I must now deal with a postponed division relating to the motion regarding the spending of public funds by the Government. On Tuesday, 8 October 2024, on the question, "That the amendment to the motion be agreed to", a division was claimed and in accordance with Standing Order 80(2), that division must be taken now.
Spending of Public Funds by the Government: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]
The following motion was moved by Deputy Mark Ward on Tuesday, 8 October 2024:
That Dáil Éireann notes:
- the wasteful spending of public funds by this Government;
- the exposure of further waste of public money in recent weeks on a €336,000 bike shed and a €1,400,000 security hut; and
- the cost overrun related to modular homes for Ukrainians, and the debacle of the new children's hospital becoming the most expensive in the world;
condemns the further wasteful spending announced in Budget 2025 in respect of the allocation of €9,000,000 for phone pouches;
further notes:
- that, in her final report on the provision of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in the State, the Inspector of Mental Health Services concluded that she could not provide an assurance to all parents in Ireland that their children have access to a safe, effective and evidence-based mental health service;
- that there are now 3,681 children compared to 2,115 children waiting on a first-time appointment with CAMHS since this Government was formed, and likewise a further 18,368 children waiting for a first-time psychology appointment; and
- that the additional allocation for 2025 for mental health set out in the Government's Budget is an insufficient €16 million; and
mandates the Government to end the further waste of public money on mobile phone pouches, reverse that decision and invest this badly needed funding in mental health services and schools.
Debate resumed on amendment No. 1:
To delete all the words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:
"recognising that:
— Government has provided, and continues to provide, a robust response to the challenges and needs facing the Irish nation, through continued investment and leadership in the delivery of public services, important infrastructure projects, and cost-of-living supports, all while continuing to grow the Irish economy and Irish living standards;
— all five budgets under the term of this Government have successfully balanced the dual challenge of remaining responsive to economic and social developments while ensuring fiscal sustainability of the public finances;
— fiscal responsibility is a priority in order to protect our economy and people; sensible choices have been made to allow growth in a sustainable way, to invest in a better future, and to provide a stable and predictable environment;
— public investment over the term of this Government has already made significant positive impacts across a wide range of areas, including the delivery of:
— 116,000 new homes and hundreds of projects under the Rural and Urban Regeneration and Development Funds;
— significant reductions in waiting lists and average waiting times, improved health facilities such as the National Forensic Mental Hospital in Portrane, hospital extensions and new primary care centres and community nursing units across the country;
— significant upgrades to Ireland's national road network and improvement to the public transport system, including BusConnects;
— high-quality cultural and sporting amenities such as the Sports Campus in Blanchardstown; and
— continued progress under the National Broadband Plan such that over 250,000 homes have now been passed and can avail of the high-quality connectivity offered by this plan; and
— the ongoing war in Ukraine and other factors have resulted in significant inflationary pressures throughout the world and within Ireland, which the State has sought to manage through the introduction of stronger supports for Departments delivering infrastructure projects and the ongoing engagement through the Construction Sector Group and Project Ireland 2040 Delivery Board;
further notes that:
— Budget 2025 will build on and continue the enhanced investment of recent years in our society and our economy; the budget strategy has been framed in the context of a growing population and elevated price levels over the last number of years;
— under Budget 2025, Government continues to invest in important public services, including through the expansion of health services, increases in core social welfare allowances, increased investment in housing, expansion of the Hot School Meals programme;
— Budget 2025 will deliver a €1.5 billion budget for mental health, representing an increase in the lifetime of this Government of 44 per cent;
— €150 million in dedicated annual funding is provided to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), with a further €110 million for community-based mental health services and non-Governmental organisations; an additional investment of €2.9 million in CAMHS initiatives in 2025 will deliver additional staffing for CAMHS teams, expansion of CAMHS Hubs Teams, expansion of the Single Point of Access for services for children, and the development of a CAMHS Emergency Department Liaison Service;
— this will build on progress in reducing CAMHS waiting lists, strengthen the new central referral mechanism (known as 'no wrong door'), and the further roll-out of CAMHS Hubs which provide an alternative to hospital admission in times of acute crisis;
— ongoing investment and reform of youth mental health services is delivering better outcomes, including reduced waiting lists in August 2024 as compared to the same time period in 2023, as well as a specific reduction in the number of children waiting longer than 12 months;
— Budget 2025 will also deliver an €11.8 billion investment in education, delivering a 12 per cent increase in core capitation rates (building on the 9 per cent increase secured under Budget 2024), extending free schoolbooks to all students enrolled in the free scheme, the hiring of 1,600 additional Special Needs Assistants and 768 Special Education Teachers and continued expansion of the School Transport Scheme;
— experts and bodies such as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation and the United States Surgeon General have recognised the hugely negative impact that smartphones and social media have on students' academic learning and wellbeing;
— Budget 2025 outlines capital expenditure of €14.9 billion, an increase of approximately €1.6 billion or 12.3 per cent over the 2024 allocation;
— capital spending has grown at a higher rate than current spend over the last number of years, as the increased investment under the National Development Plan (NDP) ramps up, providing housing, school buildings and transport infrastructure, building capacity for our future;
— investment in infrastructure is a critical component in supporting Ireland's growth and in delivering better, fit-for-purpose public services; the increased capital spend in Budget 2025 continues the delivery of a NDP that is providing the vital infrastructure we need to support our future economic and social requirements, as well as our climate change commitments;
— the delivery of capital projects has been challenged by a number of significant factors in recent years, including the continued impact of construction inflation on projects, labour shortages, particularly in the construction sector, and the ongoing delays in getting projects through the planning system;
— the Government has approved a number of priority actions to improve delivery of NDP projects, including the introduction of new Infrastructure Guidelines to reduce the administrative burden on Departments charged with infrastructure delivery; the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform also chairs the reconstituted Project Ireland 2040 Delivery Board which is charged with driving the delivery of the NDP; these actions will boost the delivery of critical infrastructure in a sustainable and cost effective manner, such as 330 school building projects in 2023 and BusConnects; and
— the Office of Public Works has introduced new governance measures and revisions to project approval thresholds to ensure Management Board oversight and approval of all works above €200,000; and
condemns:
— Sinn Féin's baseless accusations of mismanagement and cynical posturing in respect of vital public services, all while failing to take responsibility and show leadership in respect of their own record in Northern Ireland; and
— Sinn Féin's blatant hypocrisy and flipflopping on smartphones given the recent decision by the Northern Ireland Executive to pilot the use of lockable pouches in Northern Irish schools.".
(Minister for Education)
Amendment put:
The Dáil divided: Tá, 71; Níl, 60; Staon, 0.
Tá
- Brophy, Colm.
- Browne, James.
- Bruton, Richard.
- Burke, Colm.
- Butler, Mary.
- Byrne, Thomas.
- Cahill, Jackie.
- Calleary, Dara.
- Cannon, Ciarán.
- Carroll MacNeill, Jennifer.
- Chambers, Jack.
- Collins, Niall.
- Costello, Patrick.
- Coveney, Simon.
- Crowe, Cathal.
- Devlin, Cormac.
- Dillon, Alan.
- Donnelly, Stephen.
- Donohoe, Paschal.
- Duffy, Francis Noel.
- Durkan, Bernard J.
- English, Damien.
- Farrell, Alan.
- Feighan, Frankie.
- Flaherty, Joe.
- Flanagan, Charles.
- Fleming, Sean.
- Foley, Norma.
- Griffin, Brendan.
- Haughey, Seán.
- Heydon, Martin.
- Higgins, Emer.
- Humphreys, Heather.
- Kehoe, Paul.
- Lahart, John.
- Lawless, James.
- Leddin, Brian.
- Martin, Catherine.
- Martin, Micheál.
- Matthews, Steven.
- McAuliffe, Paul.
- McConalogue, Charlie.
- McEntee, Helen.
- McHugh, Joe.
- Moynihan, Aindrias.
- Moynihan, Michael.
- Murnane O'Connor, Jennifer.
- Naughton, Hildegarde.
- Noonan, Malcolm.
- O'Brien, Darragh.
- O'Brien, Joe.
- O'Callaghan, Jim.
- O'Connor, James.
- O'Dea, Willie.
- O'Donnell, Kieran.
- O'Donovan, Patrick.
- O'Dowd, Fergus.
- O'Gorman, Roderic.
- O'Sullivan, Christopher.
- O'Sullivan, Pádraig.
- Ó Cathasaigh, Marc.
- Ó Cuív, Éamon.
- Phelan, John Paul.
- Rabbitte, Anne.
- Richmond, Neale.
- Ring, Michael.
- Smith, Brendan.
- Smyth, Niamh.
- Stanton, David.
- Troy, Robert.
- Varadkar, Leo.
Níl
- Andrews, Chris.
- Bacik, Ivana.
- Barry, Mick.
- Boyd Barrett, Richard.
- Brady, John.
- Browne, Martin.
- Buckley, Pat.
- Canney, Seán.
- Carthy, Matt.
- Clarke, Sorca.
- Collins, Joan.
- Collins, Michael.
- Conway-Walsh, Rose.
- Cronin, Réada.
- Crowe, Seán.
- Cullinane, David.
- Daly, Pa.
- Doherty, Pearse.
- Donnelly, Paul.
- Ellis, Dessie.
- Farrell, Mairéad.
- Fitzmaurice, Michael.
- Gannon, Gary.
- Gould, Thomas.
- Guirke, Johnny.
- Healy-Rae, Danny.
- Healy-Rae, Michael.
- Howlin, Brendan.
- Kelly, Alan.
- Kenny, Gino.
- Kenny, Martin.
- Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
- McDonald, Mary Lou.
- McGrath, Mattie.
- Mitchell, Denise.
- Murphy, Verona.
- Mythen, Johnny.
- Nash, Ged.
- Nolan, Carol.
- O'Callaghan, Cian.
- O'Donoghue, Richard.
- O'Reilly, Louise.
- O'Rourke, Darren.
- Ó Broin, Eoin.
- Ó Laoghaire, Donnchadh.
- Ó Murchú, Ruairí.
- Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
- Pringle, Thomas.
- Quinlivan, Maurice.
- Shanahan, Matt.
- Sherlock, Sean.
- Shortall, Róisín.
- Smith, Bríd.
- Smith, Duncan.
- Stanley, Brian.
- Tóibín, Peadar.
- Tully, Pauline.
- Ward, Mark.
- Whitmore, Jennifer.
- Wynne, Violet-Anne.
Staon
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Hildegarde Naughton and Cormac Devlin; Níl, Deputies Pádraig Mac Lochlainn and Denise Mitchell.
Amendment declared carried.
Question put: "That the motion, as amended, be agreed to".
The Dáil divided: Tá, 72; Níl, 60; Staon, 0.
Tá
- Brophy, Colm.
- Browne, James.
- Bruton, Richard.
- Burke, Colm.
- Butler, Mary.
- Byrne, Thomas.
- Cahill, Jackie.
- Calleary, Dara.
- Cannon, Ciarán.
- Carroll MacNeill, Jennifer.
- Chambers, Jack.
- Collins, Niall.
- Costello, Patrick.
- Coveney, Simon.
- Crowe, Cathal.
- Devlin, Cormac.
- Dillon, Alan.
- Donnelly, Stephen.
- Donohoe, Paschal.
- Duffy, Francis Noel.
- Durkan, Bernard J.
- English, Damien.
- Farrell, Alan.
- Feighan, Frankie.
- Flaherty, Joe.
- Flanagan, Charles.
- Fleming, Sean.
- Foley, Norma.
- Griffin, Brendan.
- Haughey, Seán.
- Heydon, Martin.
- Higgins, Emer.
- Humphreys, Heather.
- Kehoe, Paul.
- Lahart, John.
- Lawless, James.
- Leddin, Brian.
- Martin, Catherine.
- Martin, Micheál.
- Matthews, Steven.
- McAuliffe, Paul.
- McConalogue, Charlie.
- McEntee, Helen.
- McHugh, Joe.
- Moynihan, Aindrias.
- Moynihan, Michael.
- Murnane O'Connor, Jennifer.
- Naughton, Hildegarde.
- Noonan, Malcolm.
- O'Brien, Darragh.
- O'Brien, Joe.
- O'Callaghan, Jim.
- O'Connor, James.
- O'Dea, Willie.
- O'Donnell, Kieran.
- O'Donovan, Patrick.
- O'Dowd, Fergus.
- O'Gorman, Roderic.
- O'Sullivan, Christopher.
- O'Sullivan, Pádraig.
- Ó Cathasaigh, Marc.
- Ó Cuív, Éamon.
- Phelan, John Paul.
- Rabbitte, Anne.
- Richmond, Neale.
- Ring, Michael.
- Smith, Brendan.
- Smyth, Niamh.
- Smyth, Ossian.
- Stanton, David.
- Troy, Robert.
- Varadkar, Leo.
Níl
- Andrews, Chris.
- Bacik, Ivana.
- Barry, Mick.
- Boyd Barrett, Richard.
- Brady, John.
- Browne, Martin.
- Buckley, Pat.
- Canney, Seán.
- Carthy, Matt.
- Clarke, Sorca.
- Collins, Joan.
- Collins, Michael.
- Conway-Walsh, Rose.
- Cronin, Réada.
- Crowe, Seán.
- Cullinane, David.
- Daly, Pa.
- Doherty, Pearse.
- Donnelly, Paul.
- Ellis, Dessie.
- Farrell, Mairéad.
- Fitzmaurice, Michael.
- Gannon, Gary.
- Gould, Thomas.
- Guirke, Johnny.
- Healy-Rae, Danny.
- Healy-Rae, Michael.
- Howlin, Brendan.
- Kelly, Alan.
- Kenny, Gino.
- Kenny, Martin.
- Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
- McDonald, Mary Lou.
- McGrath, Mattie.
- Mitchell, Denise.
- Murphy, Verona.
- Mythen, Johnny.
- Nash, Ged.
- Nolan, Carol.
- O'Callaghan, Cian.
- O'Donoghue, Richard.
- O'Reilly, Louise.
- O'Rourke, Darren.
- Ó Broin, Eoin.
- Ó Laoghaire, Donnchadh.
- Ó Murchú, Ruairí.
- Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
- Pringle, Thomas.
- Quinlivan, Maurice.
- Shanahan, Matt.
- Sherlock, Sean.
- Shortall, Róisín.
- Smith, Bríd.
- Smith, Duncan.
- Stanley, Brian.
- Tóibín, Peadar.
- Tully, Pauline.
- Ward, Mark.
- Whitmore, Jennifer.
- Wynne, Violet-Anne.
Staon
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Hildegarde Naughton and Cormac Devlin; Níl, Deputies Pádraig Mac Lochlainn and Denise Mitchell.
Question declared carried.