Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senators for tabling this amendment and I thank Senator Warfield for his contribution. This is a repeat of a debate we had a number of weeks ago with the relevant spokespersons from the Senator's party in the Dáil. My response will remain the same in that I fully accept the clear intention and focus on the need for the State to improve investment in many areas, including of infrastructure and housing. However, there is an element here of missing the purpose and concept of the fund. The fund will deliver a commercial and societal return inside and outside this jurisdiction. It is important that we acknowledge the very clear focus of the national development plan and other plans on infrastructure.

The Senator referred to housing. It is really important, for the fullness of the debate, to provide clarity on the level of investment going on in housing in the State and the impact this is having. The Senator will know that, as matters stand, every working day, 350 new homes are being built in the State. Every week, 500 first-time buyers are purchasing their first home, thanks largely to policies the Senator's party opposed. The Senator will know well that we are seeing investment and the construction of social homes at a scale not seen since long before either of us were born. The money is being put in to deal with what is a clear issue. No one is hiding from the issue. In the first four months of this year, construction has commenced on more homes than were built in the entirety of last year. Money is being put into work now in order to address the very clear challenges being presented in terms of housing and the secondary challenges - they are not secondary in nature, but one comes from the other - in terms of making sure we have the water infrastructure, the roads, the public transport and the broadband required to meet the needs of an ever-growing population, as well as those of an ever-growing number of homes throughout this State.

The purpose of the fund is quite clear. One element is to invest in climate-focused areas that will provide a return. The other relates to the fact that we have seen record levels of corporation tax receipts in recent years. We acknowledge that. However, we also acknowledge that these are most likely, if not definitely, temporary in nature. That is why we have not just taken that money and ploughed it into current investment, which is what some other parties - albeit, not his - have demanded we do at every turn. We are well aware that this money is coming in now. The previous government, in which Senator Kyne was Chief Whip, invested in a rainy day fund.At that time, Senator Warfield's party lambasted the very fundamentals of that arrangement and demanded that the money be spent there and then. I can tell the Senator that when it rained, we needed that money. It rained very significantly in terms of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and so much else. As a result of decisions taken, we were in a position, last year, that capital expenditure in the State stood at record levels.

While I fully accept the bona fides of the Senator's argument and the concerns his party is raising, we are seeing a very clear focus, in the national development plan, in the level of capital spending agreed upon in the previous budget and in the capital spending that will be agreed on in the next budget, that will allow for sustainable work to tackle issues arising in housing, infrastructure, energy and water. This fund will be mandated to deliver a very clear return for the State by using windfall tax gains to ensure we can prepare and provide for future generations. That is exactly what our purpose is as Members of these Houses. On that basis, I will not be able to accept the Senator's amendment.