Richard Boyd Barrett presses Minister over €446m levy and arts closure

Minister, you've indicated that there's going to be a levy imposed on departments in excess of £446 million to pay for an overspend in education, but yet you kind of suggest that's not really going to have any impact because we're going to spend more next year anyway. Is it not in reality going to mean there's going to be less money available than was projected for multiple government departments to do key infrastructure or projects or provide services? Thanks Deputy, so I propose to take parliamentary questions 16 and 69 together. We've agreed a medium-term fiscal and structural plan in December of last year and it provides for significant uplifts and expenditure over the coming years with gross voter spending to reach £147.3 billion by 2030. A key element of the expenditure strategy underpinning the gross voter expenditure ceilings included in the plan was prioritisation of capital with ceilings agreed as part of the National Development Plan review and additional increase in capital from 2028 onwards. Of the over £65 billion in capital investment has been delivered in the last five years out to £25 billion and £19.1 billion was allocated for capital investment in Budget 26, an increase of £2.6 billion or nearly 16% over 25. The capital ceiling will grow by a further £1.2 billion or 6.3% in 27 to £20.3 billion. In total the government has committed €275 billion under the National Development Plan from 2026 to 2035 and we've published extra investment plans to deliver infrastructure at scale year after year. This can be achieved, this will strengthen coordination and build capacity in the construction sector. The significant investment made by government to deliver housing and fundamental infrastructure has been complemented by a considerable programme of reform to address challenges within the infrastructure delivery ecosystem. The government has already made significant efforts to orient itself towards infrastructure coordination and delivery. The National Development Plan review and sectoral investment plans are providing multi-annual funding certainty and a strong pipeline of projects. My department has been tasked with identifying and addressing the most significant barriers to delivery. The infrastructure division in my department has taken stronger oversight and monitoring role for this action plan with all commitments by quarter 126 fully delivered. This is a proactive role which allows my own department to take action where barriers arise in delivery of critical infrastructure programmes. Already we've published and brought the critical infrastructure bill through the Dáil and it's now progressing in the Sianid. I can come back when I have further time but just say on the £446 million is all on current expenditure. We've completely protected capital expenditure lines in that context so the capital expenditure lines are not affected by the efficiency level. Just give me one moment. I just want to welcome the members, to welcome the students and teachers from the Tunragi National School all the way from Achill in County Mayo. Welcome, we hope you enjoy your day in the Dáil and are here with Minister Alan Dillon. Welcome. Deputy. Okay, but is there enough then to deliver the critical infrastructure that we know we need? Let me give you one example of where I can't understand frankly why the money wasn't made available. The complex, the complex. We need arts infrastructure. We had the government yesterday bringing in stuff about drinking on the streets because we need to you know have greater vibrancy in our city centres and I agree we do. So how could you let the complex close down in Dublin North Inner City when all they were looking for was six million and they offered a win-win and they said rather than sell it to a developer who's going to get rid of an art space, if you gave them six million to four million they already had we could retain a multidisciplinary art space and you could build social and affordable housing on top of it. So we get a win-win. You get a community, an art space, a cultural space which we badly need rather than allow it to be lost and we could get social and affordable housing in the city centre for six million quid. Instead, despite the promises of your predecessor to that community, it's been allowed to close down. By the way it's not over yet so it's something you could reconsider. Just to welcome all the pupils from Atkell who are here and I hope you have a very good day. Both parents from County May also always welcome everyone from that great County and hopefully, anyway we won't talk about the All-Ireland but we're still waiting. We'll see how they go at the weekend. Just to say around the arts complex, look I understand this issue and there was extensive engagement between Dublin City Council with the Arts Council and the Department of Arts. We've significantly increased the capital allocation to the Department of Arts and Culture in recent years and they have to manage their overall allocation in that context. Part of that relates to what extent the local authority would prioritise it, for example, in the engagement with those who run the complex in particular. I would say is that if you look at our record of an uplift of capital across the arts community, it's significantly increased in recent years and the overall funding for arts has significantly increased in recent years. It is a decision of those who are prioritising within the Department of Arts, within the Arts Council and in Dublin City Council who obviously have an important interface in running it. This is the game of pass the parcel that lets the complex being closed down because of course the Department of Arts, you go to them and say we'd love to leave the complex open but we can't buy properties. Something I didn't know actually. That's complete nonsense what you just said. They're not allowed to buy properties. And Dublin City Council said basically they didn't have the money for it. Now you're the Minister for Infrastructure. We need housing, we need social and affordable housing in particular and we need arts and cultural spaces which are being closed down left, right and centre in the city centre. That building has not been sold. Apparently the sale hasn't gone through. So it's not over yet. That space could be saved and we could get a site for social affordable housing for a small six million. Now I suggest the Minister for Infrastructure, because that's what you are, cracks the whip and says actually this is madness to let this thing go, right? And that we should save that site, save the complex for all the artists, for the local community and to deliver social affordable housing on the site. Minister if we can wrap up. Look on this, I provide an overall allocation to different government departments who have to prioritise within that. That applies to the Department of Arts, Culture and Sport. Similarly Dublin City Council have a very significant annual budget and they have to prioritise across their objectives in any given year. And the overall increase in capital expenditure and in day-to-day expenditure in fact for arts and rightly so has significantly increased in recent years and I support that objective to actually continue to improve that in the years ahead. But it is an issue between Dublin City Council and the Department of Arts in the context of that particular proposal and we provide the overall funding, we've provided a multi-annual certainty to the Department of Arts on how they prioritise that in the context of what's available.