Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

39. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform when he anticipates the publication of outline details of the revised capital programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40354/17]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Can the Minister tell the House when the revised capital plan will be published and provide an indication of what it will contain?

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

It will be published in December. As I have answered a number of questions on the matter already, I emphasise, briefly, that it will look at how we can have levels of public capital investment that will better sustain the long-term growth of our economy and society. It will look at ensuring we have the right levels of investment to deal with the changing demographic profile of our society. It will involve decisions on the level of capital expenditure we need to respond to balanced growth across the entire country and deal with issues such as Brexit.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Does that include an actual date?

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I said it would be published in December.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

In December. Normally, this place goes on holidays by 20 December. As such, can we have an indication of the actual date?

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

It will be 24 December.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Will the plan include additional funding for the National Maternity Hospital? While planning permission has been granted, the Department of Health has warned that it does not have enough money to deliver major projects, including the National Maternity Hospital and primary care centres. We are talking about a disaster if what the Department of Health has been suggesting turns out to be true. The Department has said it needs an extra €2 billion. By the standards of the HSE and in my experience of sitting at Cabinet, that is small money. Is it really going to be held back on €2 billion? It has also said it needs another €2 billion for extra infrastructure and IT. I do not know. We also need additional bed capacity.

What are we doing in relation to a subject that is close to my heart and that of the Minister, namely electric rail lines, in particular to Maynooth and south Kildare to open up vast additional lands for housing at moderate prices?

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Department of Health is, of course, pressing the case, as are other Departments, for more funding. I make the point which the Minister for Health, Deputy Simon Harris, has also made that the level of funding now available to the Department of Health is at the highest it has ever been in the history of the State. While the Deputy points to needs to which we must respond, including welcome news such as the receipt of planning permission for the National Maternity Hospital, we should acknowledge the progress on the national children's hospital and the new hospital facilities in Portrane. I am engaging with the Minister, Deputy Harris, to determine the right level of capital funding we can afford as a country to make progress on the priorities Deputy Burton outlined in health.

The electrification of our rail network to attain higher speeds and capacity is a matter the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Shane Ross, is raising with me. I am working with him to see what kind of funding we can agree to make progress on a number of priorities, which might include the one referred to by the Deputy. He is raising many matters with me.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Minister's comments on the HSE and the Department of Health fill me with dread. That is based on experience. These guys know how to ask for a great deal of extra money and they do not move or do anything unless they get it. Given the clear bed shortage in Irish hospitals and the requirements of the National Maternity Hospital, the Minister's comments today do not fill me with positive hope and expectation.

Transport and housing in the modern world are intimately linked. In another country, one can take a train to the capital city, such as London, Paris or Amsterdam, or a major employment area, within an hour. We could do that if we electrified the Maynooth rail line and the south Kildare rail line as far as Portlaoise.

The Government is talking about being up early in the morning. Hopefully, that produces some sense of vision. However, there are wonderful towns on the lines in question where thousands of houses could be built at much cheaper prices. It would release a vast amount of additional housing potential. It would also bring us into line with what happens on the gold coast in Dublin - the east coast line – a rail line which Garret FitzGerald electrified more than 30 years ago. I am urging the Minister to have some vision and ambition with the capital plan.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I am sorry that my words did not fill the Deputy with hope. What might have filled her with hope is that we are finally making progress on the national children's hospital-----

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

We set aside that money, however.

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

-----and the fact that work is under way on this. It is a project for which the Deputy well understands the need. Funding was set aside for it but additional funding had to be identified and made available to deliver the project, which I did precisely because I recognised the need to support projects such as this. I understand fully what future investment we may need to make in the national maternity hospital and for additional bed capacity.

As the Deputy sat around the Cabinet table she understands, as well as I do, that I have a certain amount of money that I have to make available to fund priorities. I, and other Ministers, have to make choices in it. If those words and that process do not fill the Deputy with hope or inspire her, I hope she would take account of the fact that we are hoping to allocate a further €4 billion to projects. I am hoping to be able to make choices that move forward projects that show our country that projects, such as the national maternity hospital or the national children's hospital, are capable of delivering to our citizens the better services I know they deserve and need.