I move:
That, subject to leave being given to introduce the following Supplementary Estimates for the service of the year ending 31st December, 2000, the Supplementary Estimates be referred to the following Select Committees pursuant to Standing Order 145(3) and paragraph (1)(a)(ii) of the Committees' Orders of Reference:
Vote 2 – Houses of the Oireachtas and the European Parliament (Supplementary Estimate)– Select Committee on Finance and the Public Service.
Vote 25 – Environment and Local Government (Supplementary Estimate)– Select Committee on Environment and Local Government.
Vote 26 – Office of the Minister for Education and Science (Supplementary Estimate)– Select Committee on Education and Science.
Vote 27 – First-Level Education (Supplementary Estimate)– Select Committee on Education and Science.
Vote 28 – Second-Level and Further Education (Supplementary Estimate)– Select Committee on Education and Science.
Vote 29 – Third-Level and Further Education (Supplementary Estimate)– Select Committee on Education and Science.
Vote 34 – Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Supplementary Estimate)– Select Committee on Enterprise and Small Business.
Vote 41 – An Chomhairle Ealaíon (Supplementary Estimate)– Select Committee on Heritage and the Irish Language.
Vote 42 – Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands (Supplementary Estimate)– Select Committee on Heritage and the Irish Language.
The supplementary estimate for the Environment and Local Government reaffirms this Government's commitment to providing the infrastructure appropriate to a modern economy so that economic progress can be maintained and built upon. We are delivering on the undertakings given in the national development plan and will continue to do so. Overall the Supplementary Estimate of £121 million represents an increase of about 7% on the net expenditure provision in my Department's revised estimate. It will fund the provision of an additional £80 million for the national roads network, £45 million for the water and waste water services programme and £30 million for the Exchequer contribution to this local Government fund. These are the principle spending increases for which the supplementary provides while the other items being catered for are mainly technical in nature. A new subhead is being opened to underpin a provision of £2.8 million for partnership and local authorities and a further subhead is being opened to defray expenditure of £800,000 on that national spatial strategy.
These increases, which amount to more than £158 million, will be partly offset by savings of more than £37 million arising on the social housing and urban renewal programmes. This leaves a net requirement of £121 million for which I seek a Supplementary Estimate this year.
The time available to me will not permit me to speak in detail on the different items for which I seek additional funding. There will be an opportunity for the Select Committee on the Environment and Local Government to debate the individual items, and I look forward to discussing with the committee the progress being made on the infrastructural and other programmes concerned.
Progress is being made on the national road network. The need to develop the network to the standard set out in the national development plan is universally accepted both by economic commentators and by those of us who use the network for business or domestic reasons. The national development plan will see more than £5 billion – measured in current prices – in the network. This will enable the rapid and sustained delivery of more than 600 kilometres of motorway or dual carriageway to be realised.
The requirement for an additional £80 million this year, coming on top of an historically high allocation, means that we are on course to achieve this. The current year has seen significant progress on many major road schemes, including the M1 Dunleer-Dundalk, the N9 Moone-Timolin, the N4 Mullingar-McNeads Bridge and the N20 Croom by-pass, all of which are expected to open by the end of the year, six months ahead of schedule. The N7 Nenagh by-pass opened in July – almost 12 months ahead of schedule, and the N25 Kilmacthomas by-pass is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2001, six months ahead of schedule. Progress has also been made on the other major road schemes, such as the N11 Glen of the Downs, the M50 Southern Cross Route and the N20 Patrickswell/Limerick. Favourable weather conditions, allied to strengthening of on-site management practices by the larger construction firms, have had a significant impact on the progress of the major projects which are under way at present.
Water and waste water services constitute another vital programme in our drive to secure the infrastructure we need to lay the foundation for continuing economic growth. The rationale of this programme goes beyond economic growth alone; it represents an important component of our efforts to ensure that economic growth is achieved in tandem with, and not at the expense of, the protection of our natural environment. A sum of £36 million of the additional amount sought will be used to finance additional output from the Exchequer element of the major schemes component of the programme. The balance of £9 million will be directed to the programme for upgrading rural water supplies.
The other substantive amount being provided is the £30 million for the Exchequer contribution to the Local Government Fund, which will result in £315 million being available for this purpose in the current year. When the original provision of £285 million was settled in the context of this year's Estimates, the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness had yet to be agreed, and a significant proportion of the additional amount sought will cater for increased costs for local authorities arising from the terms of this agreement.
I commend the Supplementary Estimate to the House.