In order to improve the quality of life of all Irish people, the Government is taking action on three fronts:
by developing the physical infrastructure;
by improving the standard of, and access to, public services; and
by taking a major initiative in relation to child support.
Improving the physical infrastructure
This Government is improving our quality of life by enhancing our physical infrastructure. That is why almost £22 billion of the £40 billion National Development Plan is targeted at infrastructure needs. Exchequer capital spending will be increased next year by 23 per cent over the 2000 Estimate to more than £4 billion. Overall by next year, Exchequer capital spending will have increased by 150 per cent since 1997.
It is vital that the infrastructure programme of £22 billion in the Plan is delivered in a cost-effective and timely fashion. The Cabinet Sub-Committee on Infrastructure and Public Private Partnerships is actively engaged in this area and has already overseen the introduction of a number of initiatives to better assist efficient and effective delivery of key infrastructure projects.
We have set aside £6.3 billion for roads in the NDP. A total of £620 million is being provided for national road improvements in 2001, an increase of 26 per cent on this year. This increase will facilitate further substantial upgrading of the network in line with Plan commitments. We are also providing funding in the NDP for a special programme to facilitate non-national roads schemes supporting residential and other developments.
Public Transport
The NDP includes a provision of just over £2-1/4 billion for public transport infrastructure. This reflects a substantial increase on previous levels and will significantly enhance our public transport services. Total Public Capital Programme spending in this area next year will be £420 million. This investment will ensure that projects in the NDP are progressed, including the LUAS in Dublin and the Railway Safety Programme nationwide.
This Government has put in place a broad range of measures to increase the supply of housing. Next year we will spend just over £1 billion in total on local authority social and affordable housing. We have seen clear positive results from the measures introduced. Housing output increased by 20 per cent since 1997 to 46,500 housing starts last year. Average house price increases for the third quarter of 2000 are well down. Average prices for new houses in Dublin decreased in the third quarter by 2.3 per cent on the previous quarter.
A total of £346 million is being provided in 2001 for investment in Water and Sewerage Services.
I can also announce today that I am providing an additional £1.5 million for the Housing Management Initiative which will improve the estate management of local authority housing.
Harbour Infrastructure
I am announcing today a significant programme of capital works, with an additional allocation of £11.5 million in 2001, to address infrastructural deficiencies around the coast which will promote socio-economic well-being in peripheral coastal regions. This additional funding will assist the fishing industry by upgrading harbour infrastructure and allow for the exploitation of important marine tourism and leisure opportunities.
I am also allocating an additional £4 million expenditure in 2001 to an Bord Iascaigh Mhara for the development of the Sea Fisheries Sector.
Improving the standard of services
This Government has increased substantially the amounts spent on public services to improve standards. Taking account of the additional expenditure I am announcing today, by next year we will have increased net voted current spending by over 55 per cent since 1997. This significant injection of funds goes a long way to ensuring that we have the resources needed to provide public services which are effective, efficient and of a high standard.
We are committed to maintaining and improving all levels of our educational system.
Our actions have put this commitment into practice.
This Government has invested heavily in our education system at all levels. The total spend provided in the Estimates for Education in 1997 was £2,111 million. The Estimates published last month will provide £3,524 million, up 67 per cent in four years.
School Transport
I am today providing for a number of improvements to the school transport system, the main element of which is the introduction of a standard two mile qualifying distance for all primary children. This replaces the three mile eligibility threshold for primary children over ten years of age, which has stood since the inception of the scheme. The other improvements to the scheme are listed in the Summary of Budget Measures, as are a number of other improvements which I am funding in the Education sector.
Health Services
I have drawn attention on a number of occasions to the extraordinary rate of increase in health spending.
I regularly hear claims despite this increase that the health services suffer from under-funding. Let me give some of the plain facts which refute this. Current numbers employed in the health services stand at some 80,000 compared to less than 59,000 in 1990. There are now some 540,000 admissions to inpatient care every year, and day cases have doubled since 1992 to some 300,000 annually. There are also about 2 million outpatient attendances and 1.25 million Accident and Emergency visits.
In the expenditure Estimates last month I provided for gross expenditure of £5,015 million in 2001 on the Health and Children Vote. A Supplementary Estimate for 2000, which I have approved, will require that figure to be increased by a further £89 million. I am today announcing a further increase of £195 million, which will bring the total for 2001 to £5,299 million. The contrast with the 1997 Estimate, of £2,754 million, speaks for itself.
This development funding covers a wide range of health programmes, including services for Older People, Physical and Intellectual Disability, Child Welfare and Mental Health. Acute Hospital Services will receive extra funding for a number of priority measures, including Waiting Lists, Bed Capacity and the Cancer Strategy. Full details are set out in the Summary of Budget Measures.