When speaking on taxation we should recall the words of Edmund Burke who one time said: "There is no man wise enough to tax and to please or to love and be wise". Whatever about the latter part of his saying the first part is surely true. Surely no Government would impose taxation unless they thought it was very necessary? We have ample proof that it was very necessary at this time. Even since the Taoiseach as Acting Minister for Finance brought in these measures he has been vindicated by the newspapers of last Saturday morning which gave the official trade return for the month of October. In that month the adverse trade balance rose by £8½ million. Any Government seeing these signs and not taking corrective measures should not be in Government. The present Government, under the Taoiseach, Deputy Jack Lynch, displayed the traditional courage of the Fianna Fáil Party by facing up to this difficult situation in the best way possible. They could have decided on other means. They could have cut back on social services, education and various things but that would not have been in our tradition. They could have imposed import levies. In that respect I recall the action of a previous Government who saw the trade balance running into dangerous waters and took no action until the last minute even though most people at the time admitted that the then Government had difficulties and urged them to take some measures. One morning we read of all the new levies which were put on overnight and as a result thousands of our people lost their jobs. The Government went out of office shortly after that.
We are not alone in this country in taking such measures. The British Government at the moment are planning to take more severe measures because they, too, have their difficulties. If one looks at France one sees that they are taking really drastic measures because of the position of the franc and their trading situation. I believe the people see the necessity for this. As Edmund Burke said nobody but God Almighty could tax and please but the people have the intelligence to face up to this position and say: "Yes, we believe measures must be taken. We do not like them." It is like being ordered by a doctor to take medicine. You do not like taking it but it is very necessary. I believe the people will vindicate the action of the Government in facing up to this matter.
It has been suggested here and in other places that if you change the system things will be all right. History is full of individuals who thought they had a short cut to prosperity and happiness. Lenin, Hitler and many others decided that the slow way, the democratic way, was not the way to the full happiness of the people. They took short cuts but they still have not produced the perfect society and, of course, they never will with these measures. Even in Czechoslovakia, recently invaded by the Russians, one of the complaints from the Czech people was the fact that the western democracies under free enterprise were doing far better than their people were doing under communism. Surely we must take heed of the lessons of history which show that a man must pay his way whether in his own life or in the life of the nation and it is only by paying its way that a nation can survive? There is no use in telling airy-fairy stories of socialism and unbridled capitalism or anything else. There is a very simple lesson whether it is taught to us by Adam Smith or any other economist. We have got to get back to the fact that we must work and produce and earn money and we will find our own salvation in our own methods.
Last Sunday was Human Rights day. People inside and outside this House referred to the tax on cigarettes and on the pint but I wonder have we got the courage in this country and in this Oireachtas to go out for full human rights? Are we prepared to declare war on poverty and to impose taxes to abolish poverty? The standard of living of our people compares favourably with most countries in the world. Wealthy countries like Germany and the United States have a much higher standard of living but whether they are a happier people is a question. We hear in speeches from the Opposition that we should do more for the farmers, more for education, more for everything, but the crunch comes when a Government must impose taxation to do some of those things.
This generation will be tested by history on what has been done for old, disabled and sick people and on these counts the record of the Fianna Fáil Government will stand any examination. In every Budget they have brought in there was always something for the old people, the blind, the widows and orphans. We often say that, perhaps, this is not enough, that it is not sufficient in budgeting to say there is so much for the disabled, the old and the blind. We should have the courage to go forward and say that these are our first charges, that we provide for their needs and after that go on to those less needy. When we speak of cigarettes and the workman's pint we should surely spare a thought for the fact that if we speak here for even a quarter of an hour thousands of youngsters have died of starvation in Biafra, despite our puny efforts to alleviate this frightful, almost worldwide starvation situation in which twothirds of the people have not enough to eat. If the Minister for External Affairs came to the Minister for Finance saying we should give X pounds for relief immediately we would be assailed not because we were giving to these people but because we would have to increase taxation to do so. It is time that we looked at ourselves in this age of human rights and considered how sincere we are in regard to what we want to do for those people who cannot very well help themselves.
It has often been said that the world democracies are losing touch with the people. To some extent, perhaps, this is true not only of our own Oireachtas but also of Britain, France, the USA and others. Frequently this may be because suggestions or allegations are made in a democratic State that all is not as it should be on the government side. Last week Deputy Dillon of Fine Gael came into the House and made certain allegations. Deputy Dillon is a long-serving and respected Member of the House and even Members on this side hold him in very high regard but last week when he made a speech about alleged land transactions by members of the Government I think he dealt a harder blow to democracy than any subversive group in the country because he undermined the faith of the people, not in the Government, but in Parliament as a whole. If he had proof of these allegations he should have named people or should have gone to the Attorney General and given him the facts to investigate. Unfortunately, he came here, made allegations against the Government without a bit of evidence and mentioned no names despite the fact that he was speaking, as I am, under Parliamentary privilege.
When the Nazis set out to gain power in Germany one of their biggest weapons before they adopted physical force was to undermine democracy by telling stories about corruption and all sorts of malpractices in the Government of Germany. Later, when the Nazis suggested themselves as a Government the people said: "What have we to lose?" So democracy was swept away in Germany and the Nazis took over power. We all know how dearly the German people and, indeed, Europe have paid for that mistake.
Democracy with all its faults has also its great virtues and the Irish people, who passionately believe in democracy, have now begun to doubt if it is such an effective system because of the charges made against it by Members of the Dáil. If Deputy Dillon has this information let him give the proof to the Taoiseach or the Attorney General. Let us have the charges proved and these allegations probed so that at least we shall clear the good name of Parliament because, with all due respect to Deputy Dillon, I do not accept his allegations. Very often here we say things in the heat of the moment for which we are sorry afterwards but when a Deputy comes in and coldly, probably in a prepared speech, makes such allegations as I have referred to, he does democracy no service and he has certainly weakened the tie which we want strengthened between the people and the Oireachtas.
Another Fine Gael Deputy spoke about the housing situation in Dublin. I shall refer only briefly to the 1957 position. It is often said that when Fine Gael left office there were too many houses. My answer to that is that we had too few people because of heavy emigration in preceding years. If anybody does not take my word for it they can go to the official statistics and to Dublin Corporation and see how many empty houses they had at that time. It took us almost two years to restore progress in housing.
What happened in 1957 is over and done with but what is happening in 1968 is another matter. An official report of the Dublin Corporation housing committee last Friday night shows that at the moment there are 2,430 dwellings under construction and tenders have been received or development works are in progress for another 2,805 making a grand total of 5,230. I wonder is there any city in Europe of comparable size which can show a housing drive of such magnitude. I emphasise that I am referring merely to the corporation's housing drive and I am not mentioning the county council or Dún Laoghaire Borough Council or the private building which involves hundreds of houses in this city.
A total of 5,230 dwellings are under way plus some 100 temporary dwellings. This all takes a great deal of money and the Government must find the money or the houses will not be built. If we are criticised for taxation we are taxing for a good purpose. At present Dublin Corporation's indebtedness is about £30 million of which about £28 million is for housing. We may be criticised for many things but as regards housing at present in Dublin I think we are doing a very good job. We are, perhaps, still not satisfied that we are making the greatest possible progress but if we can maintain this drive the old legacy of bad housing which we inherited in Dublin will be gone, thanks to a Government which at all times has given housing top priority. Surely they should tax people in order to provide houses for those who cannot provide them for themselves? This has always been the policy of the Fianna Fáil Government.
Deputy Donegan in his speech referred also to some of the allegations which have been made against the Government. I do not speak as a partisan politician on this but I say that if these Deputies he mentioned have proof of any misdemeanours on the part of any Members on this side of the House they have a duty to come forward with the proof because when an allegation is made against this side of the House by members of the Opposition, they are also condemning their own side who are part of this assembly.
When the people hear these allegations they lose faith in the Government and they lose faith in democracy. There are a number of people, perhaps not a very great number, who are working very hard towards the time when democracy will be treated as it was in Nazi Germany. If that time should come, it will then be too late for the people to realise how baseless the allegations against Fianna Fáil were.
I do not wish to continue much longer but before concluding I wish to compliment the Taoiseach on doing the very unenviable job in the way he did. He had to find the taxation. Although the people may criticise us, I am sure they will admire the integrity of the Government. The Government could have taken an easier way out and have had no second Budget but eventually, as the previous Government found out, the moment of truth has to be faced. Fianna Fáil have met this challenge of threatened inflation and have taken measures which we trust will check this run on the trade figures and which will be passed on to the people eventually.
One of the reasons for the Budget was the fact that drawings from the Savings Bank were exceedingly large. Once that happens in any country there is a danger sign. While on this point, I should like the Post Office Savings Committee — who are doing a very good job — to step up the tempo of their efforts to promote more savings. No matter how small the amount in the Post Office Savings Bank is it can give us more money for capital development which, in turn, will mean more jobs. To say, as Deputy Donegan has said, that we are not facing realities in regard to employment is not true.
The Minister for Labour, speaking on Saturday night last at the bankers' dinner, said that we were not producing jobs at the rate at which they were needed. This is something we must face up to. Even though productivity has increased tremendously the jobs that we hoped for have not come about. I judge the success of any Budget by the number of jobs it will provide and by the number of houses it will provide and by the other real benefits to the people but we must say that jobs are not coming as fast as we would wish.
We must, therefore, join with the Minister, in reminding the bankers that we want this position changed and that we want a flow of jobs to offer to every man and woman in the country who wishes to remain here. I do not know of any country in the world where there is total employment, unless it is compulsory employment, and we do not want that here.
In conclusion, I wish again to compliment the Taoiseach and the Government on the way they are dealing with this problem and I believe that the people, even though they may criticise us will realise what the Government are doing. I trust that the people will accept the impositions placed on them by the Budget because this has been done in the interests of the people themselves.
I hope, too, that next year we shall see a great increase in the number of houses and in the number of jobs and that we will be able to give in benefits much more than we can give this year. I hope the people will face up to the circumstances as the Government have done on this occasion.
