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

I am pleased to have the opportunity to appear before the Seanad to contribute to the debate on budget 2025, which was presented to the Dáil by the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform earlier today. As the Minister reflected, over the lifetime of this Government, we have faced extraordinary change, uncertainty and challenge. Despite all this, our budget strategy has delivered lasting improvements for the people of Ireland. Budget 2025 is set against a backdrop of full employment and a budget surplus, and this is to be welcomed. Budget 2025 secures and provides for the living standards of people in Ireland. It strengthens the supports available for individuals, families and businesses and ensures the most vulnerable people in our society are protected.

In the context of population growth and international uncertainty, budget 2025 is designed to meet the needs of our growing population by investing in infrastructure and in our public services. It is important that we consider and provide for all our people, both today and in the future. Budget 2025 sets out a substantial package of one-off and ongoing measures to support households, businesses and public services and builds on the progress of the last four budgets. It will see expenditure of €105.4 billion, in line with the parameters set out in the summer economic statement.

The Government is conscious of the pressure that people are under due to cost-of-living increases, and this is particularly important as we face into the winter months. A number of cost-of-living payments have been announced as part of budget 2025. This will include an energy credit of €250 for all households, to be paid in two instalments. An additional payment of €300 will be made to recipients of the fuel allowance in November of this year, and an additional €200 will be paid to recipients of the living alone allowance. There will be a one-off payment of €400 to people in receipt of the carer's support grant, disability allowance, blind pension, invalidity pension and domiciliary care allowance. These payments will be made this November. Funding will continue for the school transport fee reduction and for the State exam fee waiver. Budget 2025 also provides for the continued reduction of the student contribution fee by €1,000; a once-off reduction of 33% in the contribution fee for apprentices in higher education; and an increase in the postgraduate tuition fee contribution by €1,000 for student grant recipients.

A comprehensive social protection package worth almost €1.2 billion will provide for the following measures: an extra €12 a week for individuals in receipt of social protection payments; an October bonus double payment for recipients of long-term social protection payments; an increase in the carer's allowance means test disregard to €625 for a single person and €1,250 for a couple; a €20 increase to the domiciliary care allowance; an increase of the annual carer's support grant by €150, to €2,000; and making the carer's allowance a qualifying payment for the fuel allowance.In addition to this there will also be an increase of €15 for the maternity, paternity, adoptive and parents' payments, as well as an increase of the weekly rates of the increase for a qualified child payment by €4 for under-12s and by €8 for over-12s. There will be an extension of the hot meals school programme to all primary schools. We are bringing in a newborn grant. This will be, in effect, a triple child benefit payment for families of newborn children.

To support children and families, there will be two double payments of child benefit this year. The first one will be paid in November and the second one in December. There will also be a double payment of the foster care allowance. There will be a €400 lump-sum payment to recipients of the working family payment later this year and there will be €100 lump-sum payment for each qualified child.

Additional funding for the national childcare scheme will further reduce the cost of childcare for parents. There will also be a €336 million increase for disability services. This will facilitate additional residential care beds, more respite provision and additional home support hours.

In education, a capital allocation of €1.3 billion will support 350 building projects currently under way as well as a further 200 new school projects. Budget 2025 also provides funding for 768 additional special education teachers and 1,600 more special needs assistants.

A number of practical measures that will make an impact on families have been announced. These measures will improve access to school transportation and, importantly, provide for the rolling out of free textbooks to transition year and senior cycle students.

People engage with health services in this country when they are at their most vulnerable and Government has prioritised significant investment in the health sector. There has been a significant increase in the number of people working in our health service and that leads to better healthcare outcomes for patients. In 2025, the number working in our health service, not including disability services, will reach over 133,000 whole-time equivalents, which is an increase of 27% since 2019. Budget 2025 will also provide for 495 new beds to our health service and 600,000 additional home support hours.

There will be continued support for women’s health measures, including increased access to fertility treatment and hormone replacement therapy will be provided free of charge. In addition to this, funding provided under budget 2025 will enable the enhanced provision of mental health services around the country, which will support better health outcomes for our growing population.

This population needs infrastructure and this is provided for under the national development plan. A significant number of capital projects have already been developed, including hundreds of kilometres of new walking infrastructure, 170 km of new roads and the expansion of rural public transport. There will also be further investment of €400 million in acceleration of the national broadband plan. This budget will provide more homes, schools and hospital infrastructure.

Housing is a significant priority for Government, and €7.8 billion will be provided to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to help meet the needs of our growing population: a sum of €3.2 billion will be allocated to increase delivery and address affordability constraints for households, and of this, over €2 billion will be available in 2025 to deliver 10,000 new-build social homes; €680 million is allocated to affordable housing schemes, supporting the delivery of 6,400 affordable homes in 2025; €1.65 billion will be provided to continue to support 65,000 social housing tenant households; €23 million has been allocated to deliver accommodation for the Traveller community; €186 million in funding will support the regeneration of towns and urban areas; €100 million will provide grants to adapt the homes of older people and people with a disability; and €90 million has been allocated to retrofit approximately 2,500 social homes in 2025. This important provision demonstrates our commitment to tackling climate change.

Ireland’s greenhouse gas emissions are reducing and this Government will continue to invest in tackling climate change. Capital funding for the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications has been increased to over €1.4 billion to allow for record allocations to be made for investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy. Warmer homes funding will significantly increase the number of households benefitting from deep retrofitting. Over €716 million is being provided to support farmers as we work together to achieve our shared environmental goals through agri-environmental schemes, such as ACRES.

The carbon tax will increase by €7.50 per tonne as part of budget 2025. This brings the total carbon tax revenue available for investment to €951 million. Applying a carbon tax remains an integral part of the Government's climate action response. Much of the revenue raised through the carbon tax will be invested in improving the energy efficiency of our homes. The carbon tax will also fund €306 million of social protection spending in 2025. The Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund is one of two funds established this year to manage windfall tax receipts and to prepare for the future. This fund will be used to support designated environmental projects, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving water quality, and to protect biodiversity.

Our public transport network supports how we live, work and remain connected to each other. Some €3.9 billion is being allocated to the Department of Transport to facilitate continued investment in our public transport vehicles and infrastructure. This will provide for more capacity on existing routes and for the continuation of reduced fares on public transport. It will also provide for the extending of free public transport to children aged between five and eight years old.

Over €2 billion is being allocated to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine for 2025. This budget shows a commitment to supporting farmers, foresters and fishers, and provides additional funding for a range of supports, including payments for animal health measures and beef and sheep welfare schemes. There will be €30 million provided for a tillage scheme, supporting farmers to plant their field crops. Some €143 million of carbon tax funding will be provided to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to continue to support farmers as they work to improve biodiversity, climate, air quality and water quality outcomes. The Department will also administer over €1.2 billion of EU funding in direct payments to farmers.

Budget 2025 provides for an investment of €472 million for the Department of Rural and Community Development to support the delivery of commitments in Our Rural Future and the national development plan.

Our educated and highly skilled workforce has long been a pillar of our economy and a driver of foreign direct investment. Investment of over €1 billion will support the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment’s programmes in 2025. In addition, an energy subsidy scheme worth €170 million has been announced for hospitality and retail businesses.

Budget 2025 provides more than €4.5 billion for the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. The Minister, Deputy Donohoe, also announced progress in managing the National Training Fund. Funding to further education will facilitate additional healthcare and veterinary places, an increase in the PhD stipend and €78 million to support growth in the craft apprenticeship system.

For the Department of Justice, a record package of over €3.9 billion has been announced. This will allow for increases in funding for the Irish Prison Service with a provision for up to 350 additional staff. It will facilitate the recruitment of a further 1,000 gardaí and up to 150 Garda civilian staff. It will also provide for an additional €7 million for organisations providing supports to victims of domestic and gender-based sexual violence.

We are working to ensure that Ireland remains a safe and secure place to call home. Our Defence Forces underpin that, and €1.35 billion is being allocated to them for 2025. There will be a 22% increase in capital investment allocation, which will help to advance major defence equipment and infrastructural upgrades.