I agree with the Deputy's point regarding the exceptional needs payment. It is there to support people who genuinely need assistance. Nobody should be afraid to reach out to his or her local community welfare officer. As a Government, we will do the best we can to promote and highlight the fact this service is there because, at a time when many people are undoubtedly under significant cost-of-living pressures, we are not seeing an increase in the number of applications coming in, which is a surprise. We are very an…

As part of the budgetary process each year, my Department sets overall expenditure ceilings for each ministerial Vote group. These are laid out at budget time in the expenditure report with further detail then provided in the Revised Estimates for public services. Following allocation of each ministerial expenditure ceiling, it is a matter for each Minister to assign funding as appropriate at programme and subhead level for his or her Department and the agencies under its remit, taking into account the demands for …

If the Deputy examines the facts, this Government is delivering for the northside of Cork city. Indeed, it is delivering for all of Cork and there is a fair allocation of resources, looking at the investment from this Government that is now going into the northside across a range of areas, such as a number of housing schemes with which the Deputy will be very familiar, including in Knocknaheeny, investment in road infrastructure, investments we have announced in terms of public transport corridors and BusConnects, …

That is a case that perhaps could have been made in the past. I do not believe it is a case that stands up to scrutiny at this time.

It might suit the Deputy to adopt a narrow, divisive approach. It might suit him politically on the ground, but it is not accurate. He is not being fair to the people of the northside of Cork city in the way he has presented that area and community today, either in the south-----

-----because the evidence-----

If I can conclude without being interrupted, the evidence is this Government is prioritising investment in the northside of Cork city and across the whole area of the constituency, not just the city. The Deputy can look at Glanmire and the Glashaboy flood relief scheme, which was many years in the pipeline and is being delivered by this Government. We have included the northern ring road in the national development plan-----

-----and the Government is committed to advancing it. It has to go through a statutory process. As it goes through the process, the funding issue can then be met and funding can be made available. When the Deputy looks at the full range of housing, healthcare, road infrastructure, public transport, education, sports capital and community facilities, this is a Government that has been very good to the northside and will continue to be.

As the Deputy is aware, my Department is responsible for policy on allocating public funds across each area of Government spending and ensuring expenditure is managed in line with these allocations by Departments. In this way, officials from my Department engage with their counterparts on proposals on a variety of expenditure measures, including in relation to housing. However, queries relating to housing policy are in the first instance a matter for the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, who has …

I believe there will be great interest in the Croí Cónaithe towns fund, because it will essentially involve providing grants to renovate derelict vacant properties. We all know that there are too many of them in our towns and villages around Ireland. They are located in communities where services are already in place. Many of them are in the centre of towns and villages. It seems to me that it makes great sense to invest some public money to bring them back into stock. It will also help to breathe new life into tow…

I thank the Deputies very much for raising those points. In regard to planning, they will be aware of the major initiative that is currently under way, which is led by the Attorney General. We are expecting new consolidated planning legislation later this year, which is a very significant step that we believe will help to ease some of the blockages that currently exist in the system and reduce the legal risk of successful judicial review applications being made. On why schemes focus on new properties as opposed to …

I propose to take Questions Nos. 89, 93, 98 and 133 together. The Government has committed €165 billion in capital investment through the national development plan, NDP. As a percentage of national income, annual capital investment is now among the largest in the European Union. In the current year, almost €12 billion will fund vital infrastructure in areas such as housing, transport, education, enterprise, sport and climate action. There are at least 50 proposals in the Exchequer-funded element of the NDP that are…

I will come back to the Deputy with the specific details of the project concerned, the Ballina to Killaloe river crossing. I wish to reassure him that the strengthening of the external assurance process is not designed, in any way, to slow down or delay the delivery of projects. All the evidence, in this regard, indicates that the single most effective way to address scheduled delay, and indeed avoid cost overruns, is to carry out external, independent scrutiny of project proposals at the planning and appraisal sta…

I thank both Deputies for raising these issues. On the question of delays, I want to provide reassurance again that these new strengthened procedures are not there to delay projects, nor do I believe that they are delaying projects. One of the key elements for Departments when bringing forward major projects is that they must engage with the panel of external experts that my Department has set up. That process takes approximately six weeks and can be done in parallel with other project inputs. If Departments prepar…

I thank the Deputy for raising this question. The draft stability programme update, SPU, 2022, published on 13 April, outlines the latest fiscal and economic projections for 2022. The SPU outlines core expenditure of €80.1 billion for 2022. With non-core expenditure of €7.5 billion, including in respect of Covid funding and the Brexit adjustment reserve, this gives an overall Government expenditure ceiling of €87.6 billion. This compares to overall gross voted expenditure of almost €87.5 billion in 2021, inclusive …

In the current year, we provided for a reserve of almost €4 billion, €1.5 billion of which has now been spent or accounted for. That €4 billion was, in effect, earmarked for Covid-related expenditure. It is anticipated it will not all be needed for that, although some of it certainly will. We have said that the cost of looking after Ukrainian refugees who come here will also be met from that reserve. We have an overall Government expenditure ceiling of €87.6 billion. It is my expectation that expenditure in overall…

As the Deputy knows, in the stability programme update we have made provision of up to €3 billion for the cost of looking after refugees across a full year next year. It is a high-level estimate. In truth, we simply do not know what the real cost will be. So much depends on the number of people who come here, how many of them stay, and to what extent they will join the labour force and work. It is a high-level estimate but we have made provision for it. We have the largest budget ever in the history of the State fo…

I move: That provision be made in the Act giving effect to this Resolution for the charging in accordance with the Act of levies on certain single-use items; to provide for the charging in accordance with the Act of a waste recovery levy; and to provide for the establishment of the Circular Economy Fund, into which proceeds from the levies may be paid.

I wish to update the House on a matter in respect of the Bill. On Committee Stage I undertook to examine the issue of the retrospective application of the Bill. I am signalling that I will be raising amendments in the Seanad. We will be coming back to the Dáil following, I hope, the acceptance of amendments in Seanad Éireann. I am just flagging that issue to the House. I have a note which I can put on the record. In essence it is about that issue. The most significant outstanding issue that remains is the question …

I will deal with the Deputy's amendments in the Seanad. The Bill will be coming back here.