space of two or three months. If that is all the Government is proposing to deliver, the housing and homelessness crisis will be worse by the end of the year. The reality of the Government's housing programme is massive handouts to private developers and private landlords.

Some €105 million extra is to be provided for the housing assistance payment scheme. This is money straight into the pockets of private landlords and it does not deliver one new social housing unit. In most cases, the people who will be in the housing assistance payment scheme will be staying exactly where they are, that is, in exactly the same private rented accommodation they are currently in, where they are receiving rent allowance. This rent allowance will just be recategorised as a housing assistance payment. Similarly, €134 million has been allocated for the rental accommodation scheme. Again, this is a direct payment by the State to private landlords, meaning that the housing applicants will stay exactly where they are now, in exactly the same private rented accommodation, thereby costing the public a fortune. Some €200 million is to be made available for infrastructure grants to private developers, incredibly to build on public land private housing from which they will profit. This is absolutely naked, dramatic privatisation of public land, which we will pay for, but the private developers will be the ones who will benefit from it.

Some €15 million has been allocated for the famous help-to-buy scheme. This will simply increase the price of property, through bidding, for buyers, and the money will go straight into the pockets of the private developers. The scheme will not deliver any affordable or social housing. This is the reality. In that regard, it is worth exposing the double counting that is carried out consistently by the Government in respect of housing. The figure of €1.2 billion is big but the expenditure increase that the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government will get is not €1.2 billion but only €400 million over and above the figure for last year.

Included in that figure is a 7%, or €30 million, cut in the money going to local government, which means libraries, local services, the people who clean the roads, cleansing departments and so on will be cut from the local government budget.

Regarding health, again, we have heard fibs from the Government. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Donohoe, said proudly on Tuesday that 2017 will see "the highest ever level of health funding in the history of [our] country". This is simply not true. In 2008, the health budget was €15.4 billion. If capital is included, it was €16 billion. The health budget for 2017 is only €14.6 billion. One does not have to be a mathematician to work out that this means we had a higher health spend in 2008 than is provided for in this budget. I hope the Minister will correct the record in that regard. That €14.6 billion, which is less than what was provided in 2008, represents an increase on the Estimate for last year, and again there was much trumpeting of this in the budget speech. However, there is a failure to acknowledge that €500 million of that money is taken up by the cost overrun of the health service from last year and €300 million by the pay increases provided for under the Lansdowne Road agreement. At least €300 million is necessary to stand still in terms of service provision, given the additional demographic pressures of our older population and more demand on the health system. This means the budget will actually have a negative effect - or at best a neutral effect - in terms of service delivery in the health service, and that, as we know, will be a disaster. If there are no real or genuine increases in health expenditure, the suffering of those on waiting lists, those on trolleys in accident and emergency departments and those looking for home care packages; the funding we desperately need for mental health services; and the increased funding we need for the disabled in a whole range of areas cannot be delivered through a budget that has a neutral or possibly negative effect in real terms when all the elements to which I referred are stripped out.

Similarly, regarding education, there was much crowing about a €458 million increase. However, when demographic pressures are stripped out, such as the 10,000 extra students coming into the education system every year and the additional teaching posts the Government proposes, this sum will just about, if even, keep pace. Therefore, is it any surprise that there is no mention of class sizes or pupil-teacher ratios in the budget? In fact, the extra funding will only keep pace with that extra demand.

I heard the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs responding yesterday to the 16% cut in the arts, a point which I think we were the first to raise on Tuesday. It should be borne in mind that this comes against a background of our having the lowest level of expenditure on arts as a proportion of GDP almost anywhere in Europe. Last year, the Government gave an extra €50 million to the arts for the 1916 centenary and then took it back again. This was at a time when the arts community was saying it would like to reach European averages in arts funding but that it wanted the Government at least to leave the arts with the €50 million extra they received last year. However, the Government took €30 million of that back in a disgusting cut when in fact we need a significant increase in the arts budget.

I will give a shout out to young people. I got a letter from the National Youth Council of Ireland which asked, "[Why has] the Government [in this budget further] widened the gap between the rates for other adult welfare recipients and young welfare recipients [by only giving them €2.70 extra or €3.80 extra, compared to the fiver it has given to everybody else]?" Why has the Government widened this gap? I would like an answer to that.

This is a miserable budget full of falsehoods put forward by the various Ministers in their speeches on Tuesday.

Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent)
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I welcome the opportunity to speak on the budget. I acknowledge the work of my colleagues in the Independent Alliance in the preparation of the budget with our partners in government and with the other Independents.

The budget, as delivered, is based on the programme for Government and has demonstrated that this Government can deliver. In my own Department, the budget recognises the importance of flood relief, and I have succeeded in securing additional funding to put resources in place to deliver our very ambitious programme of flood relief. I reassure the House that flood relief is high on the Government's agenda. My Department will have 12 major flood relief schemes under construction by the end of this year, compared with four projects in 2015. This marks a sign of huge progress in the area of flood relief. The €430 million capital expenditure previously announced for flood relief is intact, and we will spend €50 million more this year. I intend to continue with flood relief measures and will increase spending annually up to €100 million by 2019.

I cite the fairness of this budget in implementing a suite of financial measures to help the most vulnerable people in our society. The reduction in prescription charges and the increase in the Christmas bonus to 85% are very important measures that complement the €5 increase per week in pensions across the full range of social welfare recipients.

The plight of farmers has been well documented, and the measures in the budget go some way to assisting them, including the €25 million sheep grant, changes to the farm assist scheme, additional places in the rural social scheme and making available cheap finance to help farmers over this difficult period.

The self-employed are also recognised in this budget. They are the backbone of job creation. The invalidity pension and dental, optical and medical appliance schemes will be extended to the self-employed, and there is also an increase in their tax credits, which is also very important.

The extension of the VAT refund scheme to refurbishment works for another two years is a vital component in keeping the fledgling construction industry moving along. It will be of major benefit to builders and suppliers as well as to the craftsmen we have in this country who need that very work to keep their families fed. I also welcome the scheme for first-time house buyers, despite the utterances of Deputy Boyd Barrett. I am a little disappointed that he did not enter into the negotiations on the formation of a Government at the start of this Dáil. He would have made a fine Minister for Health or Minister for Social Protection if he had brought his ideas to those negotiations last March rather than keeping them cooped up only to splutter them out now when he sees a good budget.

Finally, I accept that we cannot deliver everything required in the programme in one year. This partnership Government commits to being a caring, just and responsible Government, and this budget is a first step on that path. I hope we will produce many more caring and just budgets in the future.

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Ministers of State, Deputies Doyle and Canney, for sharing time.

I acknowledge the budget for the diaspora being kept at the same level as last year's. This is an important acknowledgement of the ongoing work on our emigrant support programme and the other work in which we are involved in working with Irish groups throughout the world.

I also acknowledge the continued commitment of the Government to increase the overseas development aid budget by another €10 million this year. I appreciate that this represents a decrease in spending as a percentage of GDP as the economy expands, but it is €10 million extra. The aid budget is now €651 million against a backdrop where, since 2011, the taxpayer has contributed approximately €4.5 billion during very tough years and extremely difficult economic times. This is a testament to the commitment of the Irish people, and we have a responsibility as legislators to continue that pattern and that pathway. However, 0.7% is still the target. If we were to reach it today, we would be talking about €930 million. That is just short of €1 billion.

4 o’clock

Everybody is realistic and realises that cannot happen overnight. I want to work with my colleagues across parties, and with the stakeholders, the NGOs and the officials in Irish Aid, on a pathway towards achieving the 0.7% target over time. I make that call today.

People are aware of the many figures and statistics that are flying around. Some 65 million people have been displaced because of conflict today and 795 million are affected by hunger in their daily lives. The statistics are alarming. The Irish people understand that and know we have to do something. We need to be proactive in that work. I thank all the officials in my section and in Irish Aid for their continued work and their continued open-mindedness in trying to do things differently and work in different ways trying to link different aspects and not just focusing on development or humanitarian work in isolation. There are intrinsic linkages that they are looking to work on as well.

Present in the Visitors Gallery today is Fr. Padraig Devine, a Roscommon man, who works with the Shalom centre in Nairobi in Kenya. That centre is looking at ways to address the root causes of conflict. We have our own story to tell of going from conflict to peace in this country. We can add to that conversation. I look forward to deliberations in Nairobi at the end of November where we are bringing stakeholders together. The Shalom centre will be centrally involved in that.

I appreciate that we have issues in our country. There is a commitment within the Irish psyche to continue to work and to help people who are most disadvantaged, including the 80 million children whose education is affected on a day-to-day basis. We have a commitment and a responsibility.

Tá an dualgas orainn uilig. We all have a responsibility don chéad ghlúin eile. We have that responsibility to the next generation. Téann sé ó ghlúin go glúin. Tugaim m’aitheantas arís do na hAirí, na Teachtaí Donohoe agus Noonan, maidir leis an ngealltanas sa bhuiséad do chúnamh forbartha thar lear agus gabhaim mo bhuíochas arís leis na hAirí Stáit, na Teachtaí Canney agus Doyle.