Seanad debates

Wednesday, 30 September 2015

Pre-Budget Outlook: Statements

 

10:30 am

Photo of Simon HarrisSimon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am sure the Minister would be happy to provide it as well. There are significant education priorities and I am sure we have all had engagements with the Irish National Teachers Organisation and the principal networks, etc. I do not mean to be partisan about the issue but I am proud of the capital plan published yesterday because it does not contain a Bertie Bowl or a white elephant. It contains many common sense measures and after years of not being able to invest in capital infrastructure and only being able to pay the day-to-day bills, we can now begin to plan for the strategic investments of the future.

I have heard Senators speak very eloquently. Senator Mary Ann O'Brien spoke about the views of the Carers' Association and there is absolutely nobody in this House or in the Government suggesting that the past several years - it spans further than the lifetime of this Government - have been easy for people. We now have a vehicle where we can begin to try to invest in the services that we value as a country, and that must include our carers. Senator O'Brien used the words stability, security and dignity, and I will ensure they are in my mind as we approach the budget.

We cannot solve every issue that has been raised here or that will be raised in the context of the budget but we can begin in this budget to move into a new period whereby we have a functioning and growing economy, and we can take measures to ensure that every single Irish person who wants a job can get one and that we will have more people employed in this country than ever before by 2018 at 2.1 million people. We will be able to invest in those crucial services then, and I look forward to debates in this House over the next fortnight and beyond in the budgetary context.

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