Programme for Government includes 'massive step' for Déise, though Sinn Féin less impressed
The draft Programme for Government was presented to the party memberships following an agreement between Fine Gael leader Simon Harris and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin, with the support of the Independent Regional Group.
The recently published Programme for Government includes a "massive step forward" for Waterford.
The draft Programme for Government was presented to the party memberships on Wednesday, January 15, following an agreement between Fine Gael leader Simon Harris and Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin, with the support of the Independent Regional Group. It is now subject to approval by the party memberships.
The Déise's Government party representatives, Minister of State Mary Butler and Deputy John Cummins, have both praised the commitments made by the proposed coalition government.
Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People Mary Butler said she was "delighted" to be able to "produce a Programme for Government in such a timely and efficient manner".
"It has been a huge honour to have been in a position to influence policy in this country for the next five years," she said.
The Sinn Féin Health spokesperson David Cullinane TD is less impressed with the PfG, describing the document as "full of vague commitments" and said it was "not a great start for the two Government representatives".
"The programme commits to progressing the Waterford Airport Project with no timeframes and no specifics. There is no mention of 24/7 cardiac care, no mention of Waterford Port, no mention of upgrading the N24 and N25 Roads to Limerick and Cork," he said.
Minister Butler opposed this notion noting that “24/7 cardiac care is covered via a commitment to build on the existing national cardiovascular policy by developing a new and more ambitious plan to enhance patient care and timely access across all regions".
The next government has committed to working to "quickly progress the Waterford Airport project" on the back of pre-election promises from both major Government parties to progress the development of the airport.
The Programme for Government makes the commitment to “work with all stakeholders to quickly progress the Waterford Airport project to lengthen and widen the runway, building on the previous government decision of 2019" following the scandal in which Fianna Fáil Minister of State James Lawless described the business case as a "pig in a poke".
Newly elected Waterford TD John Cummins, one of the six lead negotiators for Fine Gael alongside Ministers McEntee, Donohoe, Heydon, Carroll MacNeill and Deputy O’Shea, said he was "delighted" that the development of the regional airport was included in the document.
“When I stood for election, I said I would fight tooth and nail to deliver key projects for Waterford and one of those was the lengthening and widening of the runway at Waterford Airport," said Deputy Cummins.
"It is a project I believe strongly in because I know how impactful it would be for the entire region," he added, before commenting: "I’m delighted that agreement was reached to specifically name check the Waterford Airport Project in this programme for Government. In terms of aviation, the government has also committed to “work with stakeholders to achieve our objective of lifting the passenger cap at Dublin airport as soon as possible.”
The next Government has committed to work to establish six new surgical hubs across the country, including one in Waterford in the draft Programme for Government - which is not a surprise as it's already under construction at Maypark Lane in the city.
The proposed coalition government has pledged to establish six surgical hubs across the country with two in Dublin, one in Cork, Galway and Limerick, and one in Waterford. The government has also committed to exploring adding a seventh novel surgical hub for the North West.
In addition to adding to the South East's surgical capacity, the PfG states that it will work on "building on the existing National Cardiovascular Policy, we will develop a new and more ambitious plan enhancing patient care and timely access across all regions".
The proposed government has also pledged to increase national hospital capacity by between 4,000 and 4,500 new and refurbished inpatient hospital beds across the country with 100 new ICU beds and to work to deliver more community beds.
The work of Waterford City and County Council on the 'Repair and Lease' and 'Buy and Renew' schemes has been cited as "best practice" by the government parties in the document.
The proposed coalition government has detailed their commitment to "continue the Repair and Lease and Buy and Renew Schemes for five more years" with the target of "1,000 additional homes annually by building on best practice as demonstrated by Waterford City and County Council."
Waterford has led the way for the use of the Repair and Lease scheme, with Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien saying that “Waterford City and County Council is the leading local authority in delivering units under RLS" in April 2024.
“It participated in the original pilot scheme, commencing in October 2016," he said, "To end 2023, Waterford has delivered 312 homes under RLS, 56% of national delivery. This includes the largest RLS project to date, St Joseph’s House, Manor Hill, where 71 homes have been created in a previously vacant convent in a city centre location."
In May, Waterford City and County Council received €9 million under the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund to bring 130 vacant local properties back into use in the county.
Then Senator John Cummins said that "huge progress" had been made under the schemes in Waterford.
“We are the national leaders in the Repair and Lease Scheme. We have had good numbers of units delivered via the introduction of the commercial to residential exemption from planning, which I brought through the Joint Oireachtas Committee, and the Buy and Renew Scheme is working well too."
A new borrowing framework for technological universities was also committed to in the draft document to ease the difficulties for institutions, such as South East Technological University in accessing funding for capital improvement projects.
The PfG commits the proposed government to "develop a borrowing framework for technological universities and ensure a clear pathway for Technological Universities to access capital funding for initiatives, including student accommodation."
Technological Universities are not presently permitted to independently borrow money for capital improvements, in contrast to traditional universities, as legislation permitting borrowing frameworks - written upon the formation of TUs - has yet to be approved.
Newly elected TD, Deputy John Cummins, lauded the announcement of the borrowing framework, which he described as "key to the growth of SETU".
"I’m also happy with the language we arrived at around creating a borrowing framework for the Technological Universities, which is key to the growth of SETU going forward," Deputy Cummins said.
Minister Butler similarly echoed a positive sentiment on the new framework: “There’s good news for SETU as this programme commits to finding a mechanism by which technological universities can borrow off balance sheet."
The Programme for Government has also committed to "support universities to meet their carbon reduction targets under their Climate Action Plans", as well as working to ensure that in cases in which a higher education institution "operates across multiple campuses in a region, that there is balanced senior management representation based across the campuses".
The tri-entity coalition has also pledged to "continue to support the Technological Sector Advancement Fund".
