“You are very welcome to the Convention Centre Dublin today, as the
Government announces the next phase of the transformation in our country’s
infrastructure and a major stimulus for our economy.
I am sure you will agree this is a magnificent building, and a credit to
the architect Kevin Roche and all those involved.
It is also a powerful statement about how far we have come and what we can
achieve as a people.
Below us, we can see the new Samuel Beckett Bridge – designed by Santiago
Calatrava – that has further enhanced the rejuvenated docklands area,
along with the new Grand Canal Theatre – also the work of a world-renowned
architect, Daniel Liebeskind – and the O2 Arena.
We are adjacent to the International Financial Services Centre, another
product of the Irish imagination which continues to provide wealth and
employment to our people.
The IFSC is now linked to the O2 by the new Luas line, while the city
centre is now also accessible by road from all parts of the country via
our new motorway system and the Dublin Port Tunnel.
To the North lies the great cauldron of Irish sport that is Croke Park, to
the south the new Aviva Stadium at Lansdowne road – both built on the
greatness of our past, and both fiercely optimistic for our future.
Beyond Croke Park, the new modern Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport will open
later this year.
These infrastructural developments were planned and delivered by the
government and by the public service, working in partnership with the best
that the private sector has to offer.
They have transformed our capital city, and our country, for the better.
They inspire us to move forward – with imagination, with confidence and
with determination – to build for the future.
Our over-riding priority now is to drive forward the process of economic
recovery.
We have taken the right decisions – the responsible decisions – to address
those problems and to lay the foundations for economic recovery.
The Government has taken the three key challenges head-on – reducing the
budget deficit, repairing and reforming the banking system and
restructuring and renewing our economy.
Today is another important step forward on the path to economic renewal.
Today, the Government is making a statement of confidence in future of the
Irish economy and of the Irish people.
We are announcing a massive stimulus for our economy.
We have come through an economic storm without parallel in our history.
But we are continuing to invest in the future – confident that we can
bring about a new phase of sustainable growth and job creation.
Over the next seven years we will invest almost €40 billion in economic
and social infrastructure.
Proportionately this is one of the highest spends in the European Union,
and a major stimulus to the economy as we return to growth.
We will maintain this level of productive investment, while continuing to
stabilise our public finances in line with the programme agreed with the
European Commission.
This is not the easy option – it is always easier for a government to
drastically cut capital spending in the face of a fiscal crisis.
But, as in other areas of public policy, this Government has not taken the
easy option.
We have taken the right option.
We have decided to maintain one of the highest levels of capital
investment in the OECD.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We are not just continuing with previous plans.
We recognise that circumstances are different – priorities have changed,
while the resources available are reduced.
That is why we have reviewed all of our capital programmes and identified
new priorities and opportunities.
Our review has prioritised investments which will contribute to economic
recovery, support employment, deliver important social infrastructure, and
assist the transition to a low-carbon economy.
When I launched Building Ireland’s Smart Economy in 2008, I said that we
must not just survive the crisis, but restructure our economy to ensure
that we are well-placed to benefit from the global recovery.
That logic underlies the revised investment priorities we are announcing
today.
This investment programme is all about jobs for our people and a
sustainable economic future for our children.
We have identified those areas which will make the greatest contribution
to improved competitiveness, to productivity growth and to job creation.
We are focusing on investments which will help create sustainable jobs –
by shifting resources to areas which will help Irish companies grow, and
attract more foreign investment.
This will allow us implement many of the recommendations of the Innovation
Taskforce, including Innovation Fund Ireland and the major investment in
our third level research facilities which I announced in recent weeks.
Recognising that our people remain Ireland’s greatest asset, we are
investing massively in education and skills.
Along with support for our universities, we will provide 70,000 additional
places in our primary schools and 15,000 additional places in our
post-primary schools. In the next two years, 730 of those schools will
have hyper-fast broadband.
Our children are our future and this will help ensure that they have the
skills to create the businesses and do the jobs of the future.
We have acted on the advice of those state agencies – the IDA and
Enterprise Ireland – who are tasked with building our export base and
attracting international investment.
We have listened carefully to our friends abroad, in the diaspora and in
leading international businesses.
That is why we are targeting investment in key aspects of the smart
economy such as broadband and renewable energy, as well as transport,
research and education.
Based on the investments we are announcing today, Enterprise Ireland and
IDA Ireland are targeting over 270,000 direct and indirect new jobs in the
period to 2016.
As a result of the reprioritisation and the sharp focus on job creation,
we will double the share of spending that will go on the enterprise sector
over the next seven years.
We have also taken into account the employment-intensity of building
different types of physical infrastructure and we estimate that delivery
of infrastructure under this Programme will support approximately 30,000
jobs each year.
The investment will be spread right across the country.
Every single part of Ireland will benefit from improved infrastructure,
better public service facilities and – crucially – improved prospects for
increased investment and job creation.
More than €1.5 billion will be invested in the agri-food, fisheries and
forestry sectors. Food Harvest 2020, which I launched last week, sets out
how these indigenous sectors can contribute to economic recovery,
supported by this capital investment.
There is also a significant increase in funding for flood relief.
To emphasise the need for balanced regional development, the Government
has decided to re-establish the Gateways Innovation Fund at a level of
€200m from 2012.
This will support our regional development goals, in line with the
National Spatial Strategy, which is also being reviewed and refreshed to
ensure it is aligned with our current circumstances.
As well as the completion this year of the inter-urban routes serving
Cork, Galway, Waterford, Limerick and the border region, there is also
significant funding for the Atlantic Road Corridor to further enhance the
potential of all of our cities and regions.
And there is flexibility within the programme to respond to emerging needs
across the regions, and potentially to further increase investment in the
regional road network over the coming years.
Another strong theme of the programme is environmental sustainability and
the move to a low carbon economy.
We are providing for a major programme of investment in energy efficiency
through retrofitting of homes and other buildings – creating up to 10,000
construction-related jobs, while also helping to meet our climate change
targets.
And we have made provision for a large investment to upgrade the quality
of our water services to the highest standards.
Major social investment programmes – for example in the regeneration of
Limerick and Ballymun, primary and secondary schools, health facilities
and rural development – will improve the quality of life for people in
communities across the country.
Transport remains the single biggest area of investment in this new
programme.
The completion of the major inter-urban routes will deliver dramatic
reductions in travel time between our main cities and greatly increase the
competitiveness of our economy.
Tomorrow, I will formally open the Limerick Tunnel and – jointly with my
colleagues in the Northern Ireland Executive – the Dublin to Belfast
motorway.
As a result of the transformation of our national road system, the focus
of investment can now shift increasingly to public transport, as was
planned when Transport 21 was launched.
We have made provision for Metro North and the Dart interconnector, with
both projects subject to final Government approval following a
value-for-money test.
The financial framework which we are publishing today sets out the overall
economic and budgetary context, the multi-annual allocation for each
sector, the rationale behind our decisions and the new direction for
investment that we have decided upon.
Many other projects will be delivered between now and 2016.
Individual Ministers will make the detailed decisions on allocations
within each envelope, while we will remain responsive to new and emerging
economic pressures and investment needs.
Over the past decade we have transformed Ireland’s infrastructure.
The investment programme we are announcing today builds on those
achievements, while focusing sharply on economic recovery and job
creation.
It will deliver many projects of lasting economic, social and
environmental value in every part of the country.
It will spur job creation, and help to get local businesses moving again.
It will provide certainty to investors and the business community – at
home and abroad – which will help stimulate investment and increase
employment.
It will greatly enhance our competitiveness and the productive capacity of
our economy.
It is based on a hard-headed and realistic evaluation of our situation.
It is ambitious, appropriate and affordable.
It is exactly the type of stimulus that the economy needs to help rebuild
confidence and accelerate economic recovery.
More than anything else, it is a clear statement of confidence and
optimism about Ireland’s future”.
