Gabhaim buíochas leis na hAirí as teacht os comhair na Dála ar an gceist seo. Ar ndóigh, tuigim gur Bille fíorthábhachtach é seo chun a chinntiú gur féidir le Ranna Rialtais airgead a chaitheamh ag tús Mhí Eanáir agus nach mbeidh vótaí ag teastáil chun é sin a dhéanamh. Mar gheall air sin, tuigimid an tábhacht a bhaineann leis. Tá bunús bunreachtúil leis an mBille seo agus, mar sin, beimid i Sinn Féin ag tacú leis. I understand there is a constitutional requirement for this Bill as it legislates for the financial resolutions, which include all of the Estimates agreed by the Dáil this year. The sums granted from the Central Fund under the Central Fund (Permanent Provisions) Act 1965 will go towards making good the supply grant and amount, in the aggregate, to the sum of €91 billion. The key to this Bill is that it is a constitutional requirement and is essential to ensure Departments can spend money come January. We will therefore support the Bill. The Bill also allows for the four-fifths rule provided for under the Central Fund (Permanent Provisions) Act. This means Departments can spend four fifths of what was allowed under the previous Appropriation Act without the need for a vote. If the Bill was not enacted, these Departments could not spend. The Bill also allows for capital carryover. As per the Finance Act 2004, each Department can carry over 10% of its capital allocation to next year. The deferred surrender relating to capital supply services this year totals €182 million. The spending of these funds will be key to tackling the big issues of the day. For many years, there was no debate on these Bills. It is welcome and important that we are now debating this particular Bill because there is a very serious aspect to it. Over the years, when we have discussed these Bills, one of the issues I have always raised is the matter of our infrastructural deficit and the fact that, for years, we have had the IMF, OECD and others telling us we had such a deficit. One of the issues I have always raised is that, when we look at capital expenditure, we must attempt to alleviate that infrastructural deficit. As I said to the Minister during oral questions last week, I really do wish him the best in that regard because this State and the people living within it and within our communities can no longer deal with the lack of infrastructure they are facing. I will start, when we are talking about that, with housing. Mar is eol don Aire, rud atá ráite agus luaite agam go minic leis ná go bhfuil fadhb againn nuair nach bhfuil an buninfreastruchtúr i gceantar agus mar gheall air sin nach bhfuil na suíomhanna leis na seirbhísí ann chun tithe a thógáil. Má bhreathnaímid ar Chonamara mar shampla, tá a fhios againn i ndeisceart Chonamara nach bhfuil an talamh ná na suíomhanna ag an gcomhairle contae chun a chinntiú go bhfuil sí in ann tithe a thógáil ar na suíomhanna sin mar gheall nach bhfuil na bunseirbhísí ann. Tá impleachtaí aige sin ar chuile shórt, ach go háirithe orthu siúd ar fad atá ag iarraidh bheith in ann cónaí sa cheantar arb as dóibh, rud nach féidir leo a dhéanamh faoi láthair mar gheall nach féidir teach a thógáil, a cheannach nó a fháil ar cíos i gConamara. Mar gheall air sin, tá tábhacht ag baint leis an mBille seo agus go n-úsáidfear an t-airgead sin chun an infheistiú sin a dhéanamh. When talking about housing, as I mentioned relating to Conamara but also Galway city, we have had the issue of lack of wastewater infrastructure on the east side of Galway city where I live, and the impact that has had on na nArdán. That is why Bills like these are quite important because they have a direct impact. We need to see all that, what I would call basic, fundamental infrastructure, be developed to ensure that housing can be built on the east side of Galway city. Too many people who are born and raised in Galway city can no longer live in it because of the lack of housing. Then, we can look at the likes of the other basic infrastructure I have raised over the years when we were discussing this and talking about the importance of us having a full infrastructure plan. I understand the Minister is working on that and is hoping to progress it. I wish him well on that but because we have had decades of neglect in this region, there are serious implications. For example, extra services out of Oranmore train station are extremely welcome. The passing loop is extremely welcome but the fact that at the same time additional parking spaces have not been created, or they will not be prepared in time for the passing loop, means there is then an issue whereby if we do not have the infrastructure there, as sometimes one hand is not talking to the other, it will result in additional pressures. We already know the impact there. Oranmore train station is always packed out with cars. We then have additional stops that are crucially needed to ensure better public transport in Galway city. I refer to the likes of having an additional stop at Roscam to serve the people in the east side of Galway city, from Doughiska to Roscam, who could just dander down to a place like that if it was there. Park and ride has been talked about for years but again there has been an issue with the development of sites. When we have historically not looked at putting the investment into our basic infrastructure, these are the real-life impacts that has. Tuigeann an tAire go maith na deacrachtaí atá ann leis na bóithre, i gConamara ach go háirithe, agus an easpa infheistíochta a rinneadh iontu le fada an lá. Anois, tá fadhb againn nach mbíonn an t-airgead ar fáil don chomhairle contae chun déileáil leo seo. Tuigim an tábhacht a bhaineann leis an mBille ionas go mbeidh na Ranna éagsúla in ann airgead a chaitheamh i mí Eanáir ach caithfimid breathnú ar an mbealach ina bhfuil airgead á chaitheamh agus cinntiú go bhfuil an t-airgead ann dá leithéidí sin freisin. I will leave it at that as I am sharing time with my colleagues.

Sentiment score: -0.01