Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 23 Nov 2005

Vol. 610 No. 5

Estimates for Public Services 2006: Motion (Resumed).

Debate resumed on the following motion:

That Dáil Éireann commends the 2006 Estimates for Public Services (Abridged) published by the Minister for Finance on 17 November 2005.

—(Minister for Finance).

Dr. Twomey

We will return for a dose of reality to what actually happens in constituencies across Ireland. Last night, I stated that the most regretful issue about the organisation of health services was that the Progressive Democrats is involved in privatising everything, from family doctor services to home help services and public hospital campuses, and that Fianna Fáil is either inept or complicit in the long-term damage being done to the delivery of health services.

Supersizing the present inefficient and uncompetitive public private system is of no benefit to either the patients or the taxpayer. A competitive private health care system is one that stands alone and is as independent as possible from the public health care system. The Government is making a fatal mistake by privatising public hospitals. I am surprised that civil servants in the Departments of Finance and Health and Children do not voice their concerns on this issue to members of the Government.

Waste and a failure to deliver is the continuing mantra of the Government and the Estimates bear this out. Failure to spend €50 million of capital projects funding last year is amazing given the number of TDs awaiting extensions to local hospitals and funding from central Government for community care projects. It is amazing that €50 million, or 10% of the capital budget, went back to the Department this year.

I would like departmental officials to explain a line in page 83 of the Estimates, which states, "The year-on-year increase in gross current health spending is 9% when account is taken of once-off monies provided in 2005, mainly related to the establishment of the Health Service Executive as a Vote". If we examine this figure, it is quite clear the increase in the health budget was 7%. If the HSE was not established in 2005, we are told it would have been 9%.

Does this mean it cost approximately €200 million to establish the HSE during 2005? That sounds like a fantastic sum of money for the establishment of the HSE, particularly when one considers the fees paid to consultants on PPARS and other computer systems. At least that €50 million was spread over a couple of years. If it is true, I would like the Department to clarify that figure. Perhaps I am reading the report incorrectly.

It is clear from the Estimates that the Government is big on rhetoric but small on delivery, particularly when it comes to care of the elderly, mental health issues and cancer patients. The debate held during the past 12 months on the stress and pain to elderly patients and their families caused by the distressing revelations about nursing home abuses seems to have been missed by the Government in the Estimates.

The Taoiseach promised that a social services inspectorate would be a priority in 2005. He now tells us it will be a priority in 2006, but I have my doubts. The same empty promises were made with regard to BreastCheck and they have also been exposed in the Estimates. These two services, with the Mental Health Commission and 16 other statutory bodies, are expected to deliver the promises made by the Government with an increase of only €3 million in their budgets. If that is achieved we will not have seen such a feat since the days of the loaves and fishes.

It is impossible to deliver BreastCheck, Mental Health Commission work, the social services inspectorate, with all that needs to be done, and the other 16 statutory bodies with only €3 million extra in the budget. I would like that explained more clearly. Perhaps it will come on budget day. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform may think he is a messiah but the Tánaiste, Deputy Harney, certainly is not. She is a mere mortal and it sounds ridiculous that she will deliver those Estimates on that much funding.

One aspect of the health Estimates I find strange and which shows that the privatisation agenda in Government policy is taking over our health services completely is the massive increase in funding to the National Treatment Purchase Fund. This contains a significant anomaly and I am surprised Fianna Fáil TDs, who proclaim to be socialist minded or equality minded, are going along with this stunt. The National Treatment Purchase Fund has been exposed as a bit of a fraud. The Minister of State should examine the figures. We would not consider paying any other public servants on the double in the same way as we pay consultants under the National Treatment Purchase Fund. It was exposed recently by the Comptroller and Auditor General that consultants are paid twice to do half the work on that fund. Half of the work done so far for the fund has been done in public hospitals. In one third of the cases, the work on public patients was carried out in the same hospital where that patient is on the waiting list for an operation. That is a scandalous way to use taxpayers' money. The Government should be exposed on that issue. It is ridiculous.

When we discussed this issue a few months ago, I made the following comparison: if GPs told the Minister for Health and Children that they were too busy to see their medical card patients, and the Minister came up with a scheme to allow doctors in private practice to see those medical card patients for a fee, and a review of the scheme three years later found that medical card doctors who were previously too busy to see those patients now saw half of them, there would be uproar about the waste of taxpayer's money in allowing such a system to develop. The Progressive Democrats, particularly the Tánaiste, Deputy Harney, holds this up as the great example of how we should run our health services when it is the most ridiculous public private partnership I have ever seen.

The Government's attempts to put private hospitals on the grounds of public hospitals gives us an idea of the road it is going down. It is supersizing the same nonsensical and uncompetitive private medicine and tagging it on to an inefficient public health system. We are going down the road to ruin on this issue.

The Estimates do not tell us much more, other than that there is no great commitment to health services in this year's budget. We are returning to the days of 2001 when the then Minister for Finance, Mr. Charlie McCreevy, stated that funding is for the delivery of the same level of services as the previous year. All these Estimates show is the same level of delivery next year as we saw for the past four or five years.

Mr. Treacy

The Deputy should read on. He has taken Mr. McCreevy's words out of context. He has not read the full quote. Mr. McCreevy's quotation was much longer.

Dr. Twomey

He mentioned the same level of services when he wrote to every health board from 2001 until he left office. It is obvious reading the HSE report that it states the same. The HSE report was published in April 2005 and uses the same words on delivering the same level of service as was delivered in the previous year. The Estimates contain a 7% increase on the previous year's budget and issues will arise during the year that will reduce funding for other issues. The promises made in 2005 have not been delivered. Any delivery worth talking about on the ten-point plan has not been included. Only a handful of doctor-only medical cards have been issued and we have almost reached the end of 2005. The Tánaiste tried to blame the GPs for this. She was responsible for the 30,000 full medical cards that she could have delivered in 2005 and only 1,000 of those cards have been delivered.

We went through a charade last year, not just on the Estimates but also on the budget, about all the extra money to be invested in doctor-only medical cards, ten-point plans for accident and emergency units and other aspects of the health services. Much of this money was not spent during 2005, certainly not in the health service. This charade needs to stop and we must increase accountability and transparency of health spending. Money is not channelled to where it is supposed to be spent. I wish to have answers to the questions I raised.

Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (Mr. Treacy)

I wish to share time with my colleague, Deputy Michael Moynihan.

I am pleased to contribute to this important debate on the Government's spending blueprint for the forthcoming year. For eight successive years the Government, led by Fianna Fáil, has steered the country through the brightest years the nation has enjoyed since independence. By pursuing prudent management of our economy, built on low taxes, and extensive investment in public services and infrastructure, the Government has created the conditions whereby Ireland is a leading economy in the European Union and globally recognised as such. As we enter the second half of the first decade of the 21st century, we have succeeded in bringing Ireland up from its knees. Instead of following, it sets the pace for others. I encounter this in my role as Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs with special responsibility for European affairs. Colleagues and officials across Europe ask constantly how we managed this and how we survived the most serious economic downturn of recent times when their economies are stagnating.

Even the most pessimistic economic commentators recognise that Ireland Inc. is in a strong position and that all relevant indicators are pointing in the right direction. The Deputies opposite continue to do what the Opposition does, namely, throw cold and sometimes dirty water on our many achievements. These earnest pronouncements ring hollow when one looks at their record and hears the increasingly confused messages emanating from prospective rainbow alliance parties that are at sixes and sevens on taxation.

Ms O’Sullivan

Not at all, that is rubbish.

Mr. Treacy

I would never argue we have delivered a utopian society or that all inequalities have been eliminated. As a Member of this House for 23 years I admit more progress must be made in a range of areas. Our country is a fairer, better, more prosperous place for more of our people than ever before. These Estimates, with the fiscal provisions of the forthcoming budget, will ensure we do not deviate from the course we are on, which will deliver growth rates of 5% next year, more than twice the European average.

Next year the Government will spend €48.5 billion on running the country. This is approximately €3 billion more than last year and will allow for an extensive additional injection of investment in public services. Fianna Fáil has always been a socially inclusive party and our republican philosophy dictates that the fruits of our economic prosperity be spread as evenly as possible all over the country. The focus of these Estimates show we are firmly wedded to this course. Priority is being given to key areas of social impact, namely, health, education and social welfare. Nearly €2 billion, or 70%, of the additional moneys will be spent on these three areas.

Lest we be in any doubt on our consistency in promoting social inclusion over the past seven years, the following facts are worth restating. We successfully introduced the highest minimum wage in Europe, over 90% of which is tax free. Since 1997, almost 420,000 people have been removed altogether from the tax net. Our unemployment rate is the lowest in the EU with long-term unemployment cut by 80%. There are almost 400,000 people at work in this country. We doubled social welfare spending, delivering the most generous social welfare improvements since the establishment of the welfare state. Child benefit trebled and old age pensions increased by almost 60%.

Understandably, the Deputies opposite will gloss over these facts as they attempt to mislead and misinterpret. When the two main parties of the rainbow were last in government, namely, Fine Gael and Labour, they insulted our senior citizens with a paltry €1.60 increase in old age pensions. If we looked at history books we could dig much deeper. What a disastrous way our pensioners were treated under those desperate people.

Dr. Twomey

We provided Fianna Fáil with a great economy.

Mr. Treacy

When last elected to government, in the early 1980s, they took a wrecking ball to our economy, almost putting the country under.

Dr. Twomey

What about the Government of 1977?

Ms O’Sullivan

The Government had a surplus after the last rainbow coalition.

Mr. Treacy

The memory of massive dole queues, rampant inflation and a criminal level of emigration still sends a shiver down the spine. This is a painful legacy of the parties opposite and it took Fianna Fáil's return to Government in 1987, and the initiation of the social partnership model, which Fine Gael opposed, under the Taoiseach, Deputy Bertie Ahern, to set us on the course we are following for the exciting years ahead.

Mr. Bruton

Deputy Treacy has air-brushed Charlie Haughey out of the picture.

Mr. Treacy

These Estimates show the Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats Government is delivering good government. Since 1997 we have taken the people forward as promised. Our public finances are outstanding due to the leadership over the past eight years. These Estimates allow us to continue and build on this work over the coming years. I commend them to the House for its approval.

Mr. M. Moynihan

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Treacy, for sharing time. I wish to discuss a number of issues on the Estimates, namely, education and agriculture. The Estimate for the Department of Education and Science has increased to €7.2 billion for the first time. This is to be spent on projects throughout the country and in the next two years 500 extra teachers will be employed in primary schools to tackle disadvantage and reduce class size. Class size will be significantly reduced in the coming years, a welcome measure. Reports on disadvantage have shown that money on primary schools is well spent and I welcome the initiative by the Minister to allocate additional teachers.

The provision of schools and classroom extensions are to the forefront of every public representative in any elected body. Politicians are often brought to meetings to discuss such issues. I compliment the Department on the devolved grants, following the pilot scheme that allowed smaller schools to apply for such a grant and spend it in the best way possible.

The pilot scheme of 2003 involved 20 schools and a value for money audit for this scheme would show it to be superior to the old scheme. Local boards of management have achieved considerable value for money. One such project was opened in my home village of Kiskeam. The board of management is also able to raise further funding to complete extra work if it sees fit. The most important issue is the value for money achieved and I compliment the Government on this. This scheme is being rolled out for other, larger schools and this is a welcome development.

I refer to the Vote of the Department of Agriculture and Food. I compliment the Government on the 10% increase in the Vote. Funding for the rural environment protection scheme, REPS, increased from €271 million in 2005 to €323 million this year. This scheme has had a major impact on the visual environment throughout rural Ireland. This is a fantastic scheme, on which I compliment the Government and the Minister.

The farm waste management schemes have been increased and further moneys have been invested. This is very welcome. I also welcome the Minister's initiative to extend the availability of the farm waste management schemes to a wider variety of farmers and increase the grant allocation in certain instances. This is vital, particularly in light of the nitrates directive which is coming on stream from Europe. It is excellent to see the schemes being expanded.

I welcome the increase of €6.9 million for the compensation allowances paid to farmers in certain disadvantaged areas and I commend the Book of Estimates to the House.

Ms O’Sullivan

I welcome the opportunity to comment on the Book of Estimates and wish to focus on the area of education and science. There has been a triumph of spin over substance in the announcements last week by the Minister for Education and Science concerning the Book of Estimates. I do not see anything in the Estimates that will make a major difference to young people in the education system.

The area that received the most attention was the appointment of an extra 500 teachers which is supposed address the problem of class size. Class sizes in Irish schools are at the very upper end of the scale in comparison with other European countries. We have more than 100,000 pupils in primary schools and more than 35,000 in secondary schools in classes of more than 30. The Minister announced 500 extra teachers over two years. I think 300 will be employed this year and 200 next year. Even if it is 250 in each year, whatever way one looks at this, as there are more than 3,000 primary schools, an extra 200 or 300 teachers this year will not cut class sizes in the majority of those primary schools no matter what way those posts are allocated.

The programme for Government, with which the Minister of State is very familiar, promises that the Government will bring class sizes down to European norms and general international standards. It specifically states that all children under nine should be in classes with a ratio of 20:1 or less. The Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Hanafin, immediately said when she came into office that it was a noble aspiration that would not be achieved. That in itself is a broken promise to the people and a failure of the commitment in the programme for Government. I do not see how these extra teachers are going to make very much difference or even put a dent in the problem. That is the first disappointment.

I am also very disappointed that the National Educational Welfare Board is only getting an increase of 4%. Anybody in this House who watched the "Prime Time" programme last night will have seen the difficulties faced by the board. Its chief executive officer, who was on television last night, said that the board could only deal with crisis situations with regard to truancy and that it does not have the staff or resources to address the problem of children dropping out of school. Surely, if there is any vulnerable group in society, it must be young people who do not attend school regularly. The National Educational Welfare Board does not have the resources necessary to deal with the issue and its CEO said so quite plainly on television last night. It only has 73 educational welfare officers working locally but needs more than double that number to be able to address the problem.

There has been much talk in recent days about dealing with crime but if we do not catch young people at the point when they drop out of school or do not attend school, what hope do we have of leading them to any other path in life except a negative one? We have the opportunity to lead them down another path but it has not been taken. I urge the Government to provide more money in the budget for the National Educational Welfare Board because it has not been provided in the Estimates.

The area of youth work is related. I met a representative of the National Youth Council of Ireland yesterday. The council is extremely disappointed in the increase of 2.5% to the youth work budget, which is a very low increase. The council was optimistic last year because it received an extra €5.5 million but I understand not all of that money has been spent because the necessary decisions have not been made by Government on the implementation of the Youth Work Act. However, the council had hoped that the positive start would be built on, that the money allocated for 2005 would be spent and that further moneys would be available. This would have signalled a real commitment to youth work which, through an enormous number of volunteers, is dealing with the problem of young people who need support. It deals in a positive way with young people rather than the negative approach that comes later in the juvenile justice system if young people are not given the help they need. I am very disappointed that the youth work budget was not increased by more than 2.5%.

Another area of disappointment is the failure to implement the McIvor report on post-leaving certificate, PLC, courses which afford further educational opportunities to young people who do not attend institutes of technology or universities. The report recommended a structure to support the PLC sector and the money involved was €50 million for this year. None of this has happened. There is great disappointment because we are talking about people who are not in the top echelons, who are not going to be in the feeder schools listed in newspapers in recent days, but who want to go on and develop. The opportunities in the PLC sector often relate directly to the workplace. The courses give people opportunities to study subjects that will lead directly to a job after a one or two-year course. The subjects, by and large, are very practical. That sector needs to be built up and supported but, again, that opportunity has not been taken.

There is an evident lack of imagination in and support for those areas in the education sector for people who are not the high achievers, do not have the advantages others have and who need extra support from the Department of Education and Science. Those areas have not received support in these Estimates.

This leads me to the area of disadvantage and the promise that the DEIS system would be introduced next year, which was supposed to address educational disadvantage and for which there was supposed to be a budget of an extra €40 million. However, I questioned officials from the Department at a meeting of the Joint Committee on Education and Science and it appears that €40 million will not be available next year or the year after, rather there will be a gradual introduction of funding. Again, we are talking about children who need help now and for whom a little assistance in the early years of their school lives would make an enormous difference to their futures.

My colleague, Deputy Costello, and I raised a related issue during an Adjournment debate last week. A number of schools in disadvantaged areas, especially small schools, have lost resource teachers as a result of the introduction of the weighted model for the most common special educational needs areas. I urge the Government to address the issue of those schools, a number of which are in my city and also in Dublin, that have lost resources. These are the most needy schools with a proven need for educational support for resource teaching and they are losing out.

I draw attention to a statistic in the Book of Estimates which surprised me, namely, the reduction of 34% in special needs support for second level schools. I do not understand why that is the case in the current climate, especially after the implementation of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs Act which surely should have meant a need for more special needs support rather than less. That is a statistic in the Book of Estimates that I find hard to believe. It is listed under subhead D.12, special needs assistants — second level, and there is a reduction of 34% in the allocation.

These are some of the areas I would tackle if I were in government. I take issue with what the Minister of State, Deputy Treacy, said about the rainbow Government, which handed over a surplus, in terms of money in the coffers.

Mr. Treacy

Handed over what?

Ms O’Sullivan

A surplus. After the rainbow Government we had a very healthy economic balance.

Mr. Treacy

The Deputy will have to go back again and check my statement.

Ms O’Sullivan

If I were in a rainbow Government now——

Mr. Treacy

The debt would double.

Ms O’Sullivan

If I were in a rainbow Government now, I would concentrate on the areas that have been omitted in these Estimates by the Department of Education and Science. In some schools up to 50% of pupils have literacy problems. I cannot see anything in the Book of Estimates that will address their problems. It will make no difference to the children who need a service most. With the budget approaching there is still time to focus on those areas of disadvantage to which I have referred.

The percentage of GDP spent on education in Ireland puts us at the bottom of the class in EU or OECD terms. In particular, expenditure on primary and secondary education since 1997 has dropped from 4.7% to 4.1% of our national wealth. That is an indication that education has moved down the list of priorities for the Government when it should be going up because every cent spent on it delivers positive results for society and the economy. At a time when we have so much money there is an onus on the Government to invest resources in the education sector to give all citizens opportunities. According to the Lisbon Agenda, the economy needs a large number of additional skilled workers. Therefore, it is not so much a question of social equality as economic need. It is disappointing that education is not given the treatment it deserves in these times of plenty.

Minister for Transport (Mr. Cullen)

I wish to share time with my colleague, Deputy Andrews.

I welcome the opportunity to speak in the annual Estimates debate. The capital envelope for the Department of Transport is now framed by Transport 21 which will be rolled out in the next few years. The Estimate was agreed before Transport 21 was finalised and capital spending plans in the next few years will become evident when the five-year rolling capital programmes are announced by the Minister for Finance. The net Estimate of €2.18 billion is €15 million or 1% above the 2005 Estimate. The increase is due to an increase in current expenditure from €409 million in 2005 to €425 million in 2006.

The main capital expenditure items in 2006 will comprise a provision of €1.3 billion for the national roads programme which will see the commencement of work on 11 projects totalling 291 km. Among the projects to start will be the N3 — Clonee to Kells bypass, phase 2 of the M50 upgrade, the Waterford city bypass and phase 2 of the N6 — Kinnegad to Athlone. Next year will also see the completion of work on 14 projects, including the Dublin Port tunnel, the Naas Road upgrade and bypasses of Ashbourne, Cavan, Mullingar, Bundoran-Ballyshannon and Monaghan, as well as ongoing work on ten projects, including the N1 — Border to Dundalk, and the Ennis and Arklow-Gorey bypasses.

An amount of €435 million, an increase of 2% over 2005, has been allocated for implementation of the public transport investment programme which is part of Transport 21 and will provide the financial support needed to enable construction to begin in 2006 on the Luas extension to Cherrywood, on which I received the papers to appoint an inspector in the past week; the Kildare route four-tracking which will have a huge impact on our ability to electrify and create DART systems from the southside into the city centre; the new docklands rail station; the Cork commuter services development and the Portlaoise train care depot. In addition, planning and design work will be advanced on the DART line resignalling, phase 1 of the rail line to Navan as far as Dunboyne, phase 1 of the western rail corridor from Ennis to Athenry, the Luas docklands extension, the Luas cross-city link, the Luas Citywest extension and the metro.

I have made provision in the Estimates for the continued funding of the rural transport initiative, which is important for Deputies on all sides of the House. This service provides public transport services for people living in rural areas who otherwise would not have access to transport. A sum of €5 million has been set aside for this project in 2006 which will bring the overall funding commitment to more than €18 million to the end of 2006, which compares favourably with the total of €4.4 million provided for the rural transport initiative in the national development plan.

In advance of completion of the Dublin Bus network review which is due early in 2006, the House will be aware that I recently approved a request from the company for funding for 20 buses before the end of this year. This will provide an immediate injection of additional capacity for bus services in Dublin. Funding for 20 additional buses in Dublin is only the first element in the expansion of bus services. Officials of my Department have been in discussions with the bus companies and further meetings are planned in the coming weeks to discuss the further expansion of bus services in Dublin and provincial areas. I am committed to the continued development of quality bus corridors in Dublin and funding for these projects will continue in 2006, with funding for the bus priority measures in Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford.

My Department is committed to the comprehensive development of public transport services which are accessible to those with mobility impairments and has increased the 2006 allocation to €15 million from the €10 million provided in 2005. I have allocated €7 million to fund the move of the Medical Bureau of Road Safety. The MBRS is transferring from the Earlsfort Terrace campus of UCD, with the faculty of medicine and the academic section of the department of forensic medicine, to Belfield.

The 2006 Estimate of €425 million for net non-capital expenditure is 4% higher than the 2005 Estimate of €410 million. Among the main non-capital expenditure items in 2006 will be an amount of €299 million allocated for public service provision payments, up 5% on 2005. This will allow the continued support by my Department of transport companies in respect of their provision of socially necessary but non-commercial transport services. This sum also provides that, in addition to the 5% increase in public service payments to Dublin Bus for 2006, a further €1.7 million will be allocated to the company to meet the operational costs of the 20 additional buses to which I referred.

There is much more but all the detail is included in Transport 21. Many projects are under way, at various levels of planning and design, under construction or subject to planning. We will maintain a full focus on them in the years ahead.

Mr. Andrews

I thank the Minister for allowing me to share time to make some brief comments. In his presence I welcome the Luas extension to Cherrywood, a huge infrastructural development for a part of my constituency. It is to be commended as an example of proper infrastructural development in that the proposal will be put in advance of a major area plan in which residential units will be developed with other developments. I hope the DART signalling work will be an unobtrusive exercise, unlike the most recent upgrades.

The comments from Opposition parties are based largely on a perception of incorrect procedure. They suggest the Estimates, budget and Finance Bill should be amalgamated into one event. I can understand the reason they want this because successive Fianna Fáil-led Governments have had nothing but good news to share with the people on budget day in terms of what is contained in the Estimates and the Finance Bill. It must be galling for members of the Opposition to have to witness this and they must be envious. I am amazed they make the argument because it shows that the absence of anything substantial to attack in the Estimates forces them to resort to claims of incorrect procedure.

Mr. Bruton

The Deputy will thank us in 18 months' time.

Mr. Andrews

If they ever form an alternative Government, which would amaze me given the lack of coherence in what they say, they will be only too happy to continue with the process if they had had the success with the economy we have had in the past eight years.

Mr. Bruton

There will be a meaningful process in 18 months' time.

Mr. Andrews

How we make these announcements will not make much difference because it will get into the public ether that the Government is successful and the economy is buoyant. These are the basics. We cannot get away from them. The economy is buoyant and we are concentrating spending in the key social areas such as health, education and social welfare, in which I am sure the Labour Party has a tradition and policy. Envy will be a destructive force if it is allowed to take over. The Government has done a great deal in these areas.

In regard to health, it begins as a soundbite and becomes a policy to try to drill it into the public mind that there is a huge number of administrative staff employed in the health service. Eventually it becomes a cliché to which people are sick and tired of listening. It is a cliché that only frontline staff are working and the 35,000 additional staff in the health service are in their offices listening to Joe Duffy on the radio, reading the newspapers, drinking coffee and not doing very much. This is the current cliché but the public are discerning enough to be able to distinguish the rubbish from the facts. These people are working hard. Frontline staff cannot deliver services without proper back-up, to which the Government is committed.

One need only examine the expansions in the medical card scheme in recent years. Millions of Irish people will benefit from this generosity. The Minister for Health and Children recently announced a 20% increase in the provision of medical cards. Last year, when a GP only scheme was announced, Deputy Rabbitte amusingly referred to them as yellow-pack. I can only compare it to his role in Cabinet when he was a yellow-pack Minister. Perhaps this is what he was thinking about.

Ms O’Sullivan

That is a cheap shot. Has the Government delivered on what it promised?

Mr. Andrews

We have delivered on what we promised. The programme for Government is delivered substantially. The Opposition is painting itself into a corner, because the more we achieve in regard to the programme for Government, the less ground it has to stand on, which must be very frustrating.

I would like to refer to a number of issues but I will conclude. I commend the Book of Estimates to the House.

Mr. Morgan

I wish to share my time with Deputy Murphy and Deputy Cuffe.

Listening to the previous speaker, one would think that the Government was trying to deliver on some of the issues. We were promised 200,000 medical cards, 2,000 gardaí and social housing, which has gone by the wayside. What is the farce this evening all about? I understood the Estimates were about allocating sufficient funding to provide essential services for a host of issues such as health, housing, foreign aid, infrastructure and so on. Is this happening? If essential services are what the Estimates are about — the budget will be delivered in a few days' time — why are people in the Dundalk area fund-raising to buy essential equipment, such as a CT scanner, for their local hospital? Even though these people are already compliant taxpayers and have met all their obligations, they must raise money to pay for essential equipment.

What is the economic sense in hundreds of people being transferred annually between Dundalk hospital and Drogheda hospital at a cost of between €800 to €1,000 a time? We hear about the provision of essential services but there is no sign of them. The people who require a CT scanner are seriously ill. A broken arm or a broken leg is serious, but an ordinary straightforward X-ray will suffice in these cases. It is only people who are very ill who need the facility of a CT scanner, but these people are being transferred at huge cost. Some patients are so ill that they cannot be transported. They must lie on their hospital bed or trolley in the corridor hoping they will become sufficiently strong to be transported to the excellent hospital in Drogheda to avail of a CT scanner. Is this what Members mean when they say the Opposition is jealous of the excellent services the Government is providing? They can try to convince the Opposition, but the public have copped on to the Government and it will get the message sooner rather than later. The provision of essential services is not happening. The Tánaiste is telling us that the health budget is increasing by X amount, but we have not heard by how much. However, the public will be the final arbitrators in the matter.

Ms C. Murphy

While the Book of Estimates indicates increases in spending, it also brings heightened expectations for increased public services, which the public has a right to expect. Ministers have damped down expectations, particularly in the area of child care. One must remember that the elevation of the issue was not about party political hype or media hype, it happened at a time when the public had political clout, which was during the election campaign. The issue was raised during the Kildare and north Meath by-elections.

Areas like mine are often described as a commuter belt. It suggests that there are some sort of economic drones living in these areas, who commute between work and home, pick up their children and have two hours of quality time. However, the reality is very different. Those who raised the child care issue so forcefully during the election campaign saw themselves as working parents who exist in communities with significant shortcomings. There are shortcomings in affordable and available child care services. There are shortcomings also in community facilities that allow them to make the links for after school recreation, getting children to and from school safely and the cost and provision of pre-school services which are all part of the same child care debate. There should be some provision for these services in the budget for people who are paying the equivalent of a second mortgage each month. I accept there is a need to deal with the child care strategy over several budgets. I expect some provision to be made in the budget towards the cost of child care. However, the strategy to deal comprehensively with the issue must be outlined at the same time.

I want to highlight two issues. This includes the local government fund where there is a serious inequity, particularly in developing areas where there are significant increases in the population. Additional funds are not being provided to compensate for this increase. Purchasing water, augmenting the sewage treatment plant and benchmarking accounted for the increase paid to Kildare County Council last year, with no funding for discretionary spending, which is not fair. The mid-east region has drawn up a report on the matter.

The second issue to which I refer is special educational needs and the psychological services. There is no evidence in the Book of Estimates that there will be a sizeable increase in this area. I tabled a parliamentary question recently on the number of court cases taken by parents seeking education for their children and the costs involved. Some €10 million over two years was expended on legal costs. While this money should have been spent on the services, parents had no choice but to take this course of action to secure these services, which is bad all round.

Mr. Cuffe

I welcome many of the improvements that have taken place in the programme for Government. I welcome the confidence, vibrancy and can-do attitude in modern Ireland, which did not all come from Fianna Fáil. It is important to welcome the vibrancy and the aspects that came from the Government. I object, however, to the development of a two-tier Ireland where success is for the chosen few and if a person does not have the resources to succeed, the Government will not provide them.

I welcome the Luas lines that have been opened. The Minister's predecessor, Deputy Brennan, first commissioned a study of the issue in 1988 and Fianna Fáil put up billboards in the 1991 local elections promising light rail for Dublin but it took a further 14 years to deliver on the promise. I take with a pinch of salt the promise that the Government will build a rail line between here and Navan by the next general election and that the Luas will be running to Shankill-Cherrywood and beyond a couple of years afterwards. I see no strong commitment to public transport on the part of the Minister relative to the amount of motorway he has built. He is throwing motorways about like snuff at a wake while public transport gets the crumbs from the transport table, about 20% of capital funding. Greater funding should be provided for it.

Mr. Cullen

How can the Deputy say that? A sum of €16 billion was invested in public transport. It is time to come up with a better tune as the old one is becoming pathetic.

Mr. Cuffe

Most Dubliners do not have access to the Luas lines and even if they do, they get stuck in either Connolly Station or at St. Stephen's Green because the lines do not join. That comes down to the Minister's own difficulties in making a commitment to improve public transport.

There is a two-tier system in health care. In Dún Laoghaire, it is all very well for someone who can afford to attend the Blackrock Clinic — many can — but if someone has to go to Loughlinstown Hospital, he or she knows it has the worst record in hygiene in the country.

Standards differ depending on a person's ability to access better health, education or other services. In education, it is fine if someone can afford to attend a fee paying school but attendance at a public school where the pupil-teacher ratio is nowhere near those promised in the programme for Government does not bode well for future prospects. Child care is grand for those who have the time and resources to head off into the tent at the Galway races but a lone parent trying to raise children is stuck in a poverty trap from which there is no way out.

There is a confidence about modern Ireland but there is also a danger of a two-tier society developing where the haves are doing well but those who cannot get on to the first rung of the ladder are consigned to poverty that is almost impossible to overcome.

Mr. Curran

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Estimates for 2006 which see a significant increase in Government spending of €3 billion, an increase of 6.6% on the spend for 2005.

Our public finances are sound and our debt to GDP ratio stands at 29%, down from over 60% back in 1997. The savings in interest payments led to the increased spending. We have radically reduced personal, business and capital taxes, while unemployment has fallen significantly. These are the key factors behind the economy that allow the Minister for Finance to increase the amount he spends. The increase of 6.6% is significantly ahead of the rate of inflation. There has been an increase of 9% for the Department of Health and Children, 8% for the Department of Health and Education, while next year the Department of Social and Family Affairs will receive €12.4 billion. In the period from 1999 to 2006 the social welfare budget has doubled.

In my area I welcome the upgrade works on the M50 that are due to start imminently, particularly the removal of what has been the greatest problem of all in my lifetime, the Red Cow roundabout. Some of the work already under way is due for completion next year, particularly the Naas Road widening scheme.

I have heard numerous people say a 9% increase in the Department of Health and Children will do nothing. That is not true; it is a huge increase, three times the rate of inflation and more than the rate of economic growth, meaning real spending growth. The OECD recently confirmed that Irish spending on health had gone from 15% below the OECD average in 1997 to over 17% above in 2003. This is a real increase. I do not take it lightly; I recognise there are delays and problems in particular areas but the number of procedures carried out year on year is increasing and that is where the extra expenditure is going. Other speakers have said the Estimates have added nothing extra but that is simply not true. There have been no cuts in services in any Department, while the 6.6% increase adds significantly to the range of services.

The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform mentioned that he had 14 key elements to the new nationwide policing programme. There seems to be a lack of belief that the additional 2,000 gardaí promised in the programme for Government will be delivered but it is happening as we speak. There are twice as many recruits in Templemore as there were two years ago. Gardaí cannot be created overnight but the Garda Síochána is well on target to reach the 2,000 extra members in 2007. The sooner that is realised the better.

Mr. Crawford

There are 300 from the Department of Agriculture and Food.

Mr. Curran

The Book of Estimates specifically mentions Garda overtime, the figure for which has been increased by €23 million. At a time when the Garda is effectively tackling crime, this overtime budget is absolutely necessary, particularly in Operation Anvil. I have heard Opposition Members say crime is out of control, failing to recognise the success of the Garda. Referring specifically to Operation Anvil, to date the Garda has taken 210 firearms from the streets of Dublin, seized 2,350 vehicles, arrested seven people for murder, 163 people for robbery and 421 for burglary, in addition to 5,000 drug seizures during the operation. Operation Anvil has been and continues to be successful in Dublin and the Minister's commitment to additional overtime funding is crucial to this continued success. His announcement of a gun amnesty and mandatory sentencing are important developments.

Mr. Hayes

Will the Minister for Defence be included in the amnesty?

Mr. Curran

I am disappointed Deputy Bruton has left. I heard him on radio and television following publication of the Book of Estimates. He had a lot of talking to do and there was plenty of criticism but he had nothing to offer by way of policy, direction or constructive comment. When I was sitting here this evening, I was going to ask him his proposals for additional expenditure of €3 billion.

Mr. Perry

That will all come.

Mr. Curran

Let us see what the Opposition would do.

Mr. Perry

Do not worry about that. The electorate is listening to us.

Mr. Curran

It is easy to criticise but not once when the Estimates were published did Deputy Bruton make a constructive comment on the additional expenditure.

Mr. Crawford

Deputy Bruton has already put his proposals in writing.

Mr. McGuinness

I welcome the Book of Estimates and compliment the Government on prudent management of our economic affairs since 1997. The polices pursued by the former Minister for Finance, Charlie McCreevy, and the present Minister, Deputy Cowen, have created a situation where the confidence displayed is even recognised by Deputy Cuffe. He says the Government did not create that confidence but he certainly did not create it. Regardless of what coalition the Green Party would enter, it would not create any confidence in any sector of the economy. The policies pursued by the Government have transformed the State and led to the creation of an environment in which people can better themselves and entrepreneurs can set up businesses to compete in world markets, for which the Government should be complimented. The tax take has been considerable and made a valuable contribution to the development of the economy, thus enabling the Government to provide increases across Departments in the Book of Estimates.

The health budget of €12 billion is deserved and the 9% increase next year will go a long way to ensuring Professor Drumm and the HSE will implement a large measure of Government policy, thereby making sure services are delivered in a more efficient and expansive way. I am glad the education budget will increase by 7.9% to €7.2 billion. The social welfare budget comprises a significant element of Government spending and next year's increase will ensure those who are marginalised and less well off will benefit from the Estimates and the budget.

The Department of Social and Family Affairs should build in a bias into its spending in favour of the elderly who should be given significant increases, while packages for their care should be broadened. In addition, the bureaucracy associated with schemes such as the disabled person's grant and housing aid for the elderly should be abolished. Fast, efficient delivery of services is required for the elderly to ensure those who are sick and cared for at home can have their lot improved immediately. The same should apply to the payment of benefits. The increase in payments provided for the elderly should not be taken from them through the rent scheme operated by local authorities. There is a need for local authorities and Departments to work together with the Department of Social and Family Affairs to ensure increases provided for the elderly are not swallowed up by other State bodies. A minimum rent should be struck for the elderly, thus enabling them to be properly cared for in their homes.

The headline funding provided in the Book of Estimates is one string to the Government's bow, but we must look beyond this to the delivery of services. The directors of services in county councils and HSE managers, for example, are well paid and have benefited from benchmarking. We need to measure the efficiencies and productivity achieved through these additional payments and the best delivery of services that can be achieved for the public through these public servants, but that is not happening because they are not delivering services on time or efficiently. It is up to senior management in Departments to ensure greater value for money is achieved.

Accountability is a significant issue and the recent report issued by the Committee of Public Accounts on how the accounts of Departments are reported and spending is monitored should be taken on board by the Government. It would be a radical and progressive move if the Minister for Finance were to accept and implement it. If he did so, the powers of the committee would be extended and the Select Committee on Finance and the Public Service would have a greater oversight role in regard to departmental accounts and the budget. When that happens, there will be proper accountability for the money spent on behalf of the taxpayer.

Mr. Perry

I wish to share time with Deputies Hayes and Crawford.

One of the shocking elements of next year's Estimates is the way in which the Government proposes to deal with the national seabed survey. The survey is one of the largest research projects undertaken, yet funding has been cut by a massive 72%. This is Government mismanagement at its worst because Ireland's seabed is an important resource. The national seabed encompasses an area ten times the size of Ireland. This is a significant resource but, to fully understand it, it must first be investigated, together with its potential. Those working on the project have done fantastic work, but they have more to do and cutting their funding will not serve anybody well. Most of Ireland's seabed is unmapped and a major untapped resource. An enormous opportunity awaits on our doorstep. The Government must maximise the commercial opportunities available while also striving to protect this valuable resource. How can either be done when we do not understand the seabed fully? The Estimates reveal that the Government has reduced the level of funding from €3.5 million to €1 million. Those involved in the project, whom I have met, are highly respected and doing a fantastic job. Such developments must be encouraged. Cutting funding for such important work makes no sense whatsoever.

The Estimates also reveal that a number of key functions of the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources will be transferred to the Department of Transport. It is bad enough that the Government feels maritime issues are of such little importance that they do not merit a separate portfolio but part of the portfolio will be transferred to the Minister of Transport who is responsible for the infamous Transport 21 plan. I am disappointed that the Minister has left the Chamber. According to the Book of Estimates, funding under Transport 21 will be provided for fencing posts and wire on the rail line between Claremorris and Sligo on State property, but the Government is determined to build roads through County Sligo. The N17 is the most treacherous road in the country and will not be improved for the next ten years, while it will be 2030 before West-on-Track's proposals are met.

Transferring sections from the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources to subsections of another Department demonstrates contempt for maritime affairs. The Department has denied there are immediate plans to transfer responsibility for fisheries and aquaculture to the Department of Agriculture and Food. Is that the next trick up the Government's sleeve? Two ill-thought out developments were announced last week by the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources. The Sea-Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Bill 2005 involved no consultation with industry representatives and is a disgraceful document.

Mr. Hayes

I am pleased to have the opportunity to contribute to the debate and refer, in particular, to local authority issues. The vast majority of local authorities are struggling to keep their heads above water financially and the Government has abdicated its responsibilities in this regard. For instance, Tipperary Town Council faces a shortfall of almost €500,000 in its budget this year. This is a significant amount for a town with a population of only 6,000. The shortfall has been attributed to the failure of a new refuse collection system to generate anticipated revenue. The system failed because many felt the refuse charges were too high. This is typical of the position in which many local authorities find themselves. They are forced to fund their budgets by introducing a host of charges citizens do not want to pay because they are stealth taxes. Such taxes are unjust, unfair and a sneaky way of extracting money from people. However, at the same time the Government claims we are living in a low cost, low tax economy.

The supply of water is another major issue nationwide. We take our water supply for granted, but significant amounts of water are leaking from many local authority systems. The pipes used in a number of systems were laid 40 or 50 years ago and badly need to be replaced. I am inundated, particularly over the summer months, by some of my constituents who need water for animals, for their own domestic use, for bed and breakfast catering, for hospitals or for whatever is needed on a daily basis. There are breakdowns in the peak summer times and the local engineer will always say that the entire system, right across the county, is in bad need of repair. Some 55% of water is leaking into the ground because of a poor system. This cannot continue. The situation has not been addressed by anyone or by the Estimates. The local authority is coming under increasing pressure from year to year.

We need to put the finances of the local authority in place. Only last week I talked to some members of Tipperary County Council who are clearly worried about the great increase they will have to impose if they are not better financed for all the issues that have to be dealt with.

The Minister had a very successful visit in the Tipperary South constituency last Monday.

Ms Hanafin

It was a pleasure.

Mr. Hayes

I want to give the Minister a message from many people I met there with regard to many schools in the county such as Bansha which are in clear need of much funding. There are many such schools in my constituency. We are concerned at the delay in attending to these schools and I need to talk to the Minister about this.

Ms Hanafin

I will talk to the Deputy shortly.

Mr. Crawford

There are improvements in the Book of Estimates. I welcome, for example, the work being done on the national primary route through Monaghan, the M2, and the bypass of Monaghan town and Castleblaney. I spoke to someone from the Cavan end of the constituency who travelled to Dublin today but never got above 40 miles per hour on the M3. The way that route has been handled by the authorities, the impossible delays in the entire Navan route, and the lack of funding for the Cavan end of it, is something that must be reconsidered.

Deputy Andrews said the Estimates got all the basics right. We are not cribbing on this side of the House but we are talking about facts. A lady contacted me last night regarding a young handicapped man who had a further accident and is now disabled from the neck down. He began a computer course but after two days at the training centre he was told he could not return because there was no money left to pay a classroom assistant. That is simple basics and is totally unacceptable.

There was talk of hundreds of thousands of medical cards being issued. In Cavan-Monaghan we lost 10,000 medical cards. In the Book of Estimates there is only a 9% increase in the budget. Therefore, the assertion of a 20% increase in the number of medical cards is bunkum. They cannot be delivered unless someone else draws up the budget.

It is hard to understand €50 million of capital funding was sent back by the health service when so much money was needed. A 9% budget increase has to cover the entire nursing home debacle. I cannot help but mention the winding down of Monaghan General Hospital. What will that cost in lives? We have seen what happened in the past year, yet without any consultation, the hospital is wound down. I have said many times that I do not mind a winding down if alternatives are put in place. The Taoiseach said this morning in the House that the Cavan hospital is in chaos, yet he will agree to the closure of Monaghan in terms of any serious surgical work. He plans that the people involved will be moved to Cavan, which he says is in chaos.

Where are we going? A 9% increase has been given to the north-eastern health area, the same as for other areas. No recognition has been given to the massive increase in the population of that area, above any other area in the country, and that has been the case for some time. When the Health Service Executive took over, we thought we would get some recognition at national level. In the North-Eastern Health Board area, Meath has increased in population by 33%, Louth by a little over 20%, while Monaghan-Cavan overall shows the highest increase in the country, yet there is no recognition of this in the Book of Estimates.

Deputy McGuinness spoke about care for the elderly and I agree with him. It is marvellous to hear a Government backbencher saying this. We got total agreement with the Joint Committee on Social and Family Affairs that action should be taken in that regard, but the agreement did not result in any action being taken.

Minister for Education and Science (Ms Hanafin)

I welcome the opportunity to outline to the House the main features of my Department's Estimates for 2006, obviously just focusing on the current spending because my capital has yet to be confirmed in the budget.

Education has done extremely well in the Estimates. With an increase of 9% being provided for next year, way ahead of inflation, day-to-day spending will next year be €7.2 billion, €570 million more than this year. This is clear evidence of how much the Government believes in education, not just as a key driver of our economic prosperity, but as a vital tool for improving people's lives. We believe in providing the right opportunities at every level to enable each child to reach his or her full potential.

We want to ensure all children get the best possible start in primary school, that they have access to a modern and broad curriculum at second level that is enhanced by a positive school environment and a well-motivated and supported teaching force, and that they have a chance to pursue the education or training option after school that is best for them, whether they want to be doctors, youth workers, scientists, mechanics, artists or whatever they want to do.

We know that making this a reality requires huge commitment and investment on our part and we will not be found wanting. The increased funding for education next year will enable progress at every level to ensure that our education system continues to deliver for our children and for our economy. As with this year, there will also be an extra focus on tackling disadvantage and on improving supports for children with special needs. First, there will be an emphasis on ensuring the best and positive learning environment in all of our schools, with a focus on smaller classes at primary level and on measures to improve student behaviour at second level.

The Government has shown an unprecedented commitment to improving the staffing levels in our schools, at primary level in particular. We have put more than 5,000 extra primary teachers in our schools in recent years and have targeted these at pupils with special needs and pupils from disadvantaged areas to ensure they get the extra help they need to reach their potential. We have also brought the average class size down to 24.

Our record in providing extra staff for our schools is an area where we have shown real action but we are determined to go even further. I am proud to tell the House today that my Department's Estimates for 2006 include funding to provide even smaller classes in our primary schools in the next school year.

Ms O’Sullivan

When will the Department reach what it committed to in the programme for Government?

Ms Hanafin

The Minister for Finance has committed also to a further reduction in class size in the following year. In real terms what this means is that over the next two years we will put 500 extra teachers in our schools to reduce class size and to tackle disadvantage. Schools will be asked to use the extra class teachers to ensure there are smaller classes for infants and young children rather than for the senior grades.

In speaking about staffing in our schools, I have consistently said priority would be given in the first instance to children in disadvantaged schools and those with special needs. Under the action plan for tackling disadvantage published earlier this year, there will be smaller classes in disadvantaged schools. With more than 600 extra resource teachers put in place this term, children with special needs are getting more support than ever before. Now, in line with the Government commitment, mainstream class sizes are also being reduced.

Providing the best possible learning environment at second level is just as important. I am strongly committed to ensuring a positive atmosphere in all of our schools and to having effective procedures in place to deal with negative student behaviour where it occurs. Accordingly, €2 million is being provided in the Estimates to enable me to begin implementing recommendations of the task force on student behaviour after its report is submitted to me next month.

In providing extra funding to improve the learning environment in our classrooms, I have not forgotten the need to give more day-to-day funding and management support to our schools. At both primary and second level, I am glad to be able to again provide for increases in capitation funding that are way beyond the rate of inflation. At primary level the rate of capitation will increase by €12 to €146 per pupil from next January. There will also be increased funding for secretarial and caretaking services. When one compares the €146 in capitation grants which they will get next year with the €57 they got in 1997 our commitment to improving funding is clear. Capitation will also increase by €12 per student at second level next year to €298 per head while the support services grant will increase by €4. In addition to this, an extra €10 per student will be given to the voluntary schools to continue the process towards equalisation of funding measures for that sector where we have made great strides in recent years. What this means in practice is that a typical 500 student voluntary secondary school will get, from my Department next year, between capitation and support services funding, grants for secretaries and caretakers and equalisation funding, €270,000 to meet its day-to-day costs outside of teacher pay, which is also covered by the Department. Extra funding will also be made available to the primary school management bodies. I will be in touch with them in the coming weeks about this matter.

In addition to providing more teachers, increased day-to-day funding and better management support, there are other important areas in which I am determined to make progress next year. Extra funding for teacher professional development will mean that in just over two years we will have increased spending in this area by 35%. This will cover, among other things, the provision of an in-service for teachers on a new technology subject at second level, a key element of ensuring that our second level curriculum is modern and diverse enough to allow room for all students to develop their own unique talents.

In addition to improving the quality of the teaching in our schools it is vital to have the rights systems in place to evaluate outcomes for children in order that we can identify those who need extra help, give parents better information about their children's learning and inform policy decisions at national level. One development that has great potential in that respect is the introduction of a national system of standardised testing. I am determined to make major progress on this area next year and to secure the funds to support it.

Funding for the primary school books scheme will also be increased by the order of 25%. Teachers of both first and second level schools will benefit from the investment being provided to establish an occupational health service for teachers and to support the development of the teaching council.

Another area that merits a special mention is that of school transport where provision will increase by 30% to €152 million next year. This will ensure that, as I and the Minister of State at my Department, Deputy de Valera promised earlier this year, every child will have his or her own seat and a seat belt on all our school buses by the end of next year. The extra money being given by the Government to education will allow progress across a whole range of areas in our schools to ensure our children get the best we can give them.

There are some children who need extra support to help them to reach their full potential. I have also stressed that helping children with special needs and those in disadvantaged areas is my priority as Minister and the provision being made for these areas next year reflects this priority. Under the new action plan for disadvantage, which I published during the year, there will be more funding for initiatives such as smaller classes in disadvantaged primary schools and increased funding for school books at primary and second level. There will also be a €20 million increase in provision for third level student support schemes to almost €230 million in 2006. My Department's approach to tackling disadvantage also reflects an awareness of the importance of the youth sector in providing positive recreational opportunities for young people in disadvantaged areas. More than €45 million will be spent on this area in 2006.

I am also conscious of the value of youthreach and VTOS programmes in providing second chance opportunities. I signal my commitment to developing that sector by providing increased non-pay funding for them next year. Non-pay funding for Youthreach and senior Traveller centres will increase by 8% while for VTOS it will increase by 19%. Next year, €636 million will be spent on tackling disadvantage in education at all levels.

In the area of special education we have already seen major improvements this year with the establishment of the National Council for Special Education, the increase in the number of special needs assistants and the guaranteed staffing allocation to primary schools. Next year we will build on those improvements where the Estimate is up 13% to more than €640 million for 2006, which will ensure these children become our priority.

The education system has a major role in ensuring that future Governments have the money they will need to fund public services many years from now and building the capacity of our higher education system to meet the skills and research needs of our economy today and in the future is crucial, and a priority for me as Minister. Next year, an additional €80 million, or 7%, will be provided in core funding for the universities and institutes of technology. A separate process has commenced to examine a number of university pension cost issues. The funding provided includes support for ongoing initiatives to respond to social and economic skills needs in key areas such as the health therapy apprenticeships and information and communications technology.

In consultation with the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children, I am finalising proposals for important new developments in medical education which will increase the number of places available for school leavers from next year. The funding increases in the Estimates for my Department do not include the provision of a new strategic and innovation fund to support collaboration and reform in the third level sector, funding for which will be announced at budget time. I will make further announcements on overall capital projects in higher education before the end of the year.

Some €1 million has been provided in the Estimates to set up the Grangegorman development agency, the body which will develop the Grangegorman site for the DIT campus. The relocation of DIT which is spread over 30 different sites in Dublin to a 65 acre campus in Grangegorman will be the most ambitious educational building project ever seen in Ireland. This Government knows how important top class research will be to securing and protecting high skills jobs in the future. We are acting to put the necessary resources and infrastructure in place. I am delighted to announce that a dedicated research and development fund under the education Vote will increase by 17% next year, from €69 million to €81 million, allowing for cycle 4 of the PRTLI proposal, where €600 million has been invested. From smaller primary classes to more medical training places and increased provision for third level research major progress will be made in all areas of our education system next year.

Mr. Costello

I wish to share time with Deputy Olivia Mitchell.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Is that agreed? Agreed.

Mr. Costello

The most significant aspect of the Estimate for the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform for 2006 is the confirmation that the Government has formally abandoned the commitment to increase Garda numbers by 2,000 within the lifetime of the Government. This is particularly bad news for members of the public, against the background of the current wave of gangland killings and the ongoing problems of crime, vandalism and anti-social behaviour that blight many communities. The commitment to increase the membership of the force to 14,000 was made as far back as 2002 by the Progressive Democrats and Fianna Fáil in their separate manifestos and jointly in their Government manifesto. Its implementation date has been pushed back further each year. It is clear that the increase of only 11% in the allocation for Garda salaries, wages and allowances will allow for only a small overall increase in Garda numbers during the year. This is especially so if, as the Government has promised, significant resources are to be devoted to breaking up the criminal gangs and Operation Anvil is to be continued which is totally dependent on overtime.

I welcome the allocation for the office of the Garda ombudsman. I hope this will ensure the office will at last be up and running, at least next year, four years after it had been promised by the previous Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. It is disappointing there has been only a 3% increase in the allocation for services for victims of crime. The organisation dealing with the victims of crime has fallen apart and there is no separate organisation. Surely, given the resources available to the Government, something more could have been done rather than this paltry increase.

There is a cut of €23 million in the capital allocation for prisons which would suggest that the planned Thornton Hall prison project may well be in doubt, despite the bullish statement by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform today that everything was going ahead according to schedule. Fingal County Council has declared it a conservation area and is examining it with a view to putting a conservation order on it. The area is rich in archaeological remains and so on. Perhaps there is something in the Estimates that the Minister is not telling us. The entire prison budget is down by 3% and the Courts Service budget is down by 5%. It appears that has put paid to any new spending on a central courts system that had been planned by the Minister last year and was to be his great headline project for the coming year.

What we have got from the Minister has been a great flamboyant flourish. He is strong on perception but weak on delivery. The key areas that affect the qualify of life have been neglected, the failure to provide the extra gardaí that had been promised and the failure to do anything about gangland killings. This time last year he said he had done the devil and all and the matter was all but dealt with and yet there has been three times the number of gangland killings during the past 12 months as in the previous 12 months and there is no sign of them abating.

The issue of anti-social behaviour has not been addressed, neither has the problem of drugs. Other than trying to do something about sniffer dogs and mandatory drug searches in prison, the Minister has no proposals to deal with the huge spread of drugs throughout the community. He is really not at the races in providing the services required. While money is being spent on the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the Minister is a little like his colleague, the Tánaiste, who has responsibility for the Department of Health and Children where much money is swallowed up with very little to show for it.

Ms O. Mitchell

I thank my colleague for sharing his time with me.

In the limited time I have available I want to concentrate on a few areas of transport. We are all disgusted at the format of the Estimates which give so little information. Any debate on how money is spent is inadequately informed by the nature of the Estimates. In transport it is even more of a farce. While we have a different five-year envelope each year, the five-year envelope is not included in the Estimates and will be announced on budget day. It is farcical to discuss an Estimate that is already irrelevant.

We already know that the Shannon stopover will end in 2006. One would have thought the Minister would have used the opportunity to invest in the west and prepare the Shannon region and the west generally to avail of the open skies policy and compensate for not having the certainty of flights from this country to their traditional destinations. Lip service has been paid to the Atlantic corridor which will be extremely important to opening up the west. If Shannon Airport is to survive, it will be as a tourist destination and will need the entire western coast as its catchment area. It is even more vague than the rest of the transport plan. Not alone does it have no starting date, it does not even have a termination date which most of the other projects have at least.

It is critical to have good access to Shannon Airport from surrounding areas. The rail link in the west is to extend to Ennis. Inexplicably it will not extend to Shannon. That should have been the priority, yet we have not heard a word about it. The whole project has been postponed to 2014 which makes it laughable. For all the talk about the Government's commitment to the spatial strategy and the west, when push comes to shove not one penny is allocated.

We have all these promises to dig tunnels left, right and centre and I hope we will do so. However, in the meantime we need buses in Dublin. Clearly, the Government will not provide them this year because while the public service provision may allow for inflation, it does not allow for an increase in population or the number of buses. It clearly means they will not carry extra passengers. The Minister and the previous two Ministers with responsibility for transport have promised reform of the Transport Act 1932 in order to liberalise the bus market. When I asked the Taoiseach whether this was still Government policy, I was told he was still discussing the matter with Dublin Bus. After nine years of discussing it with Dublin Bus, will it ever take responsibility for buses? Dublin is grinding to a halt and it is not just Dubliners who are affected. People coming into the city are reporting they spend two hours on the outskirts on occasions when traffic is particularly bad. It is completely unsustainable for the population to increase by nearly 500,000 in the past ten years and only to have a handful of buses. In the past ten years we spent €150 million on QBCs and bus lanes, most of which are empty of buses. We are surrendering road space and not putting buses on it. While the population is growing apace, we have no buses. The public is at its wits end. Is it any wonder everybody must buy a car and that we have total gridlock with more time spent in cars? To say the monopolist which will not compete will decide whether we will have enough buses is like an Eddie Hobbs joke.

In my constituency we have a bus lay-by beside the Luas to bring people from surrounding areas and all the new areas that have no bus service. Thousands of new houses were built in Stepaside and people were to come down——

Mr. D. Ahern

How will Fine Gael be able to go into government with the Labour Party?

Ms O. Mitchell

The Minister should wait; he will get his chance. Thousands are coming down from this area to the lovely Luas service built at taxpayer's expense. Buses were to bring them down in their hundreds. We built the lay-by; we have the bus stop and the shelter but no buses. On routes served by a private operator miraculously Dublin Bus can find the buses to compete. The people without a bus service get nothing. The Minister for Transport ought to start taking responsibility as what is happening in Dublin is a disgrace and not sustainable.

Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. D. Ahern)

That was a very interesting contribution which illustrates the complete divergence of views between Fine Gael and the Labour Party, not to mention the Green Party——

Ms O. Mitchell

The Minister should stick around.

Mr. D. Ahern

——regarding the monopoly of Dublin Bus.

Ms O. Mitchell

We both want buses on the road, as the Minister knows.

Mr. D. Ahern

I will not take lectures from Deputy Mitchell on the west. It was her own party colleague and namesake, the late Deputy Jim Mitchell, who referred to Knock Airport as a foggy boggy mountain which would not be a success. I will not accept any questioning of our commitment to the west regarding Shannon Airport.

Ms O. Mitchell

The Minister should put his money where his mouth is.

Mr. M. Ahern

James Dillon also used to talk about rabbits running over the runways of Rineanna. How wrong can one get?

Mr. D. Ahern

In approaching the Estimates process I wished to secure funding that would allow us to promote Ireland's political, economic and humanitarian interests in the European Union and the wider world; to advance the process of securing peace, reconciliation and partnership on the island of Ireland; and to protect the interests of Irish citizens abroad. I am pleased to say the achievement of all these objectives is reflected in the 2006 allocation for the Department of Foreign Affairs. This funding will allow the Department to meet a number of important commitments and extend its outreach in a number of significant areas.

The 2006 Estimate for the Department of Foreign Affairs consists of two Votes: €186.6 million for Vote 28 — Foreign Affairs; and €600 million for Vote 29 — International Co-operation or Overseas Development Assistance. I am delighted to announce that 2006 will see record expenditure on official development assistance. With the Minister of State, Deputy Conor Lenihan, I have achieved the largest increase in overseas development aid by any Government. In September the Government announced that we would reach the UN target for spending on aid of 0.7% of GNP by 2012. We also announced a number of clear benchmarks along the way. We will reach the first of these, 0.47% of GNP, next year, which will be achieved through this Estimate allocation, and reach the 0.5% benchmark in 2007.

The Department's €600 million allocation, taken with the contributions of other Departments, means total Government spending on aid will reach €675 million in 2006. This represents an overall increase of €129 million, or 24%, on the 2005 total aid allocation. The increase in the aid programme for next year is greater than the value of the entire aid programme in 1995 — €123m. To put it another way, we will spend €160 for every man, woman and child in the country in 2006 to help the poorest and most vulnerable people in the world. We have trebled the allocation from 1998 to date and now commit to trebling it again between now and 2012.

Speaking at the UN summit in September, the Taoiseach outlined four key areas of action for the expanding programme: doubling our funding for efforts to combat HIV-AIDS and other communicable diseases to €100 million; providing extra resources to combat famine and hunger and improving our capacity to respond to disasters — the establishment of a rapid response corps, which I announced last week, will form an important part of this strategy; supporting an increased role for the private sector in development efforts; and increasing our support for efforts to strengthen governance and combat corruption. These four areas will provide the basis for the immediate expansion of the programme.

Next year's White Paper, on which the Minister of State has widely consulted, will set the direction of policy for the coming years. It will ensure Ireland remains, in the words of the OECD, "at the cutting edge of international development policy". One of the key challenges we face domestically is to build public awareness and understanding of the problems of under-development. I have asked my officials to explore new and imaginative ways of letting the people know what we are doing with their money.

Ireland has a long and proud record of sending people to help the less able and less fortunate around the world. In this light, I was pleased to announce last week that the Minister of State and I would establish a volunteer corps unit within the Department. This unit will have a clear and straightforward mandate to harness the strong volunteer spirit across the country. We aim to utilise the wide range of skills possessed by Irish workers in industry, education, the health sector and across the public and private sectors to facilitate the matching of their skills with the needs of the developing world.

We will provide greater assistance for existing volunteer and development agencies and identify opportunities for more Irish individuals to work with groups such as the United Nations volunteer organisation. With the ongoing commitment of the Government to the development agenda and the large and predictable increases now in prospect, we can set ourselves the achievable aim of being the best in the development field. That is what the public expects and deserves.

I am conscious that the poor and the vulnerable can also be found within communities of Irish citizens who live abroad. The 2002 report of the task force on emigrants provided an agenda for action which my Department is proactively taking forward. I am delighted to announce that funding for emigrant services will again increase in 2006. The Government's commitment to this priority area is clearly demonstrated by the 45% increase in funding for 2005, to the unprecedented amount in 2006 of €12 million. Overall, funding in this area will be 12 times greater than when the Government took office in 1997.

These substantial increases in allocations reflect in the clearest way possible the strength of the Government's continuing commitment to our emigrant communities, particularly in Britain and the United States. The Irish abroad unit set up in my Department a few years ago works in close partnership with emigrant support organisations at home and abroad to protect and advance the interests of vulnerable Irish communities overseas. Our partners in the voluntary sector have warmly welcomed the substantial increase in funding in recent years. The bulk of the funding will go to organisations helping those in the emigrant community in Britain who are in the greatest need of support.

Another area of particular concern relates to the undocumented Irish in the United States. On the immigration front, this is a complex time of change and many of the undocumented Irish are living in stressful circumstances. Our funding to the Irish immigration centres across the United States is growing and supports the delivery of an enhanced range of services to our citizens. I know and appreciate that all parties in the House share our concern about the plight of undocumented Irish citizens in the United States. This was manifested in the support given by all sides to the recent Dáil motion on the legislation in the US Congress sponsored by Senators McCain and Kennedy. The Government continues to avail of every opportunity to lobby for this important Bill and I will travel to Washington for this purpose next week.

With regard to other allocations, there are increases across the spectrum. There will be a €4 million increase in Ireland's funding contributions to international organisations. Most of this results from increased mandatory contributions to the United Nations, including an increase in Ireland's share of the UN peacekeeping budget. Our continuing commitment to the United Nations reflects its importance as the primary mechanism for ensuring international security.

A significant increase is also being given in grant aid to the European Movement in Ireland to allow it to expand its work of disseminating information and stimulating debate on EU matters. We are providing an allocation of €200,000 for my Department's obligations under phase 2 of the Asia strategy to facilitate incoming trade delegations and media visits from the priority Asian countries and the expansion of our exchange programme with them. A substantial increase for the promotion of cultural activities will provide our missions abroad with an improved capacity to further enhance awareness and appreciation of Ireland and Irish culture.

With regard to Northern Ireland, the 2006 Estimates provide an allocation of €2.7 million to resource the operation of my Department's reconciliation fund which supports cross-community engagement within Northern Ireland and enhanced contact and dialogue between both parts of the island and between Ireland and Britain. Compared to the scale of the EU Peace Programme and the International Fund for Ireland, the resources of the reconciliation fund are relatively modest. Nevertheless, it has proven to be very effective in making interventions in areas where the larger funding agencies might not have been as active and in generating goodwill in communities that hitherto might not have been well disposed to the Government.

A significant proportion of Vote 28, some 79% of the gross Estimate, goes towards funding the operational costs of the Department's headquarters and its missions abroad, where as Deputies will agree, we provide facilities across the spectrum to look after the interests of Irish citizens and protect their safety abroad.

Mr. Ferris

I wish to share time with Deputies Finian McGrath and Eamon Ryan.

Acting Chairman (Mr. Sherlock)

The sharing of time has been agreed, but I am obliged to call the Minister at 6.50 p.m.

Mr. Boyle

Does the Minister not just get five minutes to reply?

Acting Chairman

He will have ten minutes. He has indicated he is willing to spare a few minutes. Is that agreed? Agreed.

Mr. Ferris

As my colleague, Deputy Ó Caoláin, said yesterday, there is a degree of puzzlement among the people as to what the sums published in the Estimates will mean in reality. He gave the example of the proposed level of spending on health. People wonder where are all the services that ought to be in place if that amount of money is being spent. They need not be puzzled about some areas as we can see where the ongoing reductions in services are being made and where previous commitments to improvements have not been met.

In my constituency Kerry General Hospital is a good example of where both staff and patients can clearly see that money is not being spent. The hospital scored badly in the recent audit of hygiene standards. In some quarters this has been attributed to carelessness or lack of professionalism on the part of staff, but I know from talking to those involved in cleaning the hospital that basic supplies are often not made available and the cleaners are expected to manage with inadequate supplies.

There is a suspicion that this is part of a plan to downgrade Kerry General Hospital. That suspicion appears to have a solid foundation as a rumour is circulating that a senior officer in the Health Service Executive has stated this is the case. That is the logical conclusion that must be drawn, given the persistent refusal to address the crisis in the accident and emergency unit and the failure to appoint a cardiac specialist as requested. In the current situation where this downgrading is taking place — I am sure it is replicated in other hospitals — it is no wonder that people are taking the promise of increased spending with a grain of salt.

Mr. F. McGrath

I thank the Chair for giving me the opportunity to speak in this debate.

When we look at the details of the Estimates, we see the Government has up to €1.5 billion extra to spend on budget day. There is a glorious opportunity to end the crisis at our accident and emergency units, to end the scandal of patients on trolleys and waiting lists for people with disabilities, to provide supports for our elderly and a child care package to assist families.

State spending will rise next year by €3 billion, or approximately 7%, to approximately €48 billion. These figures sound great to citizens and taxpayers, but they ask why patients are still on trolleys in Beaumont Hospital. They want to know why children on Dublin's northside cannot get to see an occupational therapist and why there are 312 people with an intellectual disability on residential waiting lists for St. Michael's House services. It was a disgrace the way in which St. Michael's House was treated in the recent Hynes report as it is a caring and professional organisation that should be supported with more resources and funding for quality services. It is disgraceful that it was treated so badly in the media.

People also want to know why young couples cannot get a home, why there are so many on housing waiting lists and so many homeless in our towns and cities. We can have all the talk we want about Estimates, but unless we spend wisely and carefully, these debates are not relevant to the people. When we look at the Estimate for education, we see an 8% increase but immediately wonder about the 52% of children in disadvantaged areas who are not ready for primary school.

These are the real issues raised by the Estimates debate and should be the priorities. There is no excuse. Now is the time for the Government to introduce a comprehensive and caring budget.

Mr. Eamon Ryan

When I hear Government Deputies reciting endless lists of increases in certain percentages, I am reminded of the time I spent listening to Radio Moscow when I was a young boy in the mid-1980s. Listeners to that radio station would hear great tales of increases in factory production and other statistics aimed at proving that the Soviet state was making progress. The reality was that its foundations were crumbling underneath those who were reading the reports. That is also the reality in the case of the Government which has been corrupted by the years it has spent in power. We know that absolute power inevitably leads to such corruption. The Government is corrupt in the sense that its expenditure plans are designed to serve selective vested interests, rather than the interests of the people, even if it is not aware of it.

I have often criticised the Government's expenditure on the roads programme on the basis that similar amounts of money are not being invested in the public transport system. Given that all the transport experts with whom I am familiar agree with me that the Government's policy does not make any sense, I presume it is being pursued to benefit the construction companies which are making money from pouring concrete. It is an example of a Government policy suiting the vested interests. Similarly, when I analyse the Government's utter failure to invest properly in energy conservation or put in place proper building standards to ensure the housing stock of the future will survive the impending oil crisis, I can only conclude that it has been set on that path by its developer friends who can be seen in the Fianna Fáil tent at the Galway races. I can give many other examples of the Government being corrupted by certain vested interests. Some €55 million has been spent on building up this country's fishing fleet in the past five years, but it is now proposed to spend a further €45 million on decommissioning that fleet. It is another example of the incompetence, waste and corruption that lies at the foundation of the Government. For that reason, I ask the electorate to kick it out of office.

Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Mr. M. Ahern)

The Deputy did not show much gratitude for the time I agreed to share with him.

A number of Opposition Deputies have called during this debate for the reform of the Estimates and budgetary process. The Minister for Finance said in last year's Budget Statement that he was open to considering how improvements could be made in the process in the context of the current situation. Three-year economic and fiscal programmes are published in the EU stability programme updates included in the budget booklet. The Government has started to adopt multi-annual capital budgets which allow it to focus more clearly on the reasons it is investing and what it expects from such investment. Each Department publishes strategy statements which set out what it is seeking to do. The Minister has been examining proposals for the reform of the process, in conjunction with his Government colleagues, since he made the announcement last year to which I referred.

The recent report published by the Committee of Public Accounts is a useful contribution to the general consideration of this matter. The Minister has been considering options which would facilitate more informed Dáil scrutiny of the global tax and expenditure budgetary aggregates and the individual Estimates of each Department, while retaining the Government's right and duty to direct and manage the budgetary process. We need to take care to ensure the annual budget is based on the most up-to-date information available and that the Government's ability to make timely decisions is not impacted on adversely. The Minister intends to return to this matter on budget day.

Any reform of the budgetary and Estimates process will be in addition to the reforms of public expenditure management which the Government has introduced in recent years to improve public accountability in respect of public spending. Such reforms include the publication at the beginning of each year of monthly expenditure profiles to facilitate the ongoing monitoring of expenditure, the introduction of new management information systems across Departments to support improved accountability, improvements in the arrangements for the management and appraisal of public capital expenditure, reforms of public procurement and the expenditure review process. The reform process will complement the more recent value for money initiatives in respect of ICT projects and consultancies and additional general measures introduced by the Minister in October.

I reject the charge of Deputy Bruton and others that we have nothing to show for the high levels of public expenditure in recent years and that there is no substance to the Estimates. Contrary to Opposition claims, there have been real improvements in public service outputs in recent years. The pupil-teacher ratio at primary level decreased from 22.3:1 in 1996-97 to 17:1 in 2003-04. The ratio at second level dropped from 16:1 to 13.6:1 over the same period. At primary level this has been achieved, even though the number of pupils increased from 440,000 in 2000-01 to 446,000 in 2003-04.

The number of inpatient and day case patient discharges from hospitals increased by 4.4% in 2004, compared to 2003. The number of day work discharges increased significantly by 8% in the same period, in line with international best practice. The number of nurses has not been falling, contrary to Deputy Bruton's claims. There was an increase of over 5,100 in the four years from the end of 2000. There was an increase of more than 630 in the number of nurses in voluntary hospitals in the same period.

The Government has significantly increased the rates of social welfare payments for the most vulnerable in society — the elderly and the young — in recent years. The rate of payment of old age contributory pension increased by 39% in real terms, from €99 to €179.30 per week, between 1997 and 2005.

Some 23 national road projects are under construction. Some of the major projects which have been or will be completed this year include the Dundalk bypass and the Kilcock-Kinnegad motorway, which were PPP projects, the M50 south-eastern motorway and the Carrickmacross bypass. Nineteen of the 23 major road projects which are under way are on or below budget and will be delivered on or ahead of schedule.

I refute the suggestion the Government has not delivered on its investment promises. It is strongly committed to investment as a key priority. It has made unprecedented levels of resources available to accelerate its attempts to address this country's infrastructural deficit. It has increased annual Exchequer capital investment from €2 billion to almost €6.6 billion in 2006. The results of the investment of some €45 billion can be seen in all parts of the country. More than 70 national road projects, comprising over 500 km of road, have been completed since 1997. Service enhancement has doubled DART capacity. The Luas network carries an average of over 65,000 passengers each day. Over 45,000 social housing units were built between 1997 and 2005. Improvements in water, roads and environmental services have facilitated the construction of over 450,000 private houses. In introducing the rolling multi-annual capital envelopes in the 2004 budget the Government committed itself to keeping public capital investment at or close to 5% of GNP, or approximately twice the EU average. Exchequer capital spending, including capital carryover, has averaged 4.7% in the past four years. Exchequer capital investment in 2006 on a pre-budget basis will be 4.6% of GNP, compared with 3.4% of GNP in 1997 and 2.5% of GDP in the 15 established EU member states.

I would like to speak about public private partnerships. The Government's recent decision to establish a centre of expertise in the National Development Finance Agency and concentrate on PPP projects in the education, health and justice sectors, in addition to the transport area, will give impetus to the PPP process. The new arrangements will accelerate progress in developing PPP "deal flow" in the central government area by consolidating the relevant skills and capability for PPP procurement in this area. The Transport 21 proposals include a significant PPP element as part of a total investment package of €33.4 billion between 2006 and 2015. This, like the Minister for Education and Science's recent announcement of 27 new school projects, is a concrete example of the emergence of an increased "deal flow". The Minister for Finance will announce additional provision for investment when he sets out a new capital envelope for the 2006-10 period on budget day.

The sound fiscal and economic policies which have been pursued by the Government have led to increased prosperity and improved quality of life for citizens. The Government's policies have allowed it to fund real improvements in public services and target priority social needs. The 2006 pre-budget Estimates provide for gross expenditure of some €48.5 billion, €42.2 billion of which is current expenditure and €6.3 billion of which is capital expenditure. The overall figure represents an increase of almost €3 billion, or 6.6%, on 2005. Some 70% of the additional €2.7 billion being provided for current spending is being allocated to the key priority areas of health, education and social welfare. The Minister will make additional provision for spending on budget day in the areas of social welfare, child care, care of the elderly and investment. I commend the motion to the House.

Question put and declared carried.