Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I support the Government's 2022 budget of €87.5 billion in spending announced by Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe. All the steps the Government took to protect people's lives and income through the pandemic unemployment pay and the temporary wage subsidy scheme have now proven to be effective in saving jobs. Close to 0.5 million people were in receipt of the pandemic unemployment payment and 100,000 are in receipt of it this week. There is a clear commitment to extend the employment wage subsidy scheme until April 2022.. The Government has committed to a balanced budget to restore public finances, only borrowing for capital expenditure. Under a Fine Gael Government we went into this pandemic with a €2 billion surplus due to prudent spending.

As spokesperson on further and higher education, research, innovation and science, I am heartened by the supports for students. The Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, grant will be increased by €200. The qualifying distance for the student grant will be reduced from 40 km to 30 km. That is crucial in the regional area I come from in east Galway and Roscommon, where people have to travel a distance to get to college, people of all ages who are studying. There will be 3,320 extra CAO places to accommodate the extra demand with the points system. That is vital for universities. We have a clear policy and a strategy on future funding. We also have our new technological universities, including the Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands and Midwest in Athlone and Limerick and the Connacht-Ulster Alliance, comprising Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, GMIT, Institute of Technology Sligo, ITS, and Letterkenny Institute of Technology, LIT.There are a wide range of opportunities apart from the traditional routes to college. People can also earn and learn. Another way to get into college and acquire a qualification, including a degree or PhD, is through an apprentice. There is also a focus on skills development and Skillnet has been extended to include a scheme called Skills to Advance.

I am an advocate within Fine Gael of increasing expenditure on research and development as a percentage of GDP and supporting research as a way of meeting the challenges ahead as we move out of the pandemic. Research has been integral to us surviving this virus. It was researchers who developed vaccines and accelerated clinical trials at a rate that had never been done before. The speed of progress in the past 18 months has been incredible in scientific terms. We now know how important it is to support researchers in the arts, science, engineering and medicine. That is how we have embedded multinationals in Ireland. Research is more important than ever, considering developments with corporation tax.

Science Foundation Ireland is doing roadshows around the country. Research is no longer done behind the high walls of colleges; it is in communities. Science Foundation Ireland is rolling out a roadshow that will visit every county in Ireland between now and 25 October. It will be in Ballinasloe, County Galway, on 22 October. Members of the public will be able to have a chat with researchers and tell them what research they want us to invest in for the future.

Our researchers in laboratories at third level are also developing solutions. I am delighted that funding was allocated in the budget to the disruptive technologies innovation fund, DTIF. A total of 29 projects were successful under the fund this year. The projects will share €95 million over the next three years. The funding was announced by the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Leo Varadkar, the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Simon Harris, and the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Robert Troy. The areas covered arelife sciences, medtech, ICT, artificial intelligence, manufacturing and environmental sustainability. All of the projects involve collaborations between three and eight partners and include small and medium enterprises, multinational companies and research organisations. It is incredible that there are 62 SMEs among the 111 organisations involved. These are Irish companies participating in world-class research. This will link universities with healthcare and small and medium enterprises. Projects include research on a regenerative treatment for knee osteoarthritis using hydrogel-based therapeutics and to develop an adhesive that will stick broken bones together following a fracture. These are technologies and healthcare that will change our lives.

A sum of €30 million has been allocated to the innovation equity fund through Enterprise Ireland. This has been done through the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund. The allocation will be combined with a previous commitment of €30 million and the European Investment Fund will match the funding. Therefore, €90 million will be allocated to seed stage Irish SMEs. These projects come out of campus spin-outs. How do they get the investment to go ahead? They are high risk and are at a stage where development is necessary. This funding of €90 million is crucial in this regard. The Government has said it will support Irish start-ups and campus start-ups, and I back that.

The fund will promote regional development and build on the links with technological universities in every region. It will support female entrepreneurship and climate action. All of this is timely in the west because we can see in Galway the innovation triangle of top global medtech companies working with the National University of Ireland Galway, companies and the Saolta University Health Care Group.

Remote working is crucial for Counties Roscommon and Galway. We need to keep people working and living in towns and villages as they will support local shops by shopping locally, especially if they use the connected hubs that are being built around the country. We must develop communities centres and there is a grant that will help fund them. Funding for LEADER programmes, rural regeneration and grants for community centres have also been increased.

Sinn Féin Senators commented on taxes and housing. Sinn Féin's alternative budgets do not stand up. How can Sinn Féin Senators come in here and tackle us on a budget that will deliver for so many people in communities? All I can say is that the housing budget in 2022 will be over €3.7 billion, which is the largest budget that has ever been allocated to housing. A moratorium was put in place for renters this year and legislation will come through for renters this year. As a renter and somebody who hails from a small farm in the west, I am delighted to say that Fine Gael represents every town, village and county in this country. I am very proud to be part of Fine Gael. It is not a party for people who come up with budgets that cannot withstand scrutiny.