Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Buttimer for welcoming the Cork-Dublin line improvements. It is one of the premier rail lines in the country and it is important that it receive investment. It is something that will make people switch out of cars.

The Senator is right that a considerable amount of money is being spent. While this debate is a formality in some ways, given that the Opposition will not be challenging the Bill, it has to be done. It is a constitutional imperative. Otherwise, we will not be able to spend money. There are very large sums of public money being approved, so we must go through it.

The pandemic has continued to impact on public finances in 2021, with significant supports being put in place by the Government to respond to the impacts of Covid-19. This year, an additional amount of almost €13.5 billion was provided for measures to support the delivery of key public services and to provide supports for workers, businesses and communities impacted by the pandemic. This additional funding has been allocated to a wide range of measures, primarily income and employment support schemes under the Department of Social Protection, additional funding for our health service, support for affected businesses and sectors through grants and the rates waiver, and supports for the education sector and the operation of public transport.

Turning to core expenditure, in addition to the exceptional supports provided to deal with Covid-19, the Government continues to invest in our core public services, with a significant proportion of gross voted current expenditure allocated to health, housing, social protection, education and justice. All of these provide essential front-line public services. This will continue in the coming years, with sustainable increases that are broadly in line with the trend growth rate of the economy planned in core expenditure over the period to 2025, which will see overall core spending grow from just over €70 billion in 2020 to almost €93 billion in 2025.

Our system of social welfare seeks to provide an effective social safety net for the more vulnerable members of society. This support has been particularly important in 2021. The Department of Social Protection has played an important role in supporting our people in these unprecedented times. The 2021 gross voted expenditure allocation for social welfare is more than €30.5 billion across the Department's Vote and the Social Insurance Fund. Approximately €8.8 billion of this funding is in respect of Covid-19 supports introduced to support employees and businesses.

The Department of Health plays a crucial role in our response to the pandemic. At €22.1 billion in 2021, health spending accounts for almost 25% of gross voted expenditure. This support has facilitated the drawing down of funds to the HSE to support maximising capacity within our health system. Providing quality healthcare is a key priority for the Government. The past number of years have seen significant increases in resources for the day-to-day running of our health service. This will remain a priority for the Government. Given the scale of the overall allocation, effective management of health expenditure is crucial.

Including the allocation of €500 million in commercial rates waivers for businesses due to the impact of Covid, the amount allocated to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage was €5.4 billion in 2021. This level of resourcing reflects our commitment to making housing a key priority of this Government.

Expenditure on education at almost €11.5 billion in 2021 between the Departments of Education and Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Scienceaccounts for more than 14.5% of gross voted expenditure. The scale and composition of education expenditure has changed over time in response to changing needs and demands, including demographics, special educational needs and skills development.

The pandemic's onset had significant knock-on impacts on infrastructure delivery in 2021 and, thus, on the level of capital expenditure. As detailed by Departments during the end-of-year monitoring of capital expenditure, spending plans were impacted by project interruptions and some sectors have indicated that they will need to use the carry-over function into 2022 to make up for this.

Increased capital investment will be critical as we face new challenges in the years ahead. The revised national development plan, NDP, was published on 4 October, incorporating an investment package of €165 billion over the ten-year period from 2021 to 2030. The revised NDP sets out the ten-year capital ceilings, which will support economic, social, environmental and cultural development across all parts of the country under Project Ireland 2040 in parallel with the national planning framework, which sets the overarching spatial strategy for the next 20 years. Taking into account the total gross voted capital expenditure allocation for 2022 of €11.7 billion as set out in the budget, the addition of capital carry-over of €800 million brings the total available voted capital expenditure for next year to almost €12.5 billion. This increased investment will play an important role in delivering much-needed public infrastructure across Ireland, particularly in sectors such as social housing, higher education, primary healthcare, public transport, water infrastructure, and climate change adaptation and mitigation.

This essential technical legislation authorises in law all of the expenditure that was agreed by way of Estimates during this year. The House will be aware that the passage of the Bill is required to ensure that it is possible to make payments in 2022 in respect of services that were funded from voted expenditure this year, including the jobseeker's allowance, disability allowance, non-contributory State pension, nurses' pay, Garda pay, teachers' pay, all other pay and pensions funded from voted money, and payments to suppliers of goods and services, including SMEs. Of fundamental importance to those who depend on our essential public services, the passage of this Bill will allow the payments required to deliver those services to continue into 2022.