Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the Chamber. We are living in a different time at the moment and this budget reflects that space we are in now in terms of the amount of money we are borrowing and investing. We are, however, doing the right thing. As Senator Chambers mentioned, it seems almost impossible to be against this budget with the amount of money we are investing in it but, somehow, the Opposition has still managed to find a way of being against funding and investing in our country.

I welcome, particularly, the €4 billion for health. It is important. Much of it was flagged beforehand but never before have we seen so much money put into health and for obvious reasons this year more than most.

The €3.3 billion put into housing and the extension of the help-to-buy scheme is important for people to get a start in life and get on the property ladder.

In terms of justice, I welcome the announcement of 620 new gardaí coming through in 2021 which increases the force to more than 14,500. Templemore in County Tipperary is where they will be trained so, obviously, it is important for me.

The €23 million extra funding in rural affairs for projects under the Department of the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, is massive for local or small communities which will get €10,000 or €20,000 for local projects. There was an announcement this Monday on projects around the country and it means an awful lot to them. The extension and the extra funding on that is important.

I will focus some of my time on the announcements for businesses and enterprise and trade. I believe the Minister will agree with me that since Fine Gael has been in government we have prioritised businesses and jobs since 2011. Whether that is the Action Plan for Jobs brought through by Deputy Richard Bruton that sought to have 100,000 extra jobs, which most people did not believe would happen at the time but it did and exceeded that, we as a Government have always supported jobs. Yesterday is a prime example of that.

The VAT rate reduction from 13.5% to 9% is huge for businesses, even in my area in towns such as Cahir, Cashel and Lough Derg in north Tipperary which would be predominantly tourist hot spots. This reduction is a massive security for them. The extension of the commercial rates holiday is really important. The extension of the employment wage subsidy scheme through to 2021, should it be required, is important. It gives people and businesses certainty. The most important thing is the new Covid-19 restrictions support scheme of up to €5,000 for businesses. That is massive for businesses to get them through the next number of months and survive and thrive again in 2021.