Albert Dolan: Protect households, speed up infrastructure
Albert Dolan addresses the need for government readiness to respond to crises and urges budget support for households and faster delivery of public projects. He commends recent crisis spending but warns that many people are still struggling with the cost of living and need targeted help.
Immediate crisis response
Albert Dolan highlights the government's recent ability to deploy capital in response to the oil shock tied to events in the Middle East, noting the 750 million response and attributing that capacity to prudent financial management in recent years.
Households and the upcoming budget
Dolan warns that many families are struggling to pay bills and cannot be left behind. He presses the Minister to ensure the upcoming budget supports workers, demonstrates that hard work pays, and provides upskilling, education and opportunities as the jobs market shifts.
Transparency in public spending
Dolan outlines his work on public spending and contract management, arguing that greater transparency is essential to track outcomes and improve efficiency. He identifies a public frustration: despite increased capital, projects are not being seen on the ground.
Infrastructure priorities and delivery
Dolan calls for acceleration of large-scale projects, welcoming the Critical Infrastructure Bill but demanding tangible results. He names priorities including double-tracking the line from Athan Rye into Galway and getting a 300-bed block through the Critical Infrastructure pathway to construction.
Consequences and outlook
Dolan argues that Ireland is well placed to succeed in the EU over the next decade, but warns that success must be shared. Without bringing people with them, government achievements risk meaning little to those who remain excluded.
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Go raibh maith agat Cathaoirleach. Minister, I think it's really important to say at the outset that at any time a government needs to be both ready and able to respond to crises if and when they arise. And, you know, we saw that recently that the government was in a position where it could respond, it was able to respond, it had the capital to deploy to help support people through the oil shock that we're experiencing from what's ongoing in the Middle East to the tune of 750 million. But it is the prudent financial management over the last few years that has got us into a position now where we are able to respond should crisis arise. But, Minister, I have to say there are people out there right now that are struggling. They are struggling to pay bills, they're struggling to afford the cost of living in this country and they need to be supported in the upcoming budget. They need to be supported to see that hard work pays and that the work that they're doing is valued both by society and that they are able to see that in their own pockets as well. I think it's really important as well as we go forward to recognise the fact that the ground is shifting. You know, what used to be a career for life is no longer the same today and that the jobs market is shifting rapidly and changing. And so as a country, again, it becomes even more important that the government is prudent in how they manage their finances so that we can help transition over the coming years into the newer economy that we are going to experience. But with that, Minister, we cannot leave people behind. We have to ensure that people are upskilled, educated and given every opportunity to succeed going forward. And I firmly believe Ireland is best positioned in the European Union to be one of the most successful countries over the next five or ten years. But the reality is, if we don't bring people with us and if everyone doesn't feel that success, then what was it all for? And as a government, we have to ensure that we have the financial power to be able to deliver serious public services. And a lot of the work I've been doing, Minister, around public spending and around the management of public spending is so that there is transparency for the public on how government is spending, on how contract management is working. And it's only when you get that transparency that you can actually track what's happening and that you can make a decision as to how we could be more efficient. And I think that's a problem that the Irish government has at the moment, is so much money has come in and the government's ability to deploy capital. One of the biggest frustrations I hear out there day in, day out is the government has all this money, but yet we're not seeing the boots on the ground. We're not seeing the projects being built, whether it's large-scale infrastructure. And I think that's where we need to see that acceleration. And I welcome the work that's ongoing with the Critical Infrastructure Bill, but we really, really do have to be able to show tangible results. For me, some priorities would be seeing the double-tracking of the line from Athan Rye into Galway. Seeing the 300-bed block get through the Critical Infrastructure pathway to see it built. Go raibh maith agat Ciarán leac and go raibh maith agat Aire.
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