Constitutionally required, a key provision of this Bill relates to capital carryovers. This allows Departments to carry over allocated but unspent capital funding this year. That is straightforward enough. However, a cause of frustration is equally straightforward and that is the question of why. We immediately know that these funds are going unspent because one of the Minister's ministerial colleagues managed to deliver to some works early or under budget. It was the Minister for Finance who oversaw the signing of a contract for the national children's hospital. There have been 16 missed completion deadlines and it is running to around three times the initial estimated cost. While the Government today looks at the capital carryover, the country remains awash with underfunded infrastructure projects in desperate need of Government support. Nowhere is this more so than in the case of the north-west and Border regions. In my own constituency of Cavan-Monaghan, there are a number of such projects with the potential to have a profound impact on communities. Two are the N2 Clontibret to the Border and the N2 Ardee to Castleblayney road projects. I reiterate my welcoming of the shared island funding for works on the A5 in the North, which complements both of these projects. However, the overall benefits accrued can only maximised if works being completed on this side of the Border are actually carried out. The N2 upgrades have potential to play a crucial part in the unlocking of the economic potential of the region. However, these projects have not seen the prioritisation needed from the Government. Works were effectively suspended under the previous Government due to a lack of funding. While the Minister can dispute that if he wishes, "suspended" is the language used by Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, yet, its project appraisal balance sheet for this project scored these works the highest possible score for the impact they would have on safety. Following the tragic events of the last weekend, where four people were killed in separate collisions over a 24-hour period, the number of people killed on our roads in this State this year to date is 179, a figure which has surpassed that of last year. This is a crisis level of collisions. I support the Government target of reducing road fatalities to zero by 2050 but we need increased funding for education and communication in the Road Safety Authority and the Garda roads policing resources. We also need capital investment to progress projects that will have an impact on safety, and the funding of these projects in Monaghan can play a part in that in our region. Another area where our Government woefully failed to manage a budget is in relation to carbon tax allocations. In that case, we are not even talking about carryover. Having promised farmers that they would receive €1.5 billion from carbon tax by 2030, in addition to the CAP, halfway through 2030 what has materialised? Not half, not even 10%, just €110 million of the promised €1.15 billion. Of that €110 million, what was the Government's track record? More than half went unspent and was returned to the Exchequer, with just €4 million carried over in the manner we are dealing with today. In January, the Government will increase the cost of petrol and diesel through a hiked carbon tax. The Minister cannot tax people into using public transport options that are not reliable and are simply not there; they do not exist. He cannot credibly continue to mislead farmers promising billions of euro while delivering a meagre fraction. Real vision from the Government is needed. A vision for decarbonisation, economic development in the Border region and north west and increased use of public transportation will not be delivered through carbon tax. What the people of Monaghan and Cavan need is infrastructure and services, not hectoring or lectures and certainly not capital surrenders while the Government fails to fund the infrastructure our communities need. I ask the Government to consider its carbon tax increases, penalisation of the farmers and an abysmal track record of infrastructure in the Border region.

Sentiment score: 0.05