Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming to the House at this, no doubt, busy time in his schedule. It will be a busy couple of days in the life of his party.

As the Minister alluded to, we are talking about two different, but interrelated, topics this afternoon: the mid-term capital review and the report of the Public Service Pay Commission. The capital plan was announced with significant fanfare in late 2015 by the previous Fine Gael-Labour Government. Unfortunately, this fanfare did not really match the substance of the plan. It lacked what we really need for the economy, namely, a level of ambition to address our capital deficit, including broadband connectivity, health care and transport.

Capital expenditure has suffered extensively from what would be known as the austerity years. Only last year did capital expenditure exceed the level of 2000 and 2001. Meanwhile our secondary and minor road network is at breaking point and our national broadband roll-out is faltering. As everyone has acknowledged, we have an immense housing supply crisis both in the social housing sphere and the private sector even where people are able to access funds to purchase themselves.

There has been a two-tier recovery and while the recovery is welcome where it has happened, it is vital that the national planning framework and the capital plan reflect this and help drive development in regional areas. As the Minister knows, Senators are elected by people from all over the country but I was a councillor in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council for 12.5 years. We welcome growth in Dublin but would like to see growth in other parts of the country. That has been acknowledged by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and across Cabinet. It is important that the regions also grow because the increasing pressure put on Dublin drives up prices, congestion and other things. All of us in Dublin would love to see Cork Airport or Shannon Airport doing more business than they are doing now. It is great that Dublin does well, but Dublin Airport does not necessarily need to be more than ten times larger than the next biggest airport in the country.

Brexit is the most significant political challenge Ireland has faced in many decades. Rural areas, particularly in the Border and midland regions, face very real threats as a result of a hard Brexit, which we all hope will not happen, but it is certainly not yet clear how that will pan out. The national planning framework and the capital plan must have a balanced regional perspective, which means trying to spread economic development throughout the country. Brexit will significantly threaten the agrifood sector. Along with Senators Kieran O'Donnell and Paddy Burke, I am a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach. At the moment, that committee is meeting to discuss the impact of Brexit on the financial sector. We have also heard that agricultural tariffs could be between 30% and 50%, which is a very significant challenge. The areas least capable of weathering Brexit are probably the areas that will have to weather it most. The positives, if there are any, from Brexit are more likely to be in the areas that are doing relatively well as it is.

Fianna Fáil certainly believes that urban areas should not be pitched against rural areas. A balance must be found whereby investment in one does not take away from the other. As we know, capital investment since 2008 has been suboptimal - the kindest work I can use - and it has not met our demographic needs or demands. In coming decades, our population is expected to reach unprecedented levels, with some predicting a population of more than 8 million by 2040. Fianna Fáil believes that the national planning framework and the capital plan must be integrated in order to meet the country's needs.

Within a tight fiscal standpoint, it is vital that we explore other forms of investment. We must look more closely and proactively at public private partnerships. While occasionally they have not done themselves any service, there is certainly scope for greater use of that method of financing. They are currently restricted and we might need to examine that. Equally we need to avail of the Juncker plan and the European Investment Bank, which, as the Minister mentioned, now has a base in Ireland. We also need to look for uses for the proceeds from the AIB share floatation and any positive returns we get from NAMA. The European fiscal rules need to be adjusted for capital expenditure and we should probably be much more proactive on that front in order to allow for further capital investment in the State.

Ireland faces great challenges to its competitiveness and the disparity between the urban and more rural areas will be even more obvious with the onset of Brexit. Our capital expenditure lags far behind our neighbours and we need to step up to the mark on competitiveness. The mid-term capital plan must address this if Ireland is to remain an attractive and desirable place to live. I am conscious that we have only eight minutes to discuss two topics. However, Fianna Fáil made a very detailed submission to the mid-term capital review and I urge the Minister to take on board as much of it as possible in the context, as we all acknowledge, of scarce and limited resources.

The Public Service Pay Commission report, published on 9 May, will form the basis of the forthcoming negotiations between the Government and the public sector unions and staff representative associations. The Public Service Pay Commission is clear that any future pay rises need to be based within the fiscal rules and the limits of the State's resources, as the Minister mentioned. Fianna Fáil hopes that we will reach an agreement that will focus on strong, financially sustainable public services. I acknowledge the great work that many public sector workers do, including civil servants, gardaí, nurses, teachers, and those working in universities and local authorities. They form a very important part of the fabric of our society.

The establishment of the Public Service Pay Commission was a key achievement of Fianna Fáil in the confidence and supply agreement negotiated with Fine Gael in advance of the formation of the Government. It was set up to facilitate agreement on a successor to the Lansdowne Road agreement. Unwinding FEMPI on a fiscally sustainable basis has always been a core policy objective for Fianna Fáil. Following the crisis in 2008, FEMPI legislation was enacted in 2009 and again in 2010, 2011 and 2013. As part of the gradual unwinding of FEMPI, the Haddington Road agreement and the Lansdowne Road agreement were negotiated.

While Fianna Fáil is clearly not part of the current negotiations, we believe it is in the interest of the country to reach an agreement that is sustainable and fair, particularly for low and medium-paid workers. It must also allow for more public services to be provided, particularly in health and education to undo some of the cutbacks in the austerity years and to meet the needs of our growing population which, of course, is welcome.

The future pay talks should be sustainable, service-led and should deal with sectoral shortages. They also should assist low and middle-income workers more. It is vital that public sector workers and the public who rely on their services benefit from economic growth on a sustainable basis in coming years and hopefully the Public Service Pay Commission report will achieve that goal. The Government needs to move swiftly to initiating talks with the unions with the firm goal of achieving a sustainable basis for a strong public service. The public who use services such as health and education, as well as the diligent staff who work in them, deserve a financially viable agreement. Continued progress in these services, evidence-based pay changes and setting out a strong foundation for future financing should be the shared goal of all parties going into the negotiations.

Personally and on behalf of my party, I wish the Minister well in the negotiations and in implementing the recommendations of the Public Service Pay Commission. It is vital that everyone gets an outcome that is fair to those involved and fair to the State.I say that as someone who had four grandparents who worked in various parts of the public service and two parents who did the same, so I am not someone who feels that it is a good idea to pitch private against public. We are all in this together, we are looking for the future of the country to be better, and I wish the Minister well in his endeavours.