Éamon Ó Cuív on budget process, rural Ireland and health
Éamon Ó Cuív speaks about the budget process, rural communities and health services. He criticises reductions in published budget detail and late committee scrutiny, defends settlement in the countryside, and warns of long waits for pain clinic treatment.
Budget process criticised
The deputy argued that budgetary information has been stripped back from detailed estimates to short four-line statements published only weeks before the budget. He said this prevents effective scrutiny, with key comparative outturns and the Rev now offering less usable detail than before.
Democratic accountability concerns
He criticised the compressed parliamentary timetable, noting that long-standing practices allowed more time for debate and committee examination. He urged the Dáil to restore proper democratic budgetary accountability for the whole house rather than leaving scrutiny to a small committee.
Rural communities defended
The speaker challenged the notion that rural settlement patterns are wrong, noting that a large proportion of people live in the countryside and arguing social outcomes can be better than in deprived urban areas. He cited the Gaeltacht and Connemara as places producing renewable energy and said rural communities will embrace electric cars if charging points are provided.
Health funding and waiting lists
While welcoming additional health funding, he warned it could become a "black hole" if services do not improve. He highlighted pain clinic waits of up to four years as an example of unacceptable suffering and expressed doubt that the situation will be resolved by the end of the following year.
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Well, thanks for coming back to думаю. This is a discussion of the 19th century of 2020 World War II. Though, it's been a long time before I got married to my death to be a hell of a year. As I came to the third draft book, I was 13 years old, and I got from the country in the United States to think about the Indian-like. The first thing to do is I would like to come and sit and sit and sit, and sit and sit and sit and sit. I was just going to sit and sit and sit and sit and sit. I was in the country and I was living the most in the country. I was living in the country, and I was living in the country, where I was living in the country. And I think that it was a great thing to be done. And I think that it is a good thing to do. But it wasn't a good thing to be done. But it was a good thing to be done. It was a good thing to be done by Agael. It was a very good thing. That was a very good thing. There was a lot of times in the past, but it was a lot of times in the past, but it was a lot of times in the past. Mother will RT saw the brand in Nia, ready in the Gaelteacht, it's a great thing, and I'm going to go ahead, let's see what's going on in the Gaelteacht, they kill to deny it, go wish it, RT, it could be relative, go ready in the Gaelteacht. There was a time chair, and you're here even longer than I am. That's two of us. I know all the time when you got 20 minutes in a budget debate, now we're meant to cover all of this in four minutes. I don't know what's gone wrong with this house, I don't know what's gone wrong with democratic accountability, and there's a deputy beside me here who's been here longer than I have, we must have all of the old-timers here tonight. The way this is now done is worse than it was. We talked about reform in 2016, it's backwards we're going. We used to get detailed estimates, not the four-liner efforts we're getting now, published two or three weeks before the budget, and there was always debates about that. And then you came in on budget day and there were adjustments made. And then the Rev was published, which showed you the last year's outturn against the projected money for the year with even more detail. And for all the people we get now, we're actually getting less detail. And then, to top it all of course, sometime around June, July in a normal year, this year it's in October, we examine the estimates in the committees. But talk about closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. Now it's time we got our act together in this house, and had proper democratic budgetary accountability, not in some small committee, but for the whole Dáil. Bailam, that's how I am going to do it in the chatte with the Council of Tuchel. It's not going to be done, but it's not going to be done. I have to say, I have a massive argument with the way we're treating rural areas. Every time we talk about rural policies, we talk about towns and villages, even though 30% of the people of this stage actually live in the countryside, in townlands, in parishes all over the place. And there is nothing wrong with it. And it's time we had this debate, if people believe it's wrong to live in the countryside, that the settlement pattern that we had traditionally in Ireland is in some way wrong. I challenge them in two points. Look at the social outcomes between them and between the most deprived urban communities and tell me which is better. Where is a better place for a young person to grow up? This hang up, that there's something inherently wrong. And don't give me the carbon. We produce more energy in Connemara than we consume. A way more energy. Renewable energy. So don't give me that argument. And we're more than willing to drive electric cars if you give us the charging points. No problem whatsoever. Can I finally say, it's great to see money being given to health. But I hope this isn't the greatest black hole that I've ever seen. I hope when we come to the end of next year, that we will not have to wait four years for pain therapy, for attending the pain clinics. It's a nutter disgrace. We talk about suffering. And then we leave people in excruciating pain for up to four years, waiting for basic services in this country. And I'm not sure, I have to say, that it will be changed by the end of 2021. And I hope I'll be able to stand here next year and say, I'm utterly wrong. Thank you, Deputy.
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