I understand that Resolutions Nos. 5 and 7 are being taken together.
Financial Resolution No. 5: Excise—Hydrocarbons.
I move:
(1) That in this Resolution—
"the Order of 1975" means the Imposition of Duties (No. 221) (Excise Duties) Order, 1975 (S.I. No. 307 of 1975);
"the Order of 1983" means the Imposition of Duties (No. 264) (Hydrocarbons) Order, 1983 (S.I. No. 85 of 1983).
(2) That the duty of excise on mineral hydrocarbon light oil imposed by paragraph 11 (1) of the Order of 1975 shall be charged, levied and paid, as on and from the 26th day of January, 1984, at the rate of £23.78 per hectolitre in lieu of the rate specified in paragraph 4 (1) of the Order of 1983.
(3) That the duty of excise on hydrocarbon oil imposed by paragraph 12 (1) of the Order of 1975 shall be charged, levied and paid, as on and from the 26th day of January, 1984, at the rate of £17.21 per hectolitre in lieu of the rate specified in paragraph 4 (2) of the Order of 1983.
(4) That, as on and from the 26th day of January, 1984, the rate of any repayment allowed under paragraph 12 (11) of the Order of 1975 in respect of hydrocarbon oil on which such repayment is allowable shall be the amount of excise duty paid less an amount calculated at the rate of £1.79 per hectolitre.
(5) That, subject to the provisions of the Imposition of Duties (No. 265) (Excise Duty on Hydrocarbon Oils) Order, 1983 (S.I. No. 126 of 1983), the amount of the rebate allowed under paragraph 12 (3) of the Order of 1975 shall, in respect of fuel oil within the meaning of paragraph 3 of the Imposition of Duties (No. 256) (Excise Duty on Hydrocarbon Oils) Order, 1981 (S.I. No. 404 of 1981), which is intended for use for a purpose other than the generation of electricity for sale and is imported or delivered from the premises of a refiner of hydrocarbon oil or from a bonded warehouse on or after the 26th day of January, 1984, be the amount of excise duty chargeable less an amount calculated at the rate of £0.76 per hectolitre.
(6) That the duty of excise on gaseous hydrocarbons in liquid form imposed by section 41 (1) of the Finance Act, 1976 (No. 16 of 1976), shall be charged, levied and paid, as on and from the 26th day of January, 1984, at the rate of £0.767 per gallon in lieu of the rate specified in paragraph 4 (4) of the Order of 1983.
(7) It is hereby declared that it is expedient in the public interest that this Resolution shall have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1927 (No. 7 of 1927).
In these two resolutions we have a unique example of budgetary mismanagement in that there is a double imposition on one particular category, namely, the motorist. I do not mean the person who motors purely for pleasure but I am talking about the person who requires his car for essential purposes in getting to and from work. There has been an increase of six pence per gallon on petrol and hydrocarbons and side-by-side with that there is the increase in road tax. It is proposed to impose an additional charge of £1 per unit of horse-power with effect from 1 March. Two revenue sources are being used to get at the same taxpayer and I can think of very few budgets in which this has happened. It is an incorrect budgetary principle to load taxation on a particular category. In this case it is being imposed on the motorist who requires a car for essential purposes and it will affect in a practical way the cost of living of many people. It will cause much social discontent and undoubtedly will trigger off wage and salary demands.
The other aspect is that which was referred to on the previous resolution by Deputy Haughey, namely, that this charge is being imposed without any indication of a broad strategy to deal with jobs and employment. It is quite incredible that in a Budget Statement of 64 pages there is not a single sentence devoted to the creation of jobs and to the essential social and economic need to generate employment. Today we had an economic and financial treatise of an academic nature, with book-keeping measures to raise moneys at the expense of some sectors but there was no overall economic and financial plan designed to deal with the social and economic problems of the community.
Traditionally the budget has been regarded as an instrument for social and economic progress. The whole purpose of an annual budget, of raising taxes and proposing expenditure, is to ensure that it fits into an economic strategy that is designed to deal with fundamental social and economic requirements. In our time the paramount requirement — otherwise there will be no people here to pay taxes — is to ensure that we have the necessary investment and growth in our society and that as a result of that investment we have the required development of employment and an increasing number of jobs. There is nothing in this budget which will bring about any reduction in the numbers out of work. This Budget Statement is a recipe for further unemployment, right up to the 300,000 mark eventually, if the financial thinking behind it continues.
I accuse the Government of approaching this whole matter in an entirely piecemeal fashion. This approach is evidenced in an obvious effort to achieve an accountancy balance for the time being, to get out of immediate trouble by satisfying this section or that within the Government — in other words, to reconcile the two parties forming the Government who have opposing ideologies. They must have a certain temporary reconciliation, or at least a reconciliation which would get them over the budget divisions tonight but which will have its day of reckoning when the Labour Party have their conference in April next. We will then see that the real social evils of unemployment will be borne in on the members at that conference and delegates will see, on the ground, the inability of the present Government to cope with unemployment and devise a strategy to deal with it.
This budget is supposed to be the annual instrument by which the Government will raise the taxes and devise the expenditures to ensure the economic development to overcome the basic social and economic ills of our community. These come down to two matters. One is the growing level of unemployment. That is not referred to in the 64 pages read out by the Minister for Finance here today. The other ancillary aspect is the problem of stimulating further investment so as to create more employment. That problem is not dealt with here today by the Minister for Finance. In the major economic instrument of the whole 12 months in any community, which is designed to direct and control economic progress and development in the direction required by the necessities of the community, we get ad hoc thinking designed solely to raise taxes for book-keeping purposes, which leads the Government astray. There is no essential principle or strategy running through the whole Budget Statement. The basic necessary reforms, which the Minister for Finance mentioned as being reviewed and considered, are not however adopted — reforms such as the tax credits. These have been reviewed and recommended by Fine Gael for the past two general elections and by the Government for several budgets. They are again paraded here like a filly or a colt in the ring and allowed to disappear back into the pasture. We have three pages of rhetoric devoted to the tax credits and at the end of the day we find that they are not yet feasible.
We had the same situation today with regard to the report of the Commission on Taxation. The Minister for Finance called it an excellent report last year and this year and Deputy Bruton, when Minister for Finance, referred to it also as an excellent report. This report was reviewed and commended and its recommendations paraded as being excellent; but again it is not feasible to do anything about it. Instead of dealing with the question of jobs, of investment, of real tax reforms in the way of bringing in the recommendations contained in the report of the Commission on Taxation, or the Government's own ideas with regard to income tax credits, we find a final step down and degeneracy into the old ad hoc way of piecing bits and pieces together, of the old ways of raising taxes. In the last case it was the few pence on the pint of beer, in this made doubly bad by affecting one sector not just once but twice, via a tax on petrol and an increase in road tax.
The Government have made no attempt to plan the economy through a budget in which attention is paid to the basic requirements of our economy, We find this Government just patching things up, engaging in empty rhetoric in the course of a Budget Statement and putting together a patchwork quilt that would be sufficient to get them past their votes tonight, recalling two years ago when they failed even to do that and could not get past even the first vote. Tonight they will get past the first vote but they will not get past the vote of the people when that occasion arises. The Labour Party, who have been conspicuously absent here for most of the day and who are conspicuously absent here this evening, will get their answer when they appear before their delegates to justify this situation in which they, as Government Ministers, represent a party sold down the river by the Fine Gael rump within this Government.
I rise to oppose Resolution No. 5. I agree with everything Deputy Lenihan said. The cost of motoring constitutes a major imposition on many people. Where there may not be public transport many people are dependent on motoring to get to their work. They do not get any tax allowance and it constitutes a serious imposition.
I am particularly concerned that the Minister and the Government have learned nothing over the past year, since this time last year when the Government increased the price of petrol by 35p. This caused many people to cross the Border, firstly, to buy their petrol and then while across, to buy their ordinary day to day goods, which is having a very serious effect on our Exchequer. The situation got so bad that there were busloads of people going from this city; there were 150 buses in one town in the Six Counties one day before Christmas. That was a direct result of the Minister's action this time last year in increasing, in three different phases, the price of petrol by 35p.
I believe it is the first time in the history of the State there is not a Minister representing a Border constituency at the Cabinet table. Perhaps that is the reason the Government have failed once again to take note of the fact that so many people are crossing the Border. The effect of this latest increase will be that more and more people will cross the Border to buy petrol for their cars and, while there, other goods as well. It is estimated by traders along the Border from Louth to Donegal that £150 million were lost to this State in 1983. I have no doubt but that the result of this action by the Government is encouraging people to cross the Border. As a result of this experience, indeed as a result of the statement made by the Six Counties Tourist Board last week to the effect that they made over £80 million as a result of day trippers from this State, we would have expected that the price of petrol would have come down. That would have been an asset to the State in terms of revenue and also to the numerous people who depend on motoring for their livelihood.
Might I ask the Taoiseach a few questions for the information of the House? In the 6p a gallon increase under Resolution No. 5, in each of the areas — petrol, auto diesel and auto LPG — exactly what is the breakdown of the actual increase and VAT? The Minister said in his remarks that the figures included VAT. Could he say whether it is perhaps 5p and 1p or perhaps 5½p and a halfpenny and perhaps he would give the yield in each individual case — petrol, auto diesel and auto LPG? Also could he confirm or deny speculation abroad that there is a further application from the petrol companies for a further increase in those oil prices?
I will reply to the question now and come back to the more general points at the end of the debate.
In the case of petrol and auto diesel the increase is composed of 4.9p excise duty and 1.1p VAT at 23 per cent. In the case of auto LPG it is 5.7p excise duty and 0.3p VAT at 5 per cent. As to yields, the yield this year: for petrol £12.1 million, auto diesel £3.8 million and auto LPG £0.4 million and, for good measure — as I have it in front of me — the CPI effect of the petrol increase is less than 0.1 per cent, it is .091 per cent, less than one-tenth of a percentage point.
Is there another application for a further increase?
I am not aware of any. I mean by that I have not information directly to hand but I have not heard of any. I cannot answer at present. I will try to find out as the night progresses.
A few quick comments and a question to the Taoiseach. First of all, I should put this increase in perspective——
I will be doing that later.
Well, I will try to do it now if I may. According to my calculations it will put approximately £1 a week more on the average motorist, that is, a person doing approximately 30,000 miles a year and getting 30 miles to the gallon. One would require to be earning perhaps an extra £1.50 or £2 per week to cover the cost of the increase in the petrol. I would suggest it is £1 per week per motorist additional
Might I ask the Deputy where he gets the figure of 30,000 miles. I had always thought the average was about 8,000 miles and about 6,000 for a family motorist. Where does the 30,000 miles come from?
It is not hard to do 8,000 miles around Dublin South-East.
I am talking of the national average. I have always understood it to be around 8,000, and that is confirmed to me.
I am talking of a mileage between 20,000 and 30,000 per year which a lot of motorists have to do, particularly commercial travellers and people who have to travel to earn their living, the people who run taxis and so on.
I understand, yes, but not the average motorist.
It will cost these people an extra £1 per week. Therefore, their employers will have to give them an increase of an extra £2 per week.
The second point I want to make — and the Taoiseach might like to comment on it; it may be a question depending on how he wants to look at it — the price of oil internationally in dollar terms has been coming down for the past 12 months at the rate of about $5 a barrel. That was not passed on to the Irish consumer. That is reasonable enough considering that the dollar has appreciated considerably. But, just to be crystal clear about it, this 6p today has nothing to do with the dollar appreciation; it is straight, honest-to-God, Government taxation. We should be crystal clear about that because there is an impression around that somehow this is not the Government's fault, that this is the great big bad Yanks who, having such a strong dollar, are costing us all this money on the exchange rate and pushing up the price of oil for us. I must reiterate that this 6p has nothing to do with the dollar appreciation.
That is quite right. I confirm that.
I know the Taoiseach is confirming it, but there is an atmosphere in the country which suggests that increases like these on petrol are occasioned by the exchange rate on the dollar. One hears taxi men in queues and ordinary people say: "Ah well, it is the dollar, you know." It is not "the dollar you know" here; it is a deliberate taxation decision taken by the Government.
It will hit the £700 million tourist industry already on its knees. We have the second or third highest petrol price now in all of Europe. It will damage that industry already on its knees and trying to fight back as fast as it can.
Most of all, the theme behind the Minister's speech today was to restore competitiveness to Irish industry. What a way to restore competitiveness to Irish industry, by directly putting up the cost to Irish industry. Manufacturing companies the length and breadth of the country will incur increased costs tomorrow morning as a result of these taxation decisions taken here this evening. At a time when we are endeavouring to produce more jobs in the country why add to the costs of Irish industry, crippling them, throwing people out of jobs, causing that whole spiral, when the State must pick up the tab for people on the dole, putting us in a situation in which more tax is needed to fund more social welfare and so on? In this way we get back into that circle.
I might request a few more figures from the Taoiseach which might be helpful. Exactly what is the average cost of one gallon of premium petrol today? Would the Taoiseach give us a breakdown of the margins as against VAT, excise duty, retailers' profit and the amount payable to the oil companies on one gallon of petrol? I should like him to give us the total gallonage sold by the retail outlets here in 1983 and to let us know if there was a substantial reduction on the amount sold in 1982. Is he looking for 6p now to make up for the diminishing returns because of the impact of increases over the last 12 months? I should also like the Taoiseach to give us the number and the amount of increases that have taken place since the Coalition Government took office. Would he agree that motoring costs in Ireland are the dearest in Europe? They are, on average, 28 per cent more than in Great Britain. How can he suggest that he will make £300,000 available to market tourism and to attract tourists here and, at the same time, penalise them by this kind of shock treatment? The motorist was our biggest spending tourist in years gone by. Would he also indicate the impact that this increase in the cost of diesel and petrol will have on the unit cost of production, particularly in so far as transport costs are concerned?
The whole budget strategy is a joke and is being viewed outside as simply a "cop out" to keep the Labour Party in two for their voting power. Would the Taoiseach agree that while motoring is no longer a luxury, the total cost of running a medium-sized car is now in excess of £4,000 per annum? How can he expect the working man on an average take home pay of £117 per week to be able to meet this cost and survive in 1984?
I will do my best to answer the Deputy's questions although I have forgotten some of them already. The average cost of a gallon of petrol will be £2.88½p following this increase, of which £1.62p is the tax content. I have not got a breakdown of refining costs and retailers' margins——
That is very strange because those figures were made available to the Government last week and they would put the new increases in perspective.
I have not got them in front of me as they are not directly relevant to the budget. However, I will give the relevant figures. The total consumption in 1983 was 270 million gallons. The increase in the cost to industry, to which auto-diesel fuel is more relevant, is 2.4 per cent. Of course, depending on the industry, the reduction in the cost of oil for production purposes as a result of the budget is a compensating factor. For many industries it would be a much bigger compensating factor than the increase in the price of auto-diesel.
Could I have the figures for 1982?
I think it was 291 million gallons in 1982. The Deputy asked about increases since this Government came into office and I would be happy to give him the figures if he will allow me to go back one further year. The increase in the retail price of petrol during the period of office of the Fianna Fáil Government——
I did not ask the Taoiseach for that information.
I know the Deputy did not. He does not want to know but he is going to hear, so hard luck.
I cannot direct the Taoiseach how to make a speech.
I just want him to answer the question.
Standing Orders require that questions are put and answered. If the Taoiseach indicates he is unable to answer questions put it seems strange and time wasting that he should be answering questions which were not even put.
The committee which dealt with this matter some years ago directed that there should be a certain amount of informality in this regard.
During the term of office of Fianna Fáil the price of petrol went up by 48p per gallon in 1981 and 1982 as a result of their budget and other changes and the increase since then, including the cost of petrol and taxation, is 53p. The two Governments have increased the cost of petrol by precisely the same amount in real terms. I am sure the Deputy did not want to hear that. It is evident from the way he approached the subject.
Would the Taoiseach agree that the figure he gave of the reduction of 20 million gallons of petrol between 1982 and 1983 at least indicates that there is a diminishing return in so far as revenue is concerned and that he is responsible for it?
There is diminishing consumption although the major factor here is probably the recession. The tax increases obviously have an effect and there was a reduction in consumption of almost 4 per cent during Fianna Fáil's term in office following their tax increases. The overall effect has been that over the two years, between the recession and the tax increases imposed by the two Governments and fluctuations in the price of oil at international level, there was a reduction of about 11 per cent That is precisely why we are not increasing the tax by 13.9p that Fianna Fáil put on, or the somewhat higher figure which we put on over the past year, but by 6p per gallon. It is estimated that that increase is approximately half the amount that indexation would involve. There is a 4 per cent increase in the tax on petrol as against the 8 per cent which indexation would allow. Because we are increasing it by only half that amount, in real terms it is effectively reducing the tax content and, as a result, no further drop in consumption is expected.
I can well understand why the Taoiseach is on the defensive with regard to this matter. However, I should like to ask him if he agrees that motoring costs in Ireland are the most expensive in Europe and that he and his Government have contributed significantly to that position?
The contribution of recent Governments has been equal, approximately 50p each——
Have we the dearest prices in Europe? Say yes or no.
I have not got the figures.
The Taoiseach knows we have the dearest prices in Europe.
I will try to get the information and give it to the Deputy before the end of the debate.
We are the dearest country in Europe because of what the Government are doing——
We followed Fianna Fáil's example, perhaps it was bad example, but we put on only 6p. That is the point. I have not a list of prices in other countries but I know that petrol is dearer in Italy.
They change governments very often there.
I assume we are dealing with the increase in the price of petrol and motor car taxation. We are condemning the Government for a double imposition on motoring in today's budget. One of the very important points about the motor car in rural Ireland is that it has reversed the industrial revolution trend. In other words, in the last century people left the villages and rural areas and piled into the industrial cities but due to the motor car and the reasonable costs of running it, young people in rural areas could motor short distances of 20 or 30 miles to factories and return in the evenings. As of now, this kind of budget is putting that out of their reach altogether. Where the car defeated the old trend of the English industrial revolution and the general industrial revolution all over the world, this Government are aiding the trend that if one wants a job one will have to move into the town because it is impossible to meet motoring charges. The IDA could locate factories any place and if motoring costs were reasonable the work force could get to them. If this trend continues that will be totally wiped out because this budget has aimed a savage blow at this section of the community. The big criticism of this budget is that there is no encouragement for people to invest and therefore the employment situation will worsen. This is a real problem and this imposition on motoring — in regard to petrol and motor taxation — will accelerate that trend.
Recently we were told that for the first time in the history of the State more cars were sold in the Six Counties this year than in the whole of the Twenty-six Counties. That is a pointer to what is going on. The Minister for Finance was badly advised when he allowed extra costs to be put on an industry which is in the death throes. A few years ago many bright young men chose to make their careers as motor mechanics. Every major garage, and most minor garages, have been letting qualified mechanics go over the last few years and this trend can only accelerate.
The Border is a very significant factor in the economy of my area. Where there are twin towns or villages along the border, the petrol stations have closed down on the southern side. I was in one of our villages recently but I could not buy petrol there. The garages had closed because they could not compete. It is all right for the Taoiseach to say that Fianna Fáil increased the price of petrol but he should not forget that we removed a very significant burden when we abolished motor taxation on cars under a certain horse-power and we did that in a period when there was buoyancy for the most part. But we are not in such a period now. I appeal to the Taoiseach to use his influence with the Minister for Finance, even at this late stage, to reconsider the position of the motor dealer, the people who make their living out of the motor business, the worker who has to get to his place of employment by car and so on, because serious damage will be done to the economy by this budget.
Before I call on Deputy Harte I want to point out that the informal agreement between the Whips which has been handed to me provides that the discussion on Resolutions Nos. 5 and 7 shall conclude at 8.45 p.m. and it says that times must be strictly adhered to. That is only an informal agreement but I assume the Taoiseach would like to reply at a reasonable time.
As a Border Deputy I do not welcome an increase in the price of petrol.
Excuse me, Deputy. I was not here but I understand from the Clerk that those times have been made an Order of the House.
Like any other Border Deputy I do not welcome a 6p increase in the price of a gallon of petrol. Deputy Wilson said in Border areas filling stations are closing on the Republic side; we also have filling stations which are called "Six County pumps" and "Free State pumps". If you pay in sterling you will be charged the Six County prices and if you pay in punts you will be charged the Twenty-six County rate.
Listening to Fianna Fáil speakers one would conclude that they had never been in Government or that it was this party who caused this price differential between North and South. The blame rests fairly and squarely at the door of the Fianna Fáil Party. They steamrolled us into the EMS. We buy our petrol with petro-dollars. Had we stayed with sterling petrol would be £1 a gallon less.
Would the Taoiseach agree with that?
Deputy Reynolds can make his own speech and I will make mine. I am telling the House that if the Border——
(Interruptions.)
We would like to know if you are all in the same party.
I am sick listening to the Fianna Fáil Party. For the last 20 minutes they have been spelling out gloom and doom. The Fianna Fáil Government left this problem for the Minister for Finance to solve. This economic crisis did not happen when Deputy Alan Dukes became Minister for Finance.
He just made it worse.
I repeat, this crisis did not start when this Government took over.
They doubled it.
This happened because of Fianna Fáil's mismanagement and lack of foresight.
The Taoiseach should give that man a car. That would keep him quiet. That is what he wants.
Our petrol is 28 per cent dearer because of Fianna Fáil's mismanagement. Motor cars are £4,000 and £5,000 dearer in the Republic than they are in the North. Deputy Wilson admits that people living north of the Border are buying more cars than the people in the Republic. What he is saying is that the Northern economy is more attractive than the economy in the Republic.
Fianna Fáil have been in Government for nearly all my lifetime but listening to them I almost believed they were never in Government. The problems we face today are the result of their bad management, not just an extra 6p on the gallon of petrol——
(Interruptions.)
Tell us the one about the three bears.
The court jester has been brought in.
Deputy Harte's comments are a long way from Resolutions Nos. 5 and 7.
We are talking about the price of oil and we buy our oil with petro-dollars. If we were buying our petro-dollars in sterling rather than punts it would cost us 28 per cent less. Fianna Fáil are making a big issue of a 6p increase in the price of a gallon of petrol, and I am talking about a figure which could have been as high as £1 on the gallon. Let us hear Fianna Fáil's arguments for the economic policies they were following before they left office. The people voted Fianna Fáil out of office because they did not have confidence in them.
They would vote the Coalition out tomorrow if they were given the chance.
Fianna Fáil are doing what they were always able to do, put out a propoganda message that nobody can run this country except Fianna Fáil, that they have been given a divine right to govern. I did not intend to speak on this debate but, if Fianna Fáil were as bad in Government as they are in Opposition, I know why they were beaten.
I know Deputy Harte is trying to impress the Taoiseach but he has not impressed the Taoiseach. He has destroyed his argument. He has damaged him. I am disappointed that he should knife that man in the back.
In relation to the increase in the duty on petrol I want to request the Taoiseach to grant a special tax allowance to the farming community to make up for the increase in the cost of diesel, a special tax allowance to workers who have to use a motor car to travel to work, and a special allowance to industry for the increase in transport costs. He will have to give those tax concessions to make up for the increase in the price of petrol and diesel. It is a scandal that in this budget the Taoiseach is making it difficult, if not impossible, for the ordinary motorist and the working motorist to travel to work.
Will the Taoiseach state the amount of money which will be pumped into the roads of Ireland from the increased tax of £61.4 million in petrol and motor taxation? As the Taoiseach is well aware, the roads of Ireland have deteriorated. They are now in a scandalous condition. Motorists are finding it extremely difficult to use the roads, and yet the increased tax revenue is not being pumped back to improve our national, primary, secondary and county roads. Will the Taoiseach state the exact percentage of the increase which he will return to the roads of Ireland to make them passable for the ordinary motorist? The tax the motorist is paying is far too high and, in return, he is getting damn little from the Government in an improvement of the roads. In my constituency of Roscommon-East Galway the roads have deteriorated to the stage where they are now practically impassable.
They are not as bad as they were when Fianna Fáil were in office.
The council in Roscommon are not being provided with the necessary funds. If that £61.4 million were given to the councils we would create employment and improve the roads. Instead it will cause unemployment. It is also a tax on the farming community who have not been given any assistance.
I suggest that the Taoiseach should be allowed in to reply.
I will let the Taoiseach in in a second. I am anxious to hear him. This is a tax on farming. There is nothing in the budget to assist the farmer. I am asking the Taoiseach to consider tax concessions to alleviate the sufferings of the commuter motorist, the farmers and industry affected by the increases here today.
A Cheann Comhairle——
I suggested that the Taoiseach should get in. I cannot order that. I can only suggest it.
How long does the Taoiseach want?
Five or seven minutes.
I support what previous speakers have said. It is extraordinary that the Taoiseach should try to suggest that the Government are nearly as good as ours. That is an extraordinary admission from the Taoiseach. It is also extraordinary that one of his backbenchers — in fact, the only backbencher who came in to try to support him — should destroy the argument the Taoiseach was making earlier. Like the Taoiseach, Deputy Harte suggested that Fianna Fáil were the cause of all the problems.
In 1983 the national debt increased by £2,900 million when the Government had been one year in office. If they are lucky enough to last two years in office by the end of 1984 they will have increased the national debt by about 50 per cent. What have they to show for it: 208.000 on the dole, no confidence anywhere, everything destroyed and, if we took Deputy Kelly's advice, we would all be heading for the emigrant ship.
I want to ask the Taoiseach a few short questions about competitiveness in Irish industry. This decision adds to the costs of industry, the cost for workers to get to work, and the cost of the distribution of goods. We will wind up with an increase in the consumer price index. It is all very well for the Taoiseach to trot out a simple figure and say that the increase in the consumer price index will be .091 per cent. Will he tell the House and the people of Ireland that there will be no indirect costs, and that there will be no increase in the price of goods, that there will be no increase in industrial costs and no application for wage increases as a result of the provisions in these two resolutions: 6p on petrol, 6p on diesel and 6p on LPG? Will he guarantee that this is the last increase we will see this year?
He has established a commission to look into the cause of non-competitiveness in Irish industry. He does not have to go to that commission. He is adding to the problems to-night. He is adding to industrial costs, the cost of energy, and the probability of an application for a wage increase next year to compensate for these increases. He has done nothing to reduce the hydrocarbon tax on the ESB. He has another commission looking at that, to find out the cause of escalating prices in the ESB. It is time he stopped trying to fool the country. He should give us the facts straight for once.
I will be very happy to do so. The proposed increase in the price of petrol is the smallest for a very long time. My chart does not go back far enough to tell me for how long. Since the eighties started, the increases imposed by Governments on the price of petrol through taxation have been in each case several times greater and in some instances many times greater than today's 6p. There is no recent precedent for imposing as little as 6p on petrol and other transport fuels.
The Taoiseach should tell us what it was two years ago.
As I have said, whereas indexation would involve an increase of 7½ per cent or 8 per cent in the amount of taxation, this involves only a 4 per cent increase. One of the points made in the debate by several speakers is a very curious one. It is that it is a heinous offence to have increased even by this minimal amount the tax on petrol and by a minimal amount the road tax at the same time, that it is a double blow, a right and a left to the motorist. Let us go back to the last time Fianna Fáil introduced a budget in 1982.
The Taoiseach should justify his own budget.
We will go back.
The Taoiseach is in Government now.
In March 1982, Fianna Fáil increased the petrol duty by 13.9p, 2.3 times what we are doing and, in real terms, over two-and-a-half times as much. Simultaneously they increased the road tax by £1 on the 8 h.p. car, by an extra £2 per h.p. from 9 h.p. to 20 h.p. and £3 over 20 h.p. I have worked it out from the number of cars in each category that there was an average £1.8 per h.p. increase by Fianna Fáil then which, in real terms, is double what we are doing.
The Taoiseach is preoccupied with Fianna Fáil.
Compared with what Fianna Fáil did the last time they very temporarily got their hands on the reins of office, which was to increase simultaneously petrol and road tax by two to two-and-a-half times the increase here, taking the two together, what we are doing is less than half of what Fianna Fáil did the last time they had the opportunity.
(Interruptions.)
Those are the facts. I know Deputies do not like hearing them and the amount of noise they are making indicates how they do not like hearing them. Facts are facts and that is the fact of what happened.
Reference has been made to the question of whether this affects the employment of mechanics.
(Interruptions.)
I did not interrupt Deputies. There was no attempt on this side of the house to barrack people opposite. I point out that the Government made a significant contribution to the employment of mechanics by the reduction of VAT on repairs, which we understand has had a significant effect on employment, and we do not anticipate that these impositions will have a damaging effect. They are on a very small scale by comparison with what Fianna Fáil did when they were in office. Perhaps Deputies would like to know the increases imposed in the budgets of 1980 and 1981, the only ones for which the Leader of the Opposition accepts responsibility, despite having been a member of the Cabinet from 1977 onwards. In 1980 while he was Taoiseach there was an increase of 20p; in 1981 the increase was 15p and following his return to office in March 1982 the increase was 13.9p. The motorist may thank God that we are in Government now and not Fianna Fáil. That is the record of their last three budgets. Crocodile tears about the employment of mechanics do not come very well from the other side of the House.
Go back to Richie Ryan.
The total increase in tax over the two-and-a-half years from the end of 1974 to mid-1977 was 27p. Fianna Fáil managed almost as much as that in some individual years. If Deputy Séamus Brennan were right that the average motorist motored 30,000 miles, then, based on the consumption figures I gave to the House, the average number of miles per gallon would be 80. I am somewhat puzzled as to where these cars are which are achieving 80 miles per gallon. People should think before producing figures which are so patently nonsense.
In fairness to Deputy Brennan who is not here at present, he did qualify it and talked about certain sections.
He started by referring to the average motorist and hastily turned him into a commercial traveller when I pointed out that his figures were wrong. I am taking the total number of cars for the State as a whole, which was 718,000 on 30 September last, and the number of gallons used, which was 269 million. It is a simple matter of division.
What about the petrol being bought in Northern Ireland?
Any effect on industrial costs through the increase in diesel of 2.4 per cent will be largely offset by the reduction in fuel oil costs. Taking into account also the other concessions to industry in relation to stock relief and corporation taxation, the net balance is this budget is in favour of industry and industry will recognise that fact.
All the pluses and none of the minuses.
Deputy Leyden will be aware that it has never been the view of any Government here that petrol duty receipts have any relevance to the question of road maintenance. Road tax was originally an ear-marked tax related to road maintenance but gradually that was eroded and there is no direct relationship now. In so far as it is the only tax which had at any stage any relevance to road maintenance, I would point out that the extra receipts from road tax of £6.5 million are being given back in full measure.
There is an extra £8 million for road improvements, giving a net extra £1.5 million.
The Government are creating road hazards every day of the week because people cannot afford to maintain their cars properly.
Question put.
The Dáil divided: Tá, 82; Níl, 75.
Tá
- Allen, Bernard.
- Barnes, Monica.
- Barrett, Seán.
- Barry, Myra.
- Barry, Peter.
- Begley, Michael.
- Bell, Michael.
- Bermingham, Joe.
- Birmingham, George Martin.
- Boland, John.
- Bruton, John.
- Bruton, Richard.
- Burke, Liam.
- Carey, Donal.
- Cluskey, Frank.
- Collins, Edward.
- Conlon, John F.
- Connaughton, Paul.
- Coogan, Fintan.
- Cooney, Patrick Mark.
- Cosgrave, Liam T.
- Cosgrave, Michael Joe.
- Coveney, Hugh.
- Creed, Donal.
- Crotty, Kieran.
- D'Arcy, Michael.
- Deasy, Martin Austin.
- Desmond, Barry.
- Desmond, Eileen.
- Donnellan, John.
- Dowling, Dick.
- Doyle, Avril.
- Doyle, Joe.
- Dukes, Alan.
- Durkan, Bernard J.
- Farrelly, John V.
- Fennell, Nuala.
- FitzGerald, Garret.
- Flaherty, Mary.
- Glenn, Alice.
- Griffin, Brendan.
- Harte, Patrick D.
- Hegarty, Paddy.
- Hussey, Gemma.
- Kavanagh, Liam.
- Keating, Michael.
- Kelly, John.
- Kenny, Enda.
- L'Estrange, Gerry.
- McCartin, Joe.
- McGahon, Brendan
- McGinley, Dinny.
- McLoughlin, Frank.
- Manning, Maurice.
- Mitchell, Gay.
- Mitchell, Jim.
- Molony, David.
- Moynihan, Michael.
- Naughten, Liam.
- Nealon, Ted.
- Noonan, Michael. (Limerick East).
- O'Brien, Fergus.
- O'Brien, Willie.
- O'Donnell, Tom.
- O'Keeffe, Jim.
- O'Leary, Michael.
- O'Sullivan, Toddy.
- O'Toole, Paddy.
- Owen, Nora.
- Pattison, Séamus
- Prendergast, Frank.
- Quinn, Ruairí.
- Ryan, John.
- Shatter, Alan.
- Sheehan, Patrick Joseph.
- Skelly, Liam.
- Spring, Dick
- Taylor, Mervyn.
- Taylor-Quinn, Madeline.
- Timmins, Godfrey.
- Treacy, Seán.
- Yates, Ivan.
Níl
- Ahern, Bertie.
- Ahern, Michael.
- Andrews, David.
- Andrews, Niall.
- Aylward, Liam.
- Barrett, Michael.
- Barrett, Sylvester.
- Brady, Gerard.
- Brady, Vincent.
- Brennan, Mattie.
- Brennan, Paudge.
- Brennan, Séamus.
- Fahey, Francis.
- Fahey, Jackie.
- Faulkner, Pádraig.
- Fitzgerald, Gene.
- Fitzgerald, Liam Joseph.
- Fitzsimons, Jim.
- Flynn, Pádraig.
- Foley, Denis.
- Gallagher, Denis.
- Gallagher, Pat Cope.
- Geoghegan-Quinn, Máire.
- Gregory-Independent, Tony.
- Harney, Mary.
- Haughey, Charles J.
- Hilliard, Colm.
- Kirk, Séamus.
- Kitt, Michael.
- Lemass, Eileen.
- Lenihan, Brian.
- Leonard, Jimmy.
- Leonard, Tom.
- Leyden, Terry.
- Lyons, Denis.
- McCarthy, Seán.
- McCreevy, Charlie.
- McEllistrim, Tom.
- Briscoe, Ben.
- Browne, John.
- Burke, Raphael P.
- Byrne, Hugh.
- Byrne, Seán.
- Calleary, Séan.
- Collins, Gerard.
- Conaghan, Hugh.
- Coughlan, Cathal Seán.
- Daly, Brendan.
- De Rossa, Proinsias.
- Doherty, Seán.
- Mac Giolla, Tomás.
- MacSharry, Ray.
- Molloy, Robert.
- Morley, P.J.
- Moynihan, Donal.
- Nolan, M.J.
- Noonan, Michael J. (Limerick West).
- O'Dea, William.
- O'Hanlon, Rory.
- O'Keeffe, Edmond.
- O'Kennedy, Michael.
- O'Leary, John.
- O'Malley, Desmond J.
- Ormonde, Donal.
- O'Rourke, Mary.
- Power, Paddy.
- Reynolds, Albert.
- Treacy, Noel.
- Tunney, Jim.
- Wallace, Dan.
- Walsh, Joe.
- Walsh, Seán.
- Wilson, John P.
- Woods, Michael.
- Wyse, Pearse.
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Barrett (Dún Laoghaire) and Taylor; Níl, Deputies B. Ahern and V. Brady.
Question declared carried.
Financial resolution agreed to.