Ollie Crowe (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister, Deputy McGrath, to the House. I am covering this issue as Senator Pat Casey could not be here this afternoon.

I welcome the establishment of these funds. This is about protecting public services and living standards for current and future generations. We know today that our rising population and increased demand for services will create pressures. The future Ireland fund will be there to protect vital State supports like pensions and health services. The future fund is an historic development. It will be there when our people need it to deliver real and sustained benefits to every part of our country. We also need to make sure that vital investments can continue even in a downturn, when they are needed more than ever. That is why we are creating the infrastructure, climate and nature fund. This fund will be ready to ensure sustained investment in areas such as transport, health, nature restoration and community facilities and will support the expansion of new affordable and sustainable energy sources. All Members are aware of how volatile the global economy is. It is vital that Ireland is prepared for all possibilities, and this fund is crucial in our being prepared.

As a result of the new investment funds we are creating, Ireland will have in place a major buffer to protect public services and investment plans, using money that we know with a high degree of likelihood is not a long-term and secure basis for increasing spending. We will create funds that mean we can expand services and plan investments with much greater efficiency and certainty. The larger fund is what economists term a countercyclical investment fund. In normal language, this is about investing money to make sure that one can cope with the difficulties when they emerge in the future. The other fund is about underpinning both general and capital investments and, critically, funding our investment of carbon neutrality and enhanced biodiversity.

These funds show that Ireland is doing things differently. We are determined to show that we can underpin major improvements in public activity, not just today but well into the future. As well as increasing the available funding due to their investment activity, they will strengthen confidence in our economy and public finances. This will have a direct impact on our ability to borrow at better rates, reducing interest payments and increasing the funds available for public services. The investment fund means that there will be much greater security for the major capital plans, which we will set out and build upon. There has always been a conflict between the need to prepare for annual budgets and capital investment projects which operate over many years. By providing this extra security, there will be a number of vital benefits. It will help to build the capacity and maintain confidence to deliver the plans and it will encourage long-term innovation.

The future Ireland fund will help deal with future expenditure pressures, including ageing, climate, digitalisation and other fiscal and economic challenges. Its purpose is to support government expenditure in areas that are recognised as being future demands on public finances.There is no specified limit to the size of the fund. Contributions will be made to this fund until 2035. The forecasted level of contributions to the fund will be €70 billion over the period, with a contribution of 0.8% of GDP each year. With projected contributions, growth in GDP, and expected returns from investments, the fund could grow to €100 million by 2035.

I greatly welcome this move and believe it is essential planning, which prepares Ireland, as is required, for a time when uncertainty goes hand in hand with the global economy. I will leave it at that for now.