Low-cost loans for builders, digital health records and extra funds for the Land Development Agency are being sought by Cabinet Ministers jockeying for allocations from the Apple billions.
While Coalition leaders have ruled out using the funds for this year’s budgetary cycle, tax cuts or current spending on the likes of public sector wages, Taoiseach Simon Harris has signalled that some clarity about the €14 billion windfall will come on budget day.
That looks set to prompt a round of intense lobbying by line Ministers eager to bid for some of the money, which is due to arrive into the exchequer in the coming months after Apple and Ireland lost a long-running case arguing that the tax was not due to the State.
Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien has developed a proposal around projects that could be funded using the Apple windfall or the proceeds of the State’s sale of its remaining stake in AIB. It is understood that he will target expanded funding for the Land Development Agency to build 20,000 homes by 2030, as well as a low-interest loan fund for builders and non-profit Approved Housing Bodies, which would be administered through the Housing Finance Agency and Home Building Finance Agency.
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He will also seek increased funding for Irish Water to accelerate projects deemed vital for housing, particularly wastewater facilities in rapidly growing towns.
Meanwhile, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly will push for funding to roll out long-sought digital health records across the health service amid growing frustration over the antiquated systems in use, many of which still rely on pen and paper.
Sources close to Mr Donnelly argued: “These are digital proceeds. Parts of the HSE are still using clipboards, pen and paper. Many of our hospitals have no access to wifi. We are asking our doctors and nurses to still use fax machines, pagers and queue up to use still too few terminals.”
Mr Donnelly has told colleagues that this is a huge frustration for staff and interrupts time with patients, instead wasting time on solving “process problems”. He will argue the lack of technology is having a major impact on improving efficiency in the health service.
A patient app is due to be unveiled later in the year and a broader digital plan was published with a corresponding roadmap but it has yet to be funded, while former HSE boss Tony O’Brien has blamed the Department of Public Expenditure for blocking delivery of e-health technologies “leaving Ireland at the bottom of the digital health pile in Europe”.
It is unclear how specific the Government will be about the destination of the €14 billion on budget day, with senior Government sources of the view that projects without planning permission or a firm budget cannot realistically expect to be allocated money.
The Opposition has strongly criticised the Government’s intention to signal its intent around the money, with Sinn Féin saying it will be for voters to indicate their preferences through the general election. The party has said it would spend €1 billion on a fund for underprivileged communities.
At Monday’s meeting of Coalition leaders, alongside Minister for Finance Jack Chambers and Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe, high-level principles about allocating the money were agreed, with a focus on infrastructure investments and how that might overlap with existing capital plans. It is understood that State bodies identified during talks as candidates to receive money included Irish Water, EirGrid and the Land Development Agency.
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