Is Bille cuíosach teicniúil é seo i slí amháin. Tagann sé os ár gcomhair gach bliain, ach is le déanaí a thosaigh díospóireacht air. Nuair a bhí mise tofa ar dtús, bhíodh sé rite tríd gan aon díospóireachta in aon chor ag deireadh na bliana. Tá sé go maith go bhfuil an díospóireacht ann i slí amháin. Sa deireadh thiar thall, níor chuala mé aon rud riamh sna díospóireachtaí seo a thug le fios go dtiocfadh aon athrú an mBille bliantúil seo, nó go n-athrófar an slí a dtabharfaimid faoi seo in aon bhliain amach anseo. Tá muid ag díriú isteach ar cheisteanna móra agus caiteachas an-mhór ó thaobh an Stáit de. Is é sin an fáth a bhfuil fonn ar dhaoine a bheith ag déanamh díospóireachta air seo. Chuile bhliain, feiceann muid ar na ceisteanna atá ardaithe anseo. De ghnáth, áfach, bíonn reachtaíocht ann maidir le ceisteanna leasa sóisialta. Tar éis an bhuiséid, de ghnáth, tagann Bille leasa shóisialaigh os ár gcomhair chun na hathraithe atá ag teacht ón bhuiséad a chur i ndlí. Ní bheidh sé sin rite i mbliana roimh an Nollaig. Níl a fhios agam cé acu an athrú poirt nó cinneadh a bhí ann toisc an slí a raibh an buiséad rite. Questions need to be asked every single year in regard to how we fund our public services. One of those questions relates to the Defence Forces because the State has to set aside a certain amount to meet the established membership figure the forces are supposed to achieve. That number used to be 12,500 and was then reduced to 9,500. Every year, the money is set aside in the hope, or perhaps the dream, that we will reach that magical number. At the moment, we are 2,000 short of the magical number of 9,500. There are not enough people in any of the sections of the Defence Forces, whether an Cabhlach, the military or the Air Corps. They cannot provide services as an aid to the State at the rate we would like them to be able to do. That is no criticism of the men and women of the Defence Forces. It is just a fact of life and everything has to be tweaked accordingly. The men and women of the Defence Forces are under huge pressure to ensure they deliver extra overtime even though they do not get paid for any such overtime they do to fill in on the jobs that are meant to be done. We know this from some of the headlines during the year and it seems we will face the same situation next year because of the lack of equipment and, in particular, the lack of personnel. There was a lot of talk in the media in recent weeks about the additional costs and additional security required for the meetings that will be held in Ireland during our Presidency of the EU in the second half of next year. I am assured by the members of the Defence Forces to whom I have spoken that they will do what is required to ensure there is not any disruption to what is planned. However, unless we get real, that will take its toll on the Defence Forces. Even the recent announcement about capital spend on material does not address some of the shortfalls, including the continuous loss of personnel to the private sector or to other types of jobs. We must take seriously the need to increase the Defence Forces numbers, increase the equipment they have and identify the threats faced by the State, of which there have been a number over the years. The Defence Forces have not been provided with the equipment that could be used for defence purposes and as an aid to the civil power. Recently, the headlines have focused on the issue of drones. Anyone looking at the world in the past ten years will understand that drone technology is where it is, yet the Defence Forces have not caught up because they have not been given the funding to do so. The same is true of the Naval Service and the job of work it must do to defend our fishing industry, our coastline and, additionally, to defend cables under the seas, for which all the onus seems to be on us. That cannot be done unless we have the personnel, fleet and wherewithal to do it. It is good that there has at least been some type of acknowledgement of that in recent years. It means the funding must be spent when it is there. There are other areas we need to look at. Housing was mentioned by my colleagues. There is also the case of the national children's hospital, which features year on year in these debates. The Bill sets out what we are spending and it is not working in terms of the national children's hospital because we still have not shifted everybody over there, as should have happened at this stage. It should have been opened several years ago if the Government had taken the proper tack. That was not to be and we still do not know whether it will open next year. We hope it will, at long last, and that local residents will have peace and quiet after the alarms have been going off in the hospital on an ongoing basis in recent weeks. I asked the Minister last week in the Chamber about the arts centre in the north inner city that is facing eviction on 14 January unless the State steps in and helps the people running the service with a capital injection to enable them to acquire the property and continue operating this important and eclectic arts centre. It is not a huge amount in the bigger scheme of things. The Government has proposed setting up some type of arts capital scheme based on the sports capital schemes. We would welcome if the Minister or some other Minister would take the opportunity this week to set out that the Government is fully behind the proposals for the arts centre and at least to get the landlord to back off and give the people running the centre some time. Dublin City Council has agreed to step in to part-fund the proposal to purchase the complex and for it to continue to be run as an arts centre. Tá a lán eile, mar a dúirt mé, maidir le tithíocht, agus tithíocht na Gaeltachta go háirithe. Luaigh mo chomhghleacaí, an Teachta Mairéad Farrell, a lán de sin. Tá súil agam go mbeidh muid in ann teacht go dtí an Bille seo ag deireadh na bliana seo chugainn agus an infheistíocht cheart déanta.

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