‘People can’t afford another budget from this government - it’s time for change’

Deputy Pearse Doherty has criticised the government’s failure in Budget 2024 to tackle the major crisis facing the people in Donegal, housing and health. 

The Sinn Féin TD for Donegal and Party Spokesperson for Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform believes that this budget should have been used to start tackling the housing crisis and the defective blocks, delivering affordable housing to the people of Donegal. He says is it not the low-income earners that this budget was targeted at and it is a wasted opportunity for reform. 

“This Budget has been a missed opportunity to get to grips with the big crisis in housing and health facing people in Donegal,” Teachta Doherty said.

“It is shocking that the Government ignored the housing crisis even though they had the money to make a decisive intervention that could have made a real difference.  

"They have squandered the opportunity to fix the housing crisis. This will have a profound effect on people in Donegal given the flaws in the Defective Concrete Block Scheme and the paucity of affordable homes to rent and buy.

“This should have been the housing Budget. That’s what people in Donegal affected by the housing crisis and the defective blocks crisis needed to see. 

“This should have been the budget that used the resources that are available to fix the problems we face. They should have increased targets to deliver social and affordable housing. 

"Under a Sinn Féin government that is the Budget that would have been delivered.”

Moving on to the Health System, Teachta Doherty says that with no investment, the severe waiting lists and hospital overcrowding will continue to be a major problem. 

Additionally, there is a lack of funding for youth mental health and disability services. Nothing was done to finance or improve the health system with this budget, despite 78 Donegal GPs highlighting the issue of Letterkenny University Hospital  (LUH) Emergency Department prior to Budget 2024. 

“It has also been a missed opportunity to invest in healthcare, to cut waiting times and ensure patients get the high-quality care they need,” he said.

"In Donegal, we've recently had the unprecedented intervention by GPs who have said that the system is broken. 78 Donegal GPs have written to Minister Donnelly raising concerns for patient safety at Letterkenny University Hospital Emergency Department. 

"Sinn Féin would have invested in health to ensure that change is delivered.

“Instead, this is a budget which is bad for our health service, bad for patients, bad for frontline workers. No money for new hospital beds, a derisory allocation for youth mental health services and a fraction of what is needed for disability services. 

"Their failure to invest means that the crisis in our health service will continue, chronic waiting lists will continue and overcrowding at Emergency Departments such as LUH's will continue.

“People in Donegal can’t afford another Budget from this government. It’s time for change.”