I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, to the House and thank her for being here. I remind Members that the Minister of State has ten minutes to speak, group spokespersons have seven minutes, all other Senators have four minutes and the Minister will be called to reply not later than 6.23 p.m., with the statements to conclude at 6.30 p.m.
Budget 2024 (Finance): Statements
I am very pleased to appear before the Seanad to discuss budget 2024, which was presented to Dáil Éireann earlier today by the Ministers for Finance and Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform. I have copies of the speech.
Recent years have seen the Irish economy grapple with a series of economic shocks - Brexit, the pandemic, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and a rate of inflation not seen in decades. Despite these significant challenges, we have an economy operating at full employment with a record high of 2.64 million people at work, and an unemployment rate of 4.2%. This positive economic performance is a testament to the resilience of the Irish people and the success of the Government's policy responses. This budget will provide further support to households and firms who are continuing to feel the impact of rising prices. It is again a progressive budget that prioritises the most vulnerable in society.
Key measures in the budget include increases in the standard rate of income tax cut-off point, increases to tax credits and a reduction in the universal social charge, USC, rate to help reduce the tax burden on individuals. There are one-off cost-of-living measures such as the deferral of the restoration of fuel excise increases and the extension of the 9% reduced VAT rate on electricity and gas. The budget contains a range of supports for enterprises including a targeted capital gains relief for angel investors in innovative start-ups. The supports for housing, include amendments to the help-to-buy scheme, increases in the rent tax credit, mortgage interest tax relief, and tax relief for landlords. Climate transition measures include an extension of the accelerated capital allowances scheme for energy efficient equipment and incentives for electric vehicles. The establishment of the Future Ireland Fund will help future-proof our economy and our public finances.
I will now turn to the economic outlook. Budget 2024 is being framed against a highly uncertain global environment. Our key trading partners are experiencing an economic slowdown, which is already reflected In our recent export performance. Indeed, as a small, highly open economy, what happens globally has immediate repercussions for Ireland. Over the last year or so, the economy has experienced the effects of multi-decade high rates of inflation, with inflation averaging just over 8% in 2022. That had a huge impact on the everyday lives of our people. Fortunately, inflation has eased somewhat in recent months and is projected to average 5.3% this year. For next year, inflation is projected to be 2.9%. As a result, collective living standards should improve for the vast majority in the next 12 months, with income growth exceeding the rate of inflation. In terms of the domestic economy, modified domestic demand - the preferred measure of domestic activity - is projected to increase by 2.2% both this year and next.
I will turn now to the fiscal outlook. A general government surplus of €8.8 billion is projected for this year and €8.4 billion next year. However, excluding the impact of our windfall corporate tax receipts, estimated at around €10 billion to €12 billion this year, an underlying deficit of €2 billion is in prospect for 2023. That is why it is essential that we do not build up permanent fiscal commitments based on potentially transitory corporation tax revenues.
The summer economic statement set out the parameters for budget 2024. It acknowledged that the Government had decided to temporarily adjust its 5% spending rule to take account of the fact that inflation is projected to be above trend next year. Net core public spending will now increase by 6.1% next year.
Budget 2024 consists of a core expenditure package of just under €5.3 billion and a tax package of more than €1.1 billion, which is a total core budget package of €6.4 billion. It also includes a net temporary package of €2.7 billion. In addition, there is non-core expenditure of €4.75 billion, including an additional €250 million for the public capital programme funded by windfall corporation tax receipts. Budget 2024 provides significant supports to mitigate the impact of cost-of-living pressures for vulnerable families and firms without unduly adding to inflationary pressures.
Turning first to income tax, over the past four budgets, Government has introduced a range of supports to help reduce the tax burden on individuals. We have taken more than 220,000 people out of the upper tax bracket through the last three budgets since the Covid-19 pandemic. Budget 2024 continues the trend and includes the following measures: an increase in the personal, employee PAYE and earned income tax credits by €100 each; an increase of €2,000 in the standard rate income tax cut-off point, increasing entry to the higher rate of income tax to €42,000, which is an overall increase of €10,000 over the past ten years; and a reduction of the 4.5% rate of USC to 4%. This is the first reduction in USC rates in five years. It is also important to mention that the entry threshold will be raised to €25,760 in line with the increase in the national minimum wage, and the USC concession for medical card holders will be extended a further two years. In addition, the home carer and single person child carer tax credits will increase by €100 and the incapacitated child tax credit by €200 from €3,300 to €3,500.
To put these changes in perspective, a single person earning €46,000 in 2024 will see an increase of more than €2,000 in his or her annual net income as a result of income tax and USC changes since 2021. A married one-earner couple with two children with an income of €65,000 would see an increase of more than €2,500 over the same period.
Additional temporary measures to help address inflationary pressures include an extension of the 9% reduced VAT rate for gas and electricity for another 12 months, as well as deferring the restoration of the final tranche of fuel excise increases, which was due to happen on 31 October 2023. This is something for which Senators called repeatedly. The outstanding amounts will now be restored in two equal instalments on 1 April 2024 and 1 August 2024.
Alongside cost-of-living pressures, housing remains a key focus for this Government. In terms of the rental market, the Government is increasing the value of the rent tax credit from €500 to €750 per year for 2024 and also extending its eligibility. Additionally, Government is introducing a tax relief aimed at small landlords. Subject to certain conditions being met, rental income of €3,000 for the year 2024, €4,000 for the year 2025 and €5,000 for the years 2026 and 2027 will be disregarded at the standard rate.
Budget 2024 will also introduce a temporary one-year mortgage interest relief for homeowners with an outstanding mortgage balance on their primary dwelling house of between €80,000 and €500,000 as of 31 December 2022. Relief will be available in respect of the increased interest paid on the mortgage in the calendar year 2023 as compared with the amount paid in 2022, at the standard rate of 20% income tax. The relief wilt be capped at €1,250 per property.
The help-to-buy scheme is being amended to ensure that applicants of the local authority affordable purchase scheme can also avail of it. To incentivise better use of the existing housing stock, we are increasing the vacant homes tax to five times the property's basic local property tax rate whereas it had been three times that.
On insurance, today, we are changing the levy charged to finance the Motor Insurance Insolvency Compensation Fund from 2% to 1%. I am happy to confirm that this will benefit policyholders on renewal from 1 January 2024 and I expect it to be passed on. The cut to this levy will have a direct positive impact on the cost of motor insurance in addition to the Government's programme of reform and will reduce the overall level of contributions to the fund by approximately €20 million. There have been improvements in the cost of motor insurance over the past few years. As we know, official data shows that premiums have fallen by more than 40% since 2016, benefitting 2.2 million policyholders in Ireland.
I want to see businesses benefit next from Government insurance reforms including the new personal injury guidelines, duty of care changes and anti-fraud measures. Like motorists, businesses, too, must see reductions in future premiums at renewal time owing to what is a more equitable, stable and predictable insurance market situation in Ireland as a consequence of the Government reforms.
It is essential that we continue to support the enterprise sector in Ireland and plan for innovation and industry for the future. Legislation will be published in the Finance Bill to implement the 15% minimum effective tax rate for large companies as provided for under the OECD pillar two agreement.
The research and development tax credit will be increased from 25% to 30%. This will maintain the net value of the existing credit for businesses subject to the new 15% minimum tax rate. However, it will also delivering a real increase in the credit to those smaller companies that will not necessarily be in the scope of pillar two.
For small and medium-sized enterprises, budget 2024 also introduces a new targeted capital gains tax relief for angel investors in innovative start-up SMEs. This will allow angel investors to benefit from a reduced rate of capital gains tax of 16% when they dispose of a qualifying investment for gains up to twice the value of their investment, subject to a lifetime limit of €3 million in gains. Budget 2024 also includes enhancements to the employment investment incentive and retirement relief, which is very significant for business owners and, indeed, farmers.
In terms of agriculture, a number of important reliefs, such as the consanguinity relief and accelerated capital allowances for farm safety equipment, are being extended to support the farming sector, and there is more on that. In the area of climate action, the Government remains committed to protecting the environment, reducing emissions and, crucially, supporting newer cleaner technologies. Therefore, the Government is extending the accelerated capital allowances scheme for energy-efficient equipment for an additional two years. Additionally, the zero VAT rate on the supply and installation of solar panels for private dwellings will be extended to schools. The existing preferential benefit in kind, BIK, treatment rate will remain for 2024 and 2025. The existing vehicle registration tax, VRT, relief for battery electric vehicles will be extended for a further two years. Carbon tax will rise from €48.50 to €56 per tonne of carbon dioxide emitted from 11 October. There are a number of other revenue-raising measures but I am afraid I am out of time.
I thank the Minister of State. A copy of her speech is available to Members. Senators Maria Byrne and Kyne are sharing time. Senator Byrne has five minutes and Senator Kyne has two minutes.
I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to discuss this very important topic. Budget day affects every household in the country. The Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath's opening speech today was about the fact that there are 2.6 million people at work. I want to acknowledge that. He also referred to the fact that inflation, while in some ways it can be good, affects the lives of all of us. That is why this is a €12 billion cost-of-living package, which I acknowledge. It is really important that we support people.
There is €5.3 billion in terms of core expenditure and a tax package of €1.6 billion. The once-off cost-of-living measures of €2.7 billion are really important. There is something there for all levels of households, which is really important. People are finding it difficult. Three energy credits were announced today, which I am delighted with because it is something I have been seeking for quite a while. It is less than what it was last year, but the cost of energy has started to come down. The Government had to look at it in a prudent matter. It will help families in terms of that support, however. The 9% reduced VAT rate on gas and electricity is to stay in place for a further 12 months, which is most welcome.
The rent-to-buy scheme is staying in place until 2025. I welcome the fact that people who may be on the council list or in affordable housing can avail of this as well. From the figures I heard today, certainly, more than 7,000 social houses have started already this year. Going by all the figures, we are going to exceed the target of 29,000 homes, which is most welcome. Some 400 families are being helped each week in terms of the rent-to-buy scheme. They are significant figures.
There is funding towards climate change in terms of solar panels. People were afraid that money was going to run out if they wanted to buy an electric car, which the Government is encouraging people to do. The VAT rate on solar panels will be at 0%, which is really welcome.
There is €250 billion in terms of enterprise supports for small and medium-sized businesses, the inner workings of which has to be worked out with the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. We need to look at small and medium enterprises especially, because many of those in the hospitality industry have still not recovered.
The minimum wage has increased and small businesses will have to sustain many other costs. They need to be the target of the business and enterprise fund. It is most welcome that €250 million has been allocated to it. In my area, County Limerick, we have Troy Studios. The section 481 film tax credit is most welcome but I also want the regional uplift to be looked at for areas that are starting off in film and might not be as established as others. It encouraged companies to come from abroad, including from America, as well as the main film producers across Europe. When the regional uplift was in place they were able to do business a little more efficiently as they had a tax credit. It encouraged long-term filming. I would like it to be looked at.
On insurance, I compliment the Minister of State personally, as it is an area she has taken a great interest in. I welcome the fact we will see reductions. I hope brokers and insurance companies will pass them on to clients.
I am almost of out time but on social welfare, I welcome the income disregard for carers. I have worked with carers on it for quite some time. People who are medically certified as not being able to drive will have free travel. That is welcome news. Many people cannot drive for various reasons because of a difficulty they have.
The Minister of State is welcome.
I commend the budget announced by the Minister for Finance, Deputy McGrath, today. I commend him, the Minister of State and the team in their Department on their comprehensive budget proposals. I especially welcome the increase of €100 in income tax credits for PAYE employees, the increase of €2,000 in the standard rate of income tax cut-off, which brings the entry to the higher rate of income tax to €42,000 and the reduction of the USC from 4.5% to 4%. I also welcome some individual measures, including the introduction of a one-year mortgage interest tax relief for homeowners with an outstanding balance on their primary dwelling of between €80,000 and €500,000 on 31 December and the increase of rent tax credits from €500 to €750 per year for 2024. I welcome the amendment that will allow parents who pay for their children's tenancies under the rent-a-room scheme, known as "digs", to claim the rent tax credit and that it will be backdated to allow for claims covering 2022 and 2023. These initiatives are hugely beneficial. I welcome the retention of the various other schemes such as the rent to buy scheme and the confirmation in respect of the residential zoned land tax, which was causing a certain amount of concern as some people were not aware of it and might have missed the deadlines. There was concern about whether it applied to actively farmed land. We have been allowed time to iron out these issues before the new rate is chargeable from January 2024. It is welcome that certainty is being provided to people. I commend the budget measures overall to the House.
I do not stand up here to throw water over the budget.
Before Senator Craughwell continues, Senator Keogan has just arrived.
I will share time.
Senator Craughwell has to share time with Senator Keogan. How will they do so?
Three minutes each.
Three and a half minutes.
I will mention a few things that jumped out at me today. The mortgage interest tax relief is to be welcomed but I am concerned that the upper limit is €500,000. Where we live - the Minister of State knows it, it is not far from her constituency - two-bedroom houses are currently being sold for €555,000. I know the relief is aimed at those on tracker mortgages to an extent but we need to look at the upper limit to help those who have mortgages of slightly more than €500,000. That is one of the issues I have.
There is a huge problem with the residential zoned land tax. An inner city factory in west Dublin employs 75 people and the land it sits on is zoned residential. The owners have been told they are about to be hit for tax of approximately €200,000 because the land is zoned as residential. The factory has been there for about 100 years. It has been run by three generations of a family. It makes carpet and seat coverings for aircraft all over the world. It has another factory in Donegal. We need to look at that. The Taoiseach mentioned the issue when he made a statement to the Seanad a few days ago. We cannot drive employers out of an area simply because we did not take it into account when we zoned the land.
I will have more to say to the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform when it comes to the Defence Forces but today's Budget Statement is devastating.
Hear, hear.
There is no sign of any incentive for retention, of any effort to try to reach level of ambition 2 from the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces, of duty allowance or of help for the navy. There is nothing in the budget. There is talk of increasing the military by 400 people. To do so, we must first find the 1,000 who are already lost which make it 1,400 that we need and not 400. I will take that up with the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform as it was covered by his speech but I also want the Department of Finance to be aware of it because it is serious.
The issue of cybersecurity was mentioned by the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform. It is important for the Minister of State's Department. Unless we beef up our cybersecurity to match that of our neighbours, especially in the Baltic states, we will lose foreign direct investment. We need to have a massive staff and massive awareness campaign on cybersecurity. I ask the Minister of State to look at that to see what kind of money is coming for it. The figure is not included. I thank the Minister of State for her time.
The Minister of State is welcome. I was trying to get excited about coming to the House this afternoon but there was nothing exciting in the budget. It fell short in many areas this year.
The expenditure reported for 2024 is €96.6 billion. In 2024, the Government will gift €6 billion of taxpayers' money to the NGO sector in order that activists can use it to ask the Government to pass laws they like. This figure increases year on year. Earlier this year, €5.5 billion was set aside for spending on Ukrainians in Ireland. The budget signs away €225 million per year of taxpayers' money to be spent overseas to help Third World countries to fight climate change on foot of a promise made to Europe to do so for a minimum of four years. Just shy of €1 billion is going to Third World countries. Already, approximately 1% of the pot will not be seen by ordinary working Irish people of which more than 700,000 people are suffering in poverty.
I could not believe how often I read the phrase "from September 2024" or "by the end of the year". A ridiculous number of the provisions announced today will not be seen for many months. Some will perhaps not even be seen within a year. The big headline act of reducing childcare costs by 25% is not coming for another 11 months. Parents and families need support today. They do not want to wait 11 months for this. It might be budget 2024 but huge parts of it really feel like budget 2025. It is a budget of kicking the can down the road.
The reduction of the VAT rate for the hospitality industry was the one thing keeping many small businesses afloat after the Covid-19 pandemic. It ended six weeks ago and many businesses were hoping the VAT reduction would remain. There was no mention of energy supports for the hospitality sector or further tax protections for these businesses impacted by the war. We will see the devil in the detail of the grants for reducing commercial rates.
I am afraid that a year of further closures of restaurants and hospitality businesses awaits us in 2024.
To match inflation, the core welfare rate for those with disabilities should have been raised by €27.50. A €12 hike will leave people unable to keep up with the relentless cost of living.
The INTO is very disturbed by many of the announcements today. Many primary classes are overcrowded, schools are underfunded, school leaders are under-supported, and mental health services for pupils are under-resourced. This is coming from the INTO’s report on today’s budget. The budget will result in the loss of approximately 250 mainstream teaching posts in primary schools next September. The Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, has reneged on the promise of last Easter, meaning that 2,400 positions of assistant principal, which have been vacant for 15 months, will not now be filled in this Government’s lifetime. That is disgraceful.
Is the Government not ashamed of the €12 addition to the carer’s allowance? That is an absolutely disgusting payment to give the carers, and I am very disappointed that the Government did not go further with that.
I welcome the Minister. Today is an important milestone in the history of the Irish financial system and its management by successive Ministers for Finance over the 100 years of our independent national story. In the early years of independence, some foreign and domestic commentators scoffed at the ability of the Irish State to build and manage a successful economy. There are many global challenges that saw newly independent governments across Europe and the rest of the world fail in that responsibility. The Republic of Ireland did not and can now boast of being one of the most successful, modern independent nations of the last hundred years.
On the last occasion that a Fianna Fáil Minister rose to his feet to deliver a budget speech, it was probably the most difficult budget speech in the history of our nation. Our party paid a massive political price for the drastic cuts necessary to save our economy and society, but the late Brian Lenihan rose to the challenge, putting the needs of the Irish people above the needs of his political party in an act of patriotism that has stood the test of time. Today, my colleague Deputy Michael McGrath, the Minister for Finance, follows the example that our friend Brian Lenihan set over a decade ago, but in a vastly changed economic environment. It is a proud political day for the Minister, his family and his political party as we once more ensure that all the Irish people in need benefit from our economic success and that all our people will be protected in the tough years ahead.
In today’s budget, overseen by the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael McGrath, Fianna Fáil has put the needs of all Irish people above its own interests. That is what is demanded in the management of a modern Irish economy. The Opposition cannot see past its own rhetoric and narrow electoral concerns. Over many decades, the management and transformation of an Irish economic system into a modern, outward-looking, flexible, highly educated and growing society that is one of the most successful in the OECD have been led by Fianna Fáil finance Ministers. Today, the current Minister for Finance has ensured the continuation of the record of patriotic and prudent management of our finances while providing considerable additional support for all our people, young and old, who need help in the global cost-of-living crisis.
There are issues I would like to raise today, however. Based on the tradition that Fianna Fáil, unlike other parties, has adopted, I am able to criticise some measures that have not been adopted today. That is what the true republican party expects. The Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, knows I am genuine on this matter and have been working closely with him to get a certain measure across the line. I hope that it can be achieved through the Finance Bill.
Homeownership for working families is one of the most challenging social and economic issues we face. The combined support of the help-to-buy and first home schemes is making this a reality again. While these are making progress, there is more to be done. I strongly believe that the targeted measure I will outline would benefit those homebuyers who need the most help to own their own homes, which is the central aim of all Irish workers. The issue referred to relates to the requirement that the loan-to-value ratio be 70% under the help-to-buy scheme. I am willing to put on the record three examples of families I am currently dealing with in Wicklow who have been affected by this loan-to-value ratio. The first is that of a young mother trying to buy a two-bedroom duplex in Wicklow town for €285,000. She has an income of €52,500 and can secure a mortgage of €194,000, which gives a loan-to-value ratio of only 68%. In addition to the help-to-buy scheme funding and her savings, she needs €57,000 under the first home scheme, or 20%, to secure the home. She is not being afforded the opportunity to buy her home because of the 70% loan-to-value ratio. The second example is of a family with a salary of €58,500 who want to purchase a property for €350,000. They can secure a mortgage of only €234,000, representing a loan-to-value proportion of 67%. Under the first home scheme, this family needs €71,000, which is 20%. The third example is of a family who can secure a mortgage of only 65% of the value of the property. The families most in need, the families who have secured the maximum mortgage they can secure and who have sweated every asset they can sweat, cannot buy their own homes because of the loan-to-value ratio, yet the total debts in each case, when you account for the first home scheme, are over 88%, 87% and 85%.
The help-to-buy scheme has helped 40,000 families so far. We hear reports about dead weight. If you ask any of the 40,000 families, you will find it does not consider itself to be dead weight. The circumstances of the three families I have cited as examples are the very reason the schemes were set up. I am willing to continue working with the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael McGrath, and whoever else I need to work with to determine whether we can address the loan-to-value issue through the Finance Bill.
Successful budgets with surplus tax returns do not happen by accident. We cannot spend extra money on vital services and needs such as those associated with housing, social welfare, disabilities, mental health, tourism and agriculture unless our economy is being managed with professional prudence and patriotic ambition. The budget has a Fianna Fáil stamp on it. It has been agreed with our partners in government, whose objectives are also being met. This is grown-up politics; this is how we secure the future of the next generation. The budget sits proudly in an ongoing story of a republic’s independence. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael McGrath, can feel proud today. I look forward to working with our colleagues in government, in Fine Gael and the Green Party, to improve further the measures to deliver for the Irish people and build homes for all who need them.
When a government has the surplus the current one does but still cannot address the multitude of overlapping issues facing our country, it is clear that there is a mismatch of priorities. A budget is about setting out a path for the future. It is about setting out our vision and our values. Today’s budget makes clear to workers and families that the Government cannot and will not deliver for them.
The number one issue facing workers and families is the housing crisis. Since the Government took office, the average house price has increased by more than €60,000. Children are growing up in emergency accommodation. Sixty-eight percent of adults between 25 and 30 still live at home with their parents. In Denmark the figure is 4%, in Finland it is 5%, and in Sweden it is 6%. In Ireland, 68% of adults between the ages of 25 and 30 still live in their childhood bedrooms. A whole generation can only dream of homeownership. Those who rent live in a complete nightmare, paying extortionate, sky-high rents and getting no protection in return. They get no protection if the home is sold, no protection from eviction and no protection if the landlord or landlord’s family member decides to move in. There is no protection for a renter’s deposit and none if his or her name is not even on the lease in the first place.
Children are growing up in emergency accommodation. Under Fine Gael, homelessness has gone up by 250%. Businesses cannot get workers, schools cannot get teachers, and doctors are sleeping in their cars. Gardaí, nurses and members of our Defence Forces are leaving their professions because they cannot find somewhere to live.
Entire generations, as I said, have been locked out of home ownership and many young people are reaching the conclusion that their futures, for now, are not here, but abroad. We needed a budget for renters and homeowners but we got a budget for landlords.
Budget 2023 provided €2.6 billion for the capital housing programme. Today, budget 2024 provides €2.6 billion again for the capital housing scheme for next year. Instead of a ramp up in housing, we have tax breaks for landlords. Next year, this Government will give landlords a tax break of €600 at a cost of €160 million. This will increase up to €1,000 by 2027, all while rents continue to spiral and renters pay nearly €5,000 more per year. A Sinn Féin government would have introduced a budget that would have gotten to grips with the housing crisis and built the homes we so desperately need. We would have delivered 21,000 public homes next year, increasing the supply of affordable homes to rent and buy. We would have introduced a three-year ban on rent increases. This would make sure that our proposed tax credit would put one month’s rent back into the pockets of renters, in stark contrast to Government proposals, which, without a ban on rent increases, might as well be a cheque written directly to landlords.
People are being squeezed from every side and in recent years half of all households have seen their real incomes fall or stagnate. These are not issues that can be addressed by once-off measures alone and this budget needed to deliver a fair tax package, yet the most expensive element of today’s tax package is a €2,000 increase in the standard rate band. This package will see a worker earning €35,000 or more benefit by less than €320. Meanwhile, someone earning above €200,000 will benefit by more than €890. Well over half of all workers will not even benefit from this package. Sinn Féin has been clear that the fairest way to reduce taxes and put money back in workers’ pockets is through cuts to the USC. In 2020, we stated our intention to remove the first €30,000 a worker earns from the USC. That road could have started today by abolishing the first rate of USC, lowering the second rate, and increasing the point at which people start to pay the third rate of USC.
I want to touch on arts and culture. I welcome the changes in section 481. I studied film and television production and I care deeply about that art form but what about every other art form? From my research, the figures in 2021 show that section 481 was worth €137 million in tax reliefs. The Arts Council, representing all other art forms, is funded to the tune of €130 million. The National Campaign for the Arts was asking for €150 million of an investment in the Arts Council. Sinn Féin made that commitment in a roadmap over five years and over a term of government but today we have seen no increase for the Arts Council, and no roadmap to show how we will reach €150 million. It seems to me that the Government considers the basic income for the arts scheme to be a job well done, and while it is a welcome policy change and initiative, it is not all sorted now. The basic income for the arts scheme has only created more of a demand in terms of the Arts Council's need and in terms of our theatres, bursaries, festivals, literature and so on. It is disappointing, therefore, that the Arts Council has seen no increase in funding this year, and it would be interesting to see what section 481 is worth. The cap is not doubling but it is going from €75 million to €125 million and it will be interesting to see how much that is worth to the industry.
This should have been a budget that made life more affordable for ordinary people. This should have been a housing budget and it should have been the budget that used the resources that we have to fix the problems that we face across housing, health and climate. Instead it is a missed opportunity.
I thank the Minister of State for his work and for his address this afternoon on budget 2024. Senator Warfield, who is leaving the Chamber, said that Sinn Féin-----
I am still here.
-----wanted a budget that was more affordable. As people are travelling home this evening and digesting the news from this budget, they will have a sense and feeling that the announcements made by the Ministers, Deputies Michael McGrath and Donohoe, will have made a difference to their lives in a real and tangible way. People are financially better off and the fact that this has occurred has led to the fact that the Sinn Féin representative cannot stay to hear that, bar it hurt his hears or those of anyone else from the Opposition. They know when their goose is cooked and no amount of teeth gnashing from the spectres of doom we had to listen to this afternoon will change that reality. It is pathetic for Members of the Houses to attack a budget that will improve people's lives in so many ways.
Among the most standout announcements today by the Minister for Finance were the measures in reducing USC, raising the entry threshold level and increasing the minimum wage, which have the effect of increasing the net take-home pay of a full-time worker on minimum wage by €2,300. I do not know what land Senator Warfield is living in where that is not real pounds, shillings and pence but I met three young shop assistants last week who were asking me what this budget would mean for them and they now have an additional €2,300 in their take-home pay, which is real delivery. The plethora of cost-of-living measures will also put more money in people's pockets. Parents will get a double child benefit allowance payment, coming up at the expensive time of Christmas. That is real delivery. There will be €450 in energy credits, which is real money and real delivery. The free school books scheme has been extended to the junior certificate cycle, which is a massive saving. For those of us who are parents of teenagers that is a huge cost and that will be a massive saving for people in a real way, as well as the mortgage interest relief that will help families.
Speaking of homes, the acceleration of progress on housing is growing with the €2.6 billion capital investment in housing. Some 400 first-time buyers are purchasing homes every week. I looked at the alternative budget of Sinn Féin and its plans for housing, the signature proposal it talks about. Senator Warfield was speaking about needing to get a grip with homes. Sinn Féin needs to get a grip with its figures because it said in its alternative budget that it would deliver 3,700 additional homes for €929 million and that would average a cost of €251,000 per home, despite the fact that Deputy Ó Broin was given the figures from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage that said that building a new social home costs €303,000. That is a €200 million hole in Sinn Féin's finances but sure what is a quarter of a billion euro when you are throwing money around anyway? However, Sinn Féin does not know how to pay for it. Its figures do not add up.
On a lighter note, on a day when Ireland was officially announced as the hosts, with the UK, of the UEFA European Football Championship, I welcome the commitment by the Minister for Finance to use the tax system to benefit sport. One way to do so would be to raise the betting levy by 1% and fund additional sports from that fund, beyond horse racing and greyhound racing.
I want to mention childcare. I want to praise the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, for the work he has done in that sector. He has delivered on the 25% additional cuts to childcare costs, raising it to half in total and reinforcing core funding. Sinn Féin said this year that it would spend €270 million on childcare but we spent €346 million. We outspent what Sinn Féin called for by €76 million. That is real delivery and those are real figures. Maybe some time Sinn Féin will read that and recognise what delivering in Government means.
I want to inform Members that it is now 5.50 p.m. and we are going to conclude at 6.23 p.m. There were five Members in the House who were down to speak. If they want to take four minutes each, we could maybe be flexible with the time at the end. I will call Senator Lombard who was to share time with Senator Cummins. If they want to take the four minutes, I will give them a bit of latitude to do so, because we have time at the end before the Minister of State will be called at 6.23 p.m.
I will be guided by the Cathaoirleach. He might inform when my four minutes are up.
The Senator need not use the four minutes. Go ahead.
It is great to be here and to acknowledge the budget that has happened this afternoon. I want to comment in particular on agriculture and I note that Sinn Féin's wonderful contribution to this House never mentioned agriculture. Sinn Féin did not even acknowledge that farmers exist.
I acknowledge what is after happening today on the agricultural side. The roll-over of the reliefs is important. It is a really significant issue. With Sinn Féin refusing to acknowledge agriculture as a part of the ecosystem of our society, I would be fearful of where agricultural communities are going to go in time. The real issue regarding regeneration and renewal has also been addressed. Young farmers and succession plans need to be looked at. Those key issues are really important for our society. We need to change the age profile of our farming community. What the Minister for Finance, Deputy McGrath, announced today regarding the reliefs and the changes and the increase from €70,000 to €100,000 are really significant. That is the progress we are seeing under this Government. Making sure we our young, trained farmers into the system is an important issue.
When one looks at Sinn Féin's so-called budget proposals in agriculture, the big issue at the moment are the environmental challenges. What has been announced today, and what has been indicated is going to happen regarding the targeted agricultural modernisation scheme, TAMS, and the 70% ceiling put on it with regard to additional storage, is positive. That is what practical farming wants, that is, to make sure that our TAMS ceiling will go from 40% to 70%. This will have a knock-on implication when it comes to nitrates and other issues, and we will have the capacity to make sure that the environmental challenges can be met. When one looks at practical elements, that is going to help our industry and the manufacturing industry when it comes to agricultural products. That is a really significant issue.
The other glaring hole in Sinn Féin's so-called budget was that it did not even mention the sheep industry. This is an industry that needs help and support, and now we are going to see another significant budget put in place. Some €20 per ewe will be brought forward, which is going to help that industry to develop and survive the challenges it has because of Brexit. This so-called budget from Sinn Féin has missed all of the key issues regarding the agricultural industry. It is about making sure we protect all people, not just a cohort of society. This budget has gone a long way to helping everyone in that circle. I welcome the budget on those key issues regarding agriculture.
I mention another issue Sinn Féin will not mention, and that is the VAT change on e-books. It is a small but it is a really important thing. Dyslexic kids use e-books on a continuous basis. It is how they communicate and how they grasp what is in the larger curriculum itself. There was no VAT rate on other books but there was a VAT rate on e-books. From 1 January 2024 onwards, that VAT rate will be taken off and brought down to zero. This is a small but positive step forward that affects people who are in the environment where they need a bit of help. It is not even the financial implication of it; it is that level of support that we are with people on this journey. I acknowledge that as well.
They are the core issues from my point of view. When one reads the so-called Sinn Féin budget, it will do nothing for the agricultural community.
The order of speakers is Senators Cummins, Chambers, Byrne, Currie and McGahon. They will have four minutes each, and we will start with Senator Cummins.
I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, to the House. I congratulate her and her colleagues, the Minister for Finance, Deputy McGrath, and the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, Deputy Donohoe, for their work, and all of their ministerial colleagues who have put a tremendous amount of work into budget 2024 over the last number of weeks and months. There is only one Opposition Member here in the Seanad, and that shows how much they have to give out about in the budget, which is not very much by the looks of it, if they cannot even bother to turn up in the Chamber. It is clear from listening to Opposition Members in both the Dáil and the Seanad, that they had their speeches written in advance of even hearing the Ministers, Deputies McGrath and Donohoe, in the Chamber today. They criticise and say it was not enough. The fact of the matter is that we are the envy of Europe as other governments, right at this very moment in time, are choosing between increasing taxes and reducing spending. Today the Government actually reduced taxation for middle-income earners, putting money back in people's pockets, while also increasing spending for those most vulnerable, and providing universal payments across the board with the likes of energy credits, increased school meals, increased renter's tax credit, and increased money across a whole host of areas in the education space, which is very close to my heart.
I welcome the changes we have made on taxation. It was really important that we continued the work we had been doing over the last number of years in order to increase that standard rate band. It is now at €42,000, enabling more middle-income earners to keep more of their hard-earned income in their pockets, while also reducing the universal social charge, USC and increasing tax credits.
I want to turn to housing for a moment. It really galls me to listen to Sinn Féin and the Opposition talking about a renter's tax credit of a month. Last week, Sinn Féin presented an alternative budget that provided for €1,000 of a renter's tax credit. That is what it provided for in its numbers. On the other side of it, it said it would take €30,000 away with the other hand. That is a bad bargain for any person who is looking to buy their first home. It will give €1,000 with one hand, and take €30,000 away with the other. That is what Sinn Féin proposed, and it tries to present that as a win for young people in trying to get a foot on the ladder. What we have done today is we have increased the help-to-buy scheme out to the end of 2025, and we have also introduced changes to what Senator Casey referenced regarding the lacuna between the affordable purchase scheme and the help-to-buy scheme. The changes are addressing that in that when both are combined, one can avail of it, although it has not been addressed yet in terms of the first home scheme.
We are putting a record €7 billion into a housing budget for 2024 in order to provide 9,300 social homes, new builds, and 6,400 affordable homes. There is no doubt that what we are saying regarding the retention of the likes of the help-to-buy and first home schemes will assist more people in getting a foot on the ladder. If one goes with the Opposition, which says it will take away those two essential supports for people, it will mean fewer people have a deposit. This will mean more builders will say there are fewer people to buy their product, which will mean fewer homes being built. That is the very last thing we need in an already constrained market.
I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, to the House. Today was a particularly proud day for me, as a member of the Fianna Fáil Party, watching our Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael McGrath, deliver the budget on behalf of the Government and, of course, on behalf of Fianna Fáil. What struck me today about the budget was that there was something for everybody. Sometimes people suggest that is a bad thing. It was a good thing to show that not only had we a significant social welfare package of €1.1 billion and a significant cost-of-living package of more than €2 billion but we also managed to reduce taxation, and have a number of cost-of-living measures that will address the challenges that face households today.
What I am particularly proud of, and want to spend a little bit of time discussing, are the two funds that have been set up to prepare, plan and pay for the future spending needs of our country that will occur in the next ten, 15 or 20 years down the line. These are the future Ireland fund and the infrastructure, climate and nature fund. I commend the Government and the Ministers, Deputies McGrath and Donohoe, on putting together these two funds, which will be put on a statutory footing, meaning that any future Government that will be in charge of public finances will have to bring legislation through the Dáil in order to dip into those funds, and will have to explain why it needs to dip into a fund at that point. We know there are additional costs coming down the line. We have an ageing and growing population, and that will bring with it additional pressures on health, education, housing, elderly care and pensions. We know that even up to 2035, it is going to cost us between €8 billion and €10 billion just to maintain existing services.
The establishment of these two funds is not the sexy part of the budget. It will probably be forgotten by most people in the next couple of days, and it will not result in any extra money in people's pockets next year or in the lifetime of this Government, so there is no votes in it. The easy thing to do would be to spend the available moneys today and worry about the future later. Often Governments are accused, and rightly so, of not planning properly for the future. However, what this Government has done today, and will do in putting those two funds on a statutory footing, will, in ten to 20 years' time, allow us to look back to the establishment of those funds and know that the Government of today protected the children and workers of today. It will ensure that when we need it, the money is there to continue investment in infrastructure projects and capital spending, and to provide for healthcare, elderly care and pensions for the future. I am particularly proud of that element of our budget today.
I also acknowledge the 25% reduction in childcare fees. There had been much speculation that would not be met and that promise would not be delivered upon, but it has. That will mean that in the course of two budgets, the Government has managed to reduce the fees for parents by 50%. The Opposition said time and time again we would not do it, but we did. Parents across the country will feel the benefits of that.
Turning to the education package, I acknowledge the work of the Minister, Deputy Foley, when we look at the extension of free schoolbooks into junior certificate cycle. We already know the impact the transformative policy of having free schoolbooks at primary level has had on families across the country, with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul reporting that it has had a 25% reduction in families coming to it for assistance with back-to-school costs. We are now extending it to second level and will, in time, make sure that every child right through the second level education scheme will have access to free schoolbooks. It is a policy that reminds me of the Donogh O’Malley era when we extended free education to second level – it is that transformative and impacts that many families. It will be a positive and proud legacy of this Government.
In the short time I have left, I acknowledge the work on housing and, in particular, the renter’s tax credit, which has gone up to €750, and the extension to parents who are paying for student accommodation and digs for their children while in college. They too will be able to claim that tax credit back to 2022, 2023 and, of course, next year as well. That will help many families with the cost of living, the cost of going back to school and supporting their children through their education right through third level.
There are many other measures and today’s budget is positive. It is fair, balanced, helps those most in need, acknowledges the challenges the Government currently faces and will face into the future and strategically plans for the future of this country and younger generations.
I thank the Minister of State for coming the Chamber. I was rather alarmed when I heard Senator Keogan criticising the increase in the overseas aid budget. The Government should be proud of our record of investing in overseas aid and supporting the most vulnerable on this planet. While I note that Senator Keogan’s friends were not protesting today outside Leinster House, the kind of dog whistle we see from her on a regular basis should continue to give us cause for concern.
This is a positive budget. I will draw attention to a number of small aspects of it that I think are particularly important. The investment in higher education grants and the significant improvements in the amount of grants paid to students, the thresholds at which students will qualify and the restoration of higher education grants to postgraduate students are particularly welcome. These will help to make education even more accessible.
I am conscious that the other Senator Byrne referred to the extension of the section 481 film credit tax cap. It has been increased from €70 million to €125 million. This will make Ireland a far more attractive country for international productions, not just in production but also post-production. That, combined with other measures to attract some of these international productions, is welcome and to be applauded.
The real difference in this budget will be to ordinary workers. There is a significant increase in the form of the cuts to the USC, particularly the reduction of 4.5% rate to 4% and the expansion of the threshold at which the 2% rate kicks in. Those will make a real difference to ordinary lower- and middle-income workers. It places a real value on work. While I get that those in the Opposition and others are critical of the idea of making work make sense, I think as a Government we should make no apologies for ensuring that those who get up early in the morning are properly rewarded. I am particularly glad to have heard the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, make the announcements on the USC cuts today.
The Minister of State and I had quite a good discussion on support for foster carers recently. This is the first time in a budget since 2009 that we have seen an increase in the levels of payment to foster parents. There will be a double payment this winter, which is welcome. While we are looking at an increase of €73 and €75 next year, I am aware €25 of that will be in January and the indication is that the balance will be later in the year. I urge the Minister of State that we front-load that and bring it forward as quickly as possible. As she knows, there is a big challenge in recruitment and retention in the foster care sector. The sooner we can do this, the better.
Finally, like my colleague Senator Chambers, I also welcome the establishment of two long-term funds. Both the future Ireland fund and the infrastructure, climate and nature fund will be welcome. They will stand the test of time for this country. It is critical there is an input from the Houses of the Oireachtas on how they will be created. This budget not only addresses some of the short-term challenges we face but also invests in Ireland well into the future.
I thank and congratulate the Minister of State, as well as the Ministers in the Departments of Finance and Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform. We are living in a time of contradictions, severe economic shocks globally and startling rates of inflation, yet here we have full employment and are showing a resilience in our economy. That is why we can afford to introduce two funds that will future-proof our economy and continue the development we need for our growing population and the people who are coming to Ireland because we are an attractive destination for them.
This budget benefits all households, as it should. While the Opposition continues to try to create “them and us” politics, this budget shows that this Government and Fine Gael will not entertain that. We have shown that now for ten budgets in a row, where we have taken tax changes and we have a host of one-off measures to support people in the cost of living. In housing, we have increased the rental tax credit. We introduced 20% mortgage interest relief for those who hold tracker and variable mortgages. I am pleased that the Government held firm on the commitment to reduce childcare fees by 50% overall. That will make a huge difference in people’s household budgets. I was quite startled to hear the Opposition claim that the only thing in this budget for family carers, for instance, is an increase of €12, when we have taken the steps to increase the income disregards for a single person up to €450 and to €900 for a couple. That is significant and will make a difference for households currently on the half rate and it will bring in many more thousands of families to access this essential allowance. Not only that, the Minister for Social Protection is proposing an interdepartmental working group with the Department of Health to look at means testing for carer payments overall. That is significant news for carers, including a lump sum of €400.
I wish to call out other things that I feel will make a big difference to families. First is the introduction of free schoolbooks up to junior cycle. This, combined with the ICT funding that schools have experienced over the past couple of years, makes a big difference. The trainee allowance for gardaí in Templemore again addresses the very real barriers for people who want to become gardaí. College fees were abolished for part-time students and those earning less than €56,000. Why is that not being focused on? Apprenticeship fees are also being cut by 33%.
Apprenticeships are a great pathway for people to access long-term employment and lifelong learning. Altogether, this has been a very positive day. I want to again thank the Minister of State for listening to Senators and delivering a good budget.
I am the last Senator to speak on this debate, which has been going on for an hour and a half. I have to start by commending Senators Warfield, Keoghan and Craughwell. Out of 19 Opposition Senators, three turned up. If this budget was as bad as Senator Warfield would have us believe, I guarantee all 18 Opposition Senators would be in here shouting and screaming for their two-minute social media clips, but they are not. Perhaps there will be a flood of them in the next two or three minutes before I finish and they will come in and make their points known. Perhaps there will be a flood of Opposition Senators for this debate and, with no disrespect to the Minister of State, perhaps there will be a flood of Opposition Senators for the next Minister. Perhaps they are in their offices as we speak, honing the important point they are going to make against this budget - perhaps, perhaps, perhaps. I again commend Senators Warfield, Keoghan and Craughwell on bothering to show up to the Seanad today, on the day of the budget, to discuss the budget. It is a pity that their 16 other colleagues did not do the same.
Let us discuss the differences between us. Home ownership is a very important thing. I am 32 years old and all of my friends are in the process of buying homes, trying to buy homes or are saving money to buy homes. It is tough; no one is saying it is not. I grew up in Dundalk, a town I love, and see houses being built left, right and centre. I talk to estate agents who tell me they have had more first-time buyers than ever before. This is not anecdotal and me coming in here exaggerating or making something up. This is borne out in the results. In this country, every week 400 people are buying their first homes. Since this day last year, when we all spoke about budget 2023, 30,500 new homes have been built. There have been 11,630 new social homes, of which 9,300 are already under construction. They are the facts in black and white. People can see this with their own eyes when they walk outside and look at the construction that is happening in this country.
I listened to the Minister of State on RTÉ this morning and I am paraphrasing what she said. One of the key things Sinn Féin wants to do is to get rid of the Croí Cónaithe scheme. I have a constituency office that is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday. We deal with many people in Dundalk and elsewhere in County Louth . I have assisted with at least ten to 15 applications in respect of that scheme. People are taking vacant houses off the market, breathing life and love into them and returning them to a habitable state. If I am lucky enough to be able to do so, the next six months I will apply to Louth County Council for the scheme. It is exactly the type of grant we need. Sinn Féin proposes to abolish it. As the Minister of State said on RTÉ, there is no space in the Sinn Féin alternative budget for people like me or my generation who want to buy their own home. Homeownership is a dirty word as far as that party is concerned.
Imagine the gall of wanting to work hard in life and try to save money on an affordable income to buy a house. What is so wrong with that? They are exactly the type of people that will be the first on the guillotine if Sinn Féin is ever to get into power in this House. The facts are borne out here. It is here in black and white. Sinn Féin wants to abolish the help-to-buy scheme, which would make it harder for people to get a deposit to buy a house. Last year, the scheme helped 42,000 first-time buyers in this country, but Sinn Féin wants to abolish it. Doubling stamp duty from 1% to 2% on all purchases between €70,000 and €1 million would be another increase in tax on people who are buying homes.
As I said, abolishing the first home scheme will make homes more expensive because it would reduce the State help with an equity share. That scheme has helped more than 600 families while 2,500 applications have been approved. I am not talking about generics, hyperbole or want the man on the street said to me. Rather, I am speaking of cold, hard budgetary facts. Other people have done the same. Perhaps the other 16 Opposition Senators would bother turning up for the rest of the debate. Let us hear some of their facts.
I will pick up some of the points made directly. Perhaps I will start with housing. I have always worked very constructively with Senator Warfield on a number of different committees and I am glad to hear him speak about the importance of homeownership because, along with people who want to buy their own homes but are living in their parents, it is not something I hear often from Sinn Féin. As Senator McGahon said, it is important but it is not something that Sinn Féin makes any provision for in its alternative budget.
In fact, Sinn Féin would abolish the help-to-buy scheme and makes no reference to the funding of housing any kind other than social and affordable housing. Indeed, it has put aside €3 billion in its 2024 figures, whereas the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform has a figure of €5 billion in capital expenditure, Housing Finance Agency, HFA, lending, which, of course, goes to developers to deliver private homes, and LDA housing investment. There is €5 billion versus €3 billion and homeownership versus no homeownership. It is very clear where somebody needs to go if he or she wants to buy a home.
I hate doing this, but Senator Warfield referred to homelessness and rising house prices and rents. He will be, of course, aware that house prices have gone up by 10% in Northern Ireland in 2022, rents went up 9.2% last year and there were, very unfortunately, more than 4,000 children in temporary accommodation as of January 2023, an increase of nearly 500 children last year. That is a significant challenge. It is the highest rate in the UK. There are very significant housing pressures faced by every developing economy at this time. Post Covid, there are significant supply chain pressures. It is important to always set out the complete facts.
This is a Government that is delivering homes. I can see that right across my constituency and everybody else can see it. We would like to do it faster. Thankfully, Sinn Féin said it knows it takes time to build homes. It is good that Sinn Féin aware of that fact. Perhaps that shows a sense of being responsible for it in the period to come.
I will address some of the benefits Senators have raised in different ways. I acknowledge Senator Lombard detailing the agriculture reliefs as I did not have an opportunity to do so during my contribution. Senator Cummins is correct. We are the envy of Europe regarding our current budgetary position. I was in London last week and was asked by City A.M. whether we were the envy of Europe because we were the only country with a budget surplus of this kind. Of course, I tried to down play it because we have been through tough times before, but I had to acknowledge the significant and positive situation we are in. That is best reflected in the additional childcare cuts of 25% this year on top of last year's 25% cut, which will make a huge difference to families, and the tax cuts which benefit people earning €45,000, €55,000 and €65,000 more than anywhere else.
These figures are clearly outlined in the budgetary document should anybody wish to go through it. It is absolutely clear that the biggest possible benefit is there, in addition to working family support extensions, double child benefit, energy grants, child poverty supports, free book scheme and hot meal extensions, the extension of the reduced excise rate and dealing with all of the pressures of life caused by the cost of living today. By far the most significant thing that happened to date was, as Senators Cummins, Byrne and others referenced, the establishment of the two new funds.
I came to work in Leinster House in January 2008 while the Mahon tribunal was still going on and before the banking crash. I have worked through every budget since the USC was created, increased and cut and there were the cuts to the most vulnerable that had to be done to try to rebalance the books and get things back to a place where we could recover our sovereignty, get to a balanced budget and then to budget surpluses, notwithstanding the pandemic, the challenge of Brexit and everything else we faced. Today, in 2023, not 15 years after I came into Leinster House and having gone through all of the period, we will create two new funds. In additional to the national development plan, one fund will address infrastructure, climate and nature and give us the opportunity to have targeted spending in each of those areas, as may be the case and applied for by different Ministers with specific funds.
By far the most significant thing that happened today was the creation of the future Ireland fund, which will be put on a statutory basis. We will put 0.8% of our GDP into the fund every year. We are starting with €4 billion from the soon to be dissolved reserve fund, or rainy day fund, as it is called. The intention is not to touch it, but rather to grow it. With contributions and returns from investments over the long-term horizon, we expect the fund to get to €100 billion by 2035, if we have the discipline and sense not to touch it. At that stage, we will be able to take the return from the fund, invest it in what we need to do on an annual basis and maintain the resilience and sustainability in our public finances that would see us through another crash, because it will mean a very different economic position.
When I was briefed on the detail of the fund, I could not help but think about the Economic Management Council of the Government of 2011. I thought of the people who were there at that time and who did the hard yards, including former Deputies Enda Kenny, Eamon Gilmore, Michael Noonan and Brendan Howlin, and their support team, comprising Mr. Colm O'Riordan and Mr. Andrew McDowell. I thought of what they went through and what they did. The establishment of this future Ireland fund is testament to their work and that of everybody who worked with them in the Departments of Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, the Taoiseach's office and the Tánaiste's office. Every single difficult decision that had to be made at that time has, through the work of the Ministers, Deputies Pascal Donohoe and Michael McGrath, brought us to the point where we can create a future Ireland fund. This is the most important thing for young people in the budget this year. It is the difference that is going to give us our independence, resilience and sustainability, along with the energy and return we will get from offshore wind. This is the significant thing that happened today. As Senators have acknowledged, it is a bit like the Land Development Agency in that it is not today or tomorrow we will see the benefit of it. We will see that benefit in ten, 20 and 30 years. It is hugely important. I thank Senators for their time.
Cuireadh an Seanad ar fionraí ar 6.21 p.m. agus cuireadh tús leis arís ar 6.30 p.m.
Sitting suspended at 6.21 p.m. and resumed at 6.30 p.m.