Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senators Davitt, McDowell and Kyne for the points they have raised. Senator Kyne re-emphasised the issues he has concerning Inland Fisheries Ireland, which he has raised persistently in Seanad Éireann. I will again ensure the issues he has raised are passed on to the Minister for agriculture because I am aware that this is an issue with which he has been concerned over many years. I am not adequately briefed this afternoon, however, to be able to give him a perspective on that report and where it stands at the moment with the board of Inland Fisheries Ireland.

Senator Davitt made a point about the desire of the Government and the State to help those who are not so lucky in life. One of the issues this Government has been attentive to in recent years is a recognition of what a sharp increase in inflation can do to living standards across our country. We have been acutely sensitive to what that means for those who have the least. While there are always debates, in which I am involved, regarding the level of support that should be made available, we ignore at our peril what high inflation can do to people's standards of living and their willingness to support a normal approach to running an economy. The different measures we have introduced in recent years to deal with inflation have been important and valuable. I hope that when inflation falls back to more normal levels we will be in a position to support living standards in more normal ways, such as through taxation and normal social welfare increases. This aspect, however, is a big feature of the Appropriation Bill and Senator Davitt’s point is a really important one.

Senator McDowell made a point about how things have evolved since the 1980s. Looking at the evolution that has happened in Ireland, even from the later point of the 1990s, it is now a fact that many of the jobs for which my generation would have had to leave Ireland are available here in Dublin. Whenever a point like this is being made, however, it must be accompanied with an important recognition that there are still many people who need additional support. There are many for whom a story of national progress can ring hollow. There are many who have not had the opportunity to participate in the progress that has happened on a national level. God knows, we have many issues today in areas such as the lack of housing and the adequacy of public services. Overall, however, we have to make the case that there has been a huge economic transformation in this country. There have been many ups and downs but, in general, the arc has been upwards. There are those who will describe this country in very different ways, and these moments will be particularly acute in the next few weeks. I will be saying that while of course we have great difficulties, we still have made progress and can make progress in the future.

As for Senator McDowell’s point on migration, I will register the points he has made. I noted at the start of his contribution that he has been at pains to outline the benefits migration brings and the reality that without migration our public services and our national wealth would be diminished from where they are at the moment. The points the Senator made regarding the operation of EU law in this area are matters on which the Minister for Justice is better equipped to respond than I am. I have little doubt that under the next Government, these issues will continue to be of urgency and will require further consideration. I hope a colleague of mine, a former finance minister of Austria, will be ratified as the EU Commissioner for Migration and Home Affairs. That role includes responsibility for all these matters. I know really important decisions will be made in this area in the years ahead. It will fall to the next Oireachtas to consider and debate this matter further.

I thank the Senators for their co-operation on the Bill. As I said in my opening remarks, these very large amounts of money have been scrutinised through the relevant Oireachtas committees. I am always conscious that when we get to this point in the parliamentary year we ask for the co-operation of both Houses to facilitate the passage of this legislation. I thank Senators for that. As this will definitely be my final opportunity to address the House, I thank all Members for their co-operation and constructive engagement and for the differing views they have offered in the years in which I have come before to this Seanad. I genuinely wish all Senators the best of luck in their political choices and elections in the time ahead. We all have a very busy number of weeks coming up, but it is a valuable price to pay for the importance of democratic elections that are fairly held and vigorously contested.