Financial Resolutions, 1993. - Financial Statement, Budget, 1993. – Dáil Éireann (27th Dáil) – Wednesday, 24 Feb 1993

An Ceann Comhairle

Before calling on the Minister for Finance to make his Budget Statement may I remind Members of the House that none of the confidential information which will be circulated in advance by the Minister to certain Members may be disclosed to anyone until the Minister has revealed it to the House. Premature disclosure of the information is considered to be a serious breach of privilege and Members should not take from the House any part of the Budget Statement before that part has been read out in the House.

I now call on the Minister for Finance, Deputy Ahern, to make his Budget Statement.

Minister for Finance (Mr. B. Ahern)

In last year's Budget Statement, I drew attention to the great challenges facing our society: the need for jobs and the need to step up our economic performance in a sustainable way. My main concern at that time was the uncertain prospect for the world economy and how this might affect us.

Unhappily, my fears of international recession proved well-founded. Since then, we have also suffered a severe buffeting from the currency turbulence in the ERM, pushing up our interest rates. Although conditions are, I hope, stabilising in the currency and money markets and German interest rates have finally begun to fall, the situation remains difficult. With only slow growth expected in most European economies this year and real domestic interest rates still at high levels, 1993 poses its own particular challenges. Yet, our creditable economic achievements over recent years give grounds for cautious optimism about the future.

This budget is framed on the principle that the overriding national priority is jobs. We have got to do whatever is required to raise the pace of sustainable employment growth, short term and long term. We have got to face hard choices. We have got to have policies that promote and underpin genuine, enduring economic progress — no populist ‘quick fixes'. Those of us who have jobs must put the need to create jobs above our personal interests.

The Government is determined to take action to bring about more employment. That is clearly stated in our Programme for a Partnership Government. The programme also affirms our commitment to achieving a fair and just society. Job creation is central to that: there is no greater inequity than joblessness. Achieving our goals will require a broad national effort, wider than Government. We, therefore, want to continue and extend the social partnership and consensus approach that has served us well over recent years in the Programme for National Recovery and the Programme for Economic and Social Progress.

Fundamental to the success of the programme is sustained economic progress. Sound budgetary and financial policies are essential, as is reduction in the burden of debt. That debt is an obstacle to social progress, soaking up resources badly needed elsewhere. Our strategy has to put priority on firm control of our public finances so that the debt-to-GNP ratio comes down.

The budgetary criteria laid down in the Maastricht Treaty represent sensible parameters from a domestic viewpoint also. We can only implement measures which can be afforded from the resources available to us. We will be able to implement many of those objectives this year, particularly the priority job-related measures, while ensuring that the less well-off in our society are protected.

Everyone is aware of the particular difficulties facing us this year: the adverse effects on revenue of the measures necessary to implement the Single Market; the full year carry-over costs of public service pay increases deferred from previous years; the weak international economy with its effects on employment and tax revenues and the direct and indirect costs of unemployment.

In framing this budget and recognising the particular constraints, the Government gave the highest priority to maintaining existing employment and creating new jobs. I will, therefore, be outlining measures which, by improving the longer-term growth potential of the economy and by promoting local enterprise and wealth creation will generate and sustain employment.

There was a careful balance to be struck in this budget. We could not jeopardise the fiscal discipline so vital to investment and long term growth. We had, nontheless, to try to maintain the underlying momentum of the economy and employment in the near term. At the same time, there was a need to continue with tax reform and to improve our tax and welfare systems from an equity viewpoint. Getting that balance right was never going to be easy but I believe that the measures I am announcing today add up to a balanced, measured, but above all, fair response.

Review of 1992 Budget Outturn

As I pointed out in the context of the end-1992 Exchequer returns, while non-capital supply service expenditure was £240 million greater than the budget estimate, about £70 million of the excess derived from the bringing forward to 1992 of arrears of special pay increases in the public sector. The current budget deficit was £110 million ahead of the budget estimate, equivalent to 1.8 per cent of GNP.

Exchequer capital borrowing was £13 million above target, giving an overall excess of £123 million and an Exchequer Borrowing of £713 million, equivalent to 2.8 per cent of GNP. The general Government deficit as defined for Maastricht purposes is estimated to have been about 2.5 per cent of GDP, while the debt-GDP ratio declined again last year. Accordingly, underlying budgetary discipline was maintained despite the difficult circumstances and we more than met the budgetary convergence criteria envisaged under Maastricht.

The Economy in 1992

Recent indicators confirm that weakness in the international economy persisted through 1992. OECD growth is estimated at 1.5 per cent, while growth in the EC economy slowed to about 1 per cent. We should all be reassured by the resilience of our economy as shown by the outturn for 1992. Although slackening late in the year, GDP growth was about 3 per cent, the highest in the EC. Overall employment for the year has held up well relative to general international performance, while of course falling short of our exceptional employment needs.

Despite the unfavourable external environment and the undoubted difficulties in the final quarter of the year as a result of the currency turbulence, the results for the year as a whole were quite encouraging. Manufacturing growth and agricultural exports showed strong gains, with a substantial increase in the trade surplus. Retail sales showed an increase of over 3 per cent, while inflation was at an annual rate of 3 per cent for 1992. The latest labour force survey indicated that overall employment was maintained between April 1991 and April 1992. Unemployment has been growing, but this reflects demographic changes, not a loss of jobs. All this was achieved despite exchange rate development which contributed to an erosion of competitiveness and inhibited investment. Our economic performance, overall, in 1992 was one of the best in Europe. It certainly did not mirror recessionary conditions elsewhere. The strong features of the Irish economy reflected in these statistics will help us to weather the difficulties now facing us.

Economic objectives and strategy

Our biggest challenge is to increase the number of sustainable jobs in the economy and to tackle the rising trend in unemployment. With a projected natural annual increase of about 25,000 in our labour force over the next few years, that is a hugely difficult task.

We should bear in mind the achievements made under the Programme for National Recovery and the Programme for Economic and Social Progress: Budgetary deficits are substantially down; the growth of the national debt as a percentage of GNP has been curbed; jobs have been created which allowed for some overall growth in employment; take-home pay has improved in real terms as a result of the substantial income tax reforms undertaken. Farm incomes increased in 1992 by 18.5 per cent, reflecting partly the headage payments made last year which are normally payable in 1993. More might have been achieved had there been, as was expected when these programmes were negotiated, continuing reasonable growth in the major economies.

More than the usual uncertainty surrounds economic prospects for 1993. Apart from the international downturn, we have undergone a currency and interest rate "shock". This will inevitably have repercussions on growth and employment for some months at least.

Our exchange rate policy will continue to focus on maintaining the existing bilateral exchange rates within the narrow band of the Exchange Rate Mechanism. This offers the best prospect for long term economic growth within a stable low inflation environment. Interest rates remain exceptionally high because of continuing tensions within the EMS. However, over the coming months I expect these tensions will ease and that interest rates will fall gradually to more acceptable levels. This budget is based on this expectation, unlike normal years when rates current at budget time are adopted as a basis for calculation. Interest rate developments over the year will impact on the economy generally and, therefore, on the budgetary aggregates, in particular on the estimate for debt service costs.

For 1993, I would expect to see GDP growth of about 2.5 per cent. This would be a creditable performance in difficult circumstances and would be well above the projected average for the EC or the OECD generally. Inflation should remain moderate by international standards. However, every effort must be made to confine cost increases to the absolute minimum if competitiveness and employment are to be sustained. The balance of payments will remain in substantial surplus likely to be of the same order as in 1992. Details are set out in the economic background to the budget being published today.

Public Finances

Despite our commitment to the Maastricht budgetary criteria and our exemplary budgetary performance of recent years — which was among the best in the Community — our currency was subjected to unremitting speculative attack in recent months. The external and other pressures that arose as a result of our commitment to the Exchange Rate Mechanism have made strict adherence to the budgetary criteria in 1993 even more difficult than normal. For different reasons, this situation is mirrored in practically every other country in the Community. In our case, the increase of over £800 million in the national debt, equivalent to about 3 per cent of GNP, resulting from the devaluation makes a temporary halt in the process of downward adjustment of the debt ratio to GNP unavoidable in 1993.

We need to maintain confidence in the management of our public finances even in the most difficult of external circumstances. Confidence in our economy and, crucially, in our currency depends on our ability to live within the prudent budgetary parameters which I will outline later.

While I am committed to maintaining downward pressure on public expenditure, it is clear that the difficulties facing us cannot be fully met by a combination of reduced expenditure and increased taxation this year. Public expenditure will be kept under firm control, and some increase in taxation is inevitable. However, there has to be some increase in borrowing. An overstringent approach would have damaging effects on investment and employment. On the other hand, an excessive borrowing requirement would be even more damaging. My strategy therefore is a balanced one of adopting a GGD/GDP ratio which will be as close to the Maastricht deficit guideline as is prudently possible in present circumstances, while not endangering the general economy or the significant headway made with the public finances in recent years. Our budget deficit will be well in line with, if not better than, most of the other member states of the EC. After the adjustments I will announce later, my target for the GGD/GDP ratio in 1993 will therefore be 3.4 per cent, the corresponding EBR being £760 million, or 2.9 per cent of GNP.

It has to be accepted that, even allowing for extra borrowing, the lack of buoyancy in the international economy and the consequent pressure on our social services are such that it will not be possible to fulfil all our aspirations. The better off in our society will have to make some sacrifices to help the unemployed and less well-off.

The medium-term budgetary outlook will entail a continuing adjustment process involving a closer adherence to the Maastricht budgetary criteria, as some of the current pressures on the Government's finances ease and as steps are taken by the Government to achieve the necessary adjustment.

Employment Related Measures

In the conditions I have outlined, it is even more necessary than usual to point public expenditure towards those sectors and activities where it will most influence growth and employment prospects. I am now going to deal with some of the employment-related measures in this year's budget.

Jobs Funds

In our programme for a Partnership Government we said that a jobs fund is needed now to promote recovery and job creation, and that an initial £250 million will be provided in 1993. I anticipate that Cohesion Fund aid will enable us to undertake projects costing £148 million in 1993. I am also providing today £25 million for the county enterprise partnership boards. The summary public capital programme, published before the budget, provided for an increase of £88 million on the 1992 outturn for Exchequer capital spending, of which £20 million will increase the number of local authority house starts in 1993 to 3,500. These three items amount to a total of the order of £260 million. We are more than meeting our objective in this regard.

Employment Policy

To maximise the employment potential of the economy, a number of aspects of employment policy will be pursued. These include: the new standards-based apprenticeship scheme; a review of training programmes in order to put a more effective national training scheme in place; the roles of the Department of Education and of Enterprise and Employment are being examined with a view to better defining their respective roles in the areas of vocational education and training, to enable a more structured approach, with appropriate certification, to be applied; programmes are being prepared for the substantial expansion of vocational training and employment schemes in preparation for the next phase of the EC Structural Funds.

County Enterprise Partnership Boards

There is a potential for enterprise, wealth and employment creation that exists at local level throughout Ireland but which cannot always be harnessed to the fullest extent under existing structures. In recognition of this, the Government is pressing ahead with the establishment throughout the country of the county enterprise partnership boards for which, as already indicated, I am providing £25 million. These boards will have a mandate to support local initiative and development through assisting the start-up of small enterprises. These will provide the seed-bed for more growth and employment generation. The boards will have responsibility for the promotion of tourism locally.

The boards will take over responsibility for promoting and assisting integrated local development plans in consultation with community organisations, the social partners and the public sector at local level. The new structure will focus on enterprise creation and development leading to increased employment. The boards will also initiate activity under a nationwide series of community development programmes. Under the programmes, the long term unemployed will be able to take up opportunities on quality projects which take account of each area's real strengths and potential. The county enterprise partnership boards will ensure that a careful assessment is made of all forms of appropriate action. This comprehensive but decentralised approach will have great advantage over programmes which were previously designed and implemented at national level.

In addition to State funds, the Government has made, and is making, arrangements for contributions from the financial institutions to the county enterprise partnership boards. I am satisfied that on the basis of commitments to date and of discussions to be completed, a total of more than £100 million will be made available by the financial institutions. Further, the institutions are committing staff resources to the enterprise initiative and have set up a liaison system with the existing and emerging area and county partnerships.

Responsibility for the new county enterprise partnership boards has been assigned to the Minister for Enterprise and Employment to ensure that a high degree of effective co-ordination is achieved with the new agency for the promotion of indigenous industry and with FÁS.

Industrial Policy Review Group

The Government will be following up vigorously the recommendations of the report of the Industrial Policy Review Group, and the task force reports on its implementation. Our aim is to improve the way the State contributes in industrial and other policy areas to the encouragement of employment and investment. We will seek to strengthen Ireland's industrial, scientific and exporting base and will ensure that the needs of indigenous industry in particular are catered for.

Structural Funds

This is the last year of the existing community support framework which runs from 1989 to 1993. By the end of this year, a total of over £3 billion in EC aid will have been spent in supporting national development measures. By its nature, the full economic benefits of this investment will accrue in the longer term. However, it has already helped to sustain economic growth and increase employment and has led to a substantial improvement in the infrastructure of the State.

Edinburgh Conclusions

Following lengthy negotiations, the European Council meeting at Edinburgh agreed a financial perspective for the EC budget to cover the period to 1999. This financial perspective includes provision for the new Cohesion Fund and for a substantial increase in Structural Fund resources for the less favoured regions of the Community, including Ireland. The provision for the Structural Funds and Cohesion Fund will allow total commitments of over £8 billion to Ireland over the years 1993 to 1999. This is a very satisfactory result for Ireland and represents a major achievement by the Government in very difficult negotiations.

Cohesion Fund 1993

The Treaty on European Union provides for the establishment of a Cohesion Fund in 1993, to which I referred earlier. Further decisions on the fund, including its total amount, were taken at the Edinburgh Summit. The fund is intended to provide aid for projects in the areas of environment associated with EC environmental objectives and trans-European transport infrastructure. While the allocation of the fund between the four Cohesion member-states including Ireland has not yet been settled, I anticipate that a commitment of aid equivalent to £126 million will be available to Ireland in respect of projects costing a total of £148 million in 1993.

Pending final decisions on national shares and other matters, I propose to allocate the expected aid between various capital investments in the environment and transport areas. These allocations of aid may be subject to subsequent adjustment. The total cost of the projects involved will be about £58 million for environmental purposes including sanitary, water supply, waste disposal services and some measures related to the energy industry; and about £90 million for transport infrastructure including roads, rail, commercial ports, and airports. Further details are contained in the "Principal Features of the Budget".

The necessary adjustments are being included in the public capital programme. As the bulk of the total expenditure on these projects will be additional to existing provisions, there will be a substantial boost this year to economic activity and employment in the area involved. In combination with the large increase in public capital spending which I will outline later, the increased investment announced under this heading will represent a very significant stepping-up of infrastructural investment in 1993.

National Development Plan

A national development plan which will be the basis for the next round of Structural Funds programmes commencing in 1994 is currently in preparation. The focus of this plan will be the creation of sustainable employment and improved economic growth, ensuring that Ireland derives the maximum permanent economic development possible from the substantial increases in the Structural and Cohesion Funds agreed at Edinburgh. There have been extensive consultations with the sub-regional review committees, the social partners at national level and other interested bodies. In addition, considerable work has been undertaken in the various Government Departments and agencies. This work will continue with a view to the Government submitting their plan to the EC Commission within the next few months.

Opening Budget Position

The opening current budget deficit based on the published 1993 estimates of receipts and expenditure is £545 million, after allowing for the deduction of £25 million for Departmental balances. The opening Exchequer Borrowing Requirement is £907 million.

As already mentioned, I also have to have regard this year to the opening general Government deficit as defined for Maastricht purposes. This is different from the Exchequer Borrowing Requirement in that what it measures is not actual Exchequer borrowing but the deficit incurred by the State, including such areas as local authority borrowing; on the other hand, capital transactions involving the commercial State-sponsored bodies are excluded. The opening deficit on this basis is £1,055 million.

Public expenditure comprises services which are met from the Central Fund and the ordinary day-to-day expenditures voted by the Dáil for public services.

Central Fund Services and Debt Management

The 1993 estimate for Central Fund Services is £2,903 million, an increase of 6.5 per cent over the 1992 outturn. This estimate included £2,490 million for debt service costs and £388 million for Ireland's EC budget contribution.

A sum of £50 million of debt service savings was set aside last year to fund the enterprise partnership boards. As already indicated, I have today provided £25 million for the boards through the Vote for the Department of Enterprise and Employment. The £50 million savings will serve to meet debt service payments in 1993. After allowing for the effect of this £50 million, the underlying increase in debt service costs in 1993 is £231 million or 10 per cent. This is significantly higher than in recent years and is mainly accounted for by: the increase in domestic interest rates; the effects of the devaluation of the Irish pound; and the servicing cost of the Exchequer's net addition to debt required to fund the borrowing requirements in both 1992 and 1993.

The debt service estimate takes account of £100 million debt management savings to be achieved by the National Treasury Management Agency in 1993. In the light of their record over the last two years I am confident the agency will meet this target.

Public Service Pay

A provision of £4,035 million is being made for public service pay and pensions in 1993. This represents an increase of £279 million or 7.4 per cent over the 1992 outturn. The 1992 figure in turn represents an increase of £364 million or 10.7 per cent over 1991. The scale of this expenditure and its increase continue to be matters of major concern for the Government.

The increased provision being made arises mainly from the Government's decision to honour commitments entered into in respect of deferred general and special increases. Having provided in full for these commitments to maintain the Programme for Economic and Social Progress consensus, there is absolutely no way the Government could ask taxpayers to carry any further additional pay costs for the public service in 1993. Neither can we live with a situation in which liabilities to further expenditure on this front would continue to build up for 1994, pre-empting decisions on resources next year.

I am not making any provision in this budget for more improvements in pay or conditions for public servants this year, apart from those already fully committed. I appreciate this situation has implications for the operations of industrial relations across the public service and I have already today invited the Irish Congress of Trade Unions to discussions on this issue.

True consensus requires that problems of the significance now faced by the Government should be discussed frankly with the parties concerned. In these discussions, the Government will try to find solutions which will be fair and equitable and which, I hope, will not prejudice the negotiations of a further Programme for Economic and Social Progress.

There is an air of unreality in the expectations being voiced by some public service unions. It is totally unrealistic that further claims should be pressed in a year in which the general increase being paid to public servants under the Programme for Economic and Social Progress pay agreement is subject to a ceiling of £6.50 a week, and many private sector employers are having to refuse pay increases provided for in the pay agreement. To take further demands on board would require offsetting action by the Government to prevent the budgetary strategy going off course.

Related to the question of pay increases in the public service in the issue of the public service pay determination systems. The Government is totally committed to change in this area. It is its intention, through discussions with the public service unions, to press forward in 1993 with the introduction of a new system which would be more transparent. It should operate on assessment criteria which, while being fair to staff, would be responsible to the interests of the Government and the community as taxpayers.

The Government has also given consideration in the context of public service pay to the question of the PRSI status of public servants. The Government is committed to work towards putting public servants on the same footing as other employees. It acknowledges this is a complicated issue and intends to include it on the agenda for the proposed discussions with ICTU.

Administrative Budgets

The introduction in recent years of a system of delegated administrative budgets in Government Departments and offices has provided an opportunity for more effective and innovative management within the limits of available resources. This change has yielded worthwhile improvements in the efficiency of Government Services.

Within the budgetary constraints, the systems of administrative budgets will continue to operate. My Department and, where appropriate, the efficiency audit group will, as heretofore, provide expert advice and assistance to enable Departments to improve their organisation, systems and procedures so as to secure optimum value for money and better service to the public within the parameters of the Government decision. As part of the incentive for better management of the administrative budget system, I am providing almost £7 million in respect of the carryover of savings on administrative expenditure.

Contributions towards State Security Service

In last year's budget, I announced that the Government was requesting the associated banks to make a contribution of £2 million towards the cost of security services, such as cash escorts, provided to the banks by the Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces.

I am making similar provision in today's budget for a contribution of £2 million by the banks in 1993 to offset some of these costs. The contribution will, as in 1992, be accounted for as Appropriations-in-Aid of the Defence and Garda Síochána Votes.

Non-Capital Supply Services

1993 Supply Services Expenditure

There is normally a considerable gap between the publication of the abridged Estimates Volume and the White Paper on receipts and expenditure. However, as this year's Abridged Estimates Volume was published within four days of the White Paper, the Estimates figures in both publications are consistent with one another.

I will, of course, be making adjustments to the White Paper provisions in respect of the spending initiatives which I will be announcing today. I will also be making minor adjustments to the published expenditure figures arising in the main from re-assessment of the 1992 end-year figures completed after the Estimates had gone to press. All of these adjustments are set out in the Principal Features.

I will mention some of the main features of the changes in the Government's expenditure provisions for 1993.

Social Welfare

Despite the difficult budgetary position for this year, the Government has decided to adhere as closely as possible to the commitments in the Programme for Government to support those dependent on social welfare and to make further progress in the implementation of the Commission on Social Welfare's proposals. Within the limited resources available, the Government is giving priority to the support of families with dependent children, in accordance with the provisions in relation to child income support in the Programme for Economic and Social Progress.

I am providing for increases in weekly social welfare payments broadly in line with the expected rate of inflation. I am also providing for additional increases for those on short term payments so as to bring those payments closer into line with the priority rates recommended by the Commission on Social Welfare. All long term payments are, of course, already in excess of the priority rates and the increases I am providing today will ensure that they remain so.

Weekly Welfare Payments

I am providing for a 3.5 per cent increase, with effect from late July, in all weekly personal and adult dependant allowance payments, including health allowances. In broad terms, this should maintain the purchasing power of these payments. While I am providing for a somewhat lower increase for child dependant allowances, I am making significant improvements in child benefit which I will deal with shortly. The 3.5 per cent increase will cost about £50 million this year and as much as £113 million in a full year.

Child Benefit

In recognition of the cost of rearing children and in line with the objective in the Programme for a Partnership Government and Programme for Economic and Social Progress regarding child income support, I am providing, with effect from September, for an increase of £4.20 per month in the rate of child benefit for the first, second and third child in all families. This means that the monthly rate will go up from £15.80 to £20, an increase of nearly 27 per cent. The rate for the fourth child and subsequent children is being rounded up to £23 per month. The cost of the child benefit improvements this year will be just over £16 million. The full year cost will be nearly £50 million.

Special Increases in Short Term Rates

The Government's room for manoeurve regarding the Commission on Social Welfare's recommended priority rate in respect of short term payments is severely constrained by the overall financial position and the priority being afforded this year to child benefit. In the circumstances, it is not possible to bridge the remaining gap fully this year. A further step is, however, being made and, as from late July, all those on short term payments will receive an increase of nearly 5 per cent. Also, as a special measure, I am increasing the carer's allowance from £53 per week to £59.20 per week, an increase of 11.7 per cent. This valuable increase will be of benefit to those people who, on a full-time basis, look after elderly and incapacitated people in our community.

Mr. J. O'Keeffe

Four thousand out of 60,000.

Mr. B. Ahern

PRSI rates for employers, employees and self-employed will remain at current levels in 1993-94. The PRSI ceiling will increase from £20,300 to £21,300 for employers and from £19,000 to £20,000 for employees and the self-employed.

Family Income Supplement

The family income supplement is an important scheme which supplements the incomes of those in low paid employment and in that way safeguards their incentive to take up available employment.

I am again making further improvements this year in this scheme which are designed to secure its effectiveness in maintaining the incentive to work. Details of the improvements will be announced by the Minister for Social Welfare. The cost of the FIS will be £2.5 million this year and more than £5 million in a full year.

Grants to Voluntary Bodies

In recognition of the valuable work carried out by voluntary and community groups the Government has decided to allocate an additional £1.37 million for the support of these groups in 1993. This is on top of the £3.36 million provided for in the published Estimates bringing the total for 1993 to £4.73 million. This provision includes a special allocation of £500,000 for the Respite Care Trust Fund. The fund will be used to finance occasional breaks for carers who look after disabled people in the home. I am providing also £25,000 to the national office of the Catholic Marriage Advisory Council, £25,000 to Marriage Counselling Services Ltd., and £30,000 to the Fountain Resource Group. The balance of the moneys will be used to finance various other organisations working with the elderly, the disadvantaged, the disabled, the homeless and other deserving groups. Further details of the organisations being assisted will be announced by the Minister for Social Welfare.

Year of the Elderly

This year has been designated as European Year of the Elderly. In recognition of this, I have decided to grant free colour rather than black and white TV licences to certain pensioners mainly those on limited means.

Mr. Shatter

People might not get into hospital, but they will get their television licences.

Mr. B. Ahern

The Minister for Social Welfare will announce details shortly. I will be referring to other measures affecting the elderly in the health and social housing areas.

Social Welfare Improvements

A number of important initiatives has been decided by the Government which will be of significant benefit to particular groups. These will cost more than £1.5 million this year and more than £3 million in a full year. Details of the initiatives will be provided by the Minister for Social Welfare.

Total Cost of Social Welfare Package

The total cost of the package of improvements for social welfare is £75.5 million in 1993 and about £180 million in a full year. At a time of exceptional budgetary constraint, this year's budget provision is a significant addition to the 1993 Estimates allocation for social welfare benefits and allowances. It means that the total spending on social welfare in 1993 will be approximately £3.7 billion. This is a substantial sum and it shows the high priority which the Government continues to attach to the less well-off in our society.

In accordance with our objective of improving the public health services. I have provided £20 million in this budget for the reduction of hospital waiting lists. The priority areas are orthopaedics, especially hip replacements, eye defects, particularly cataracts, ear, nose and throat, heart by-pass, varicose veins and plastic surgery. The aim is to reduce substantially all hospital waiting lists.

In the health community care area, I am continuing the process of implementing the social aspects of the Programme for Economic and Social Progress, begun two years ago. I am providing an additional £8 million for services mainly for people with a mental handicap. This will provide additional residential and day care places, emergency and respite care, support for up to 1,000 extra people caring at home for sons and daughters with mental handicap, as well as developing education and training facilities. It will also enable residential facilities to be provided so that more people with mental handicap will be housed in local communities. These initiatives will help to meet the growing needs of people with mental handicap and those caring for them.

Further, an additional sum of £4 million has been provided in the Estimates for the elderly in respect of subsidising the cost of private nursing home care for those who need nursing but who cannot afford to meet the full cost themselves. A provision of an extra £2 million has also been made in the Estimates for the development of the public dental services.

Education

I am providing an additional £3.3 million for improvements in the Education area. This will provide particularly for measures to relieve disadvantage, allow for the establishment of a fund for guidance and counselling at second-level and, together with co-financing from the EC and the European Social Fund in particular will allow for an increase of 900 places in the vocational training opportunities scheme from September next.

Agriculture

Last year, I provided £1 million to Teagasc towards an advisory service in connection with the small farm development programme. I am providing an additional £1 million for this purpose in 1993. I am also providing £400,000 for a pig evaluation programme, £250,000 for research in the food area and I am restoring the grant to farm and rural development organisations. I am conscious that the recent bad weather has caused considerable problems for the seed potato growers particularly in the Donegal area and I am providing £1 million to assist the affected growers to survive the disaster. The Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry will be making an announcement on the matter shortly.

CAP Reform Schemes

The reform of the common agricultural policy involves considerable administrative work in connection with the implementation of schemes introduced as a result of the reform. I am providing approximately £4 million for additional staff and consequential costs in the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry for the above mentioned schemes and also for additional controls required for intervention, export refunds and milk quotas. Allowing for savings, I expect the net cost of this agriculture package to be about £3 million. I will be referring to further measures affecting the agriculture sector when I come to taxation.

An Ghaeltacht

Tá milliún punt go leith á chur ar fáil agam don Roinn Ealaíon, Cultúir agus na Gaeltachta ionas go bhféadfar tosnú ar réiteach suíomh, ar an n-áirítear diúscairt carraigeacha agus obair thógala, in ndáil le feabshú na saoráidí calaíochta ar Inis Meáin agus Inis Oírr, Contae na Gaillimhe.

RTE

The House will be aware that it is intended to introduce legislation to repeal section 3 of the Broadcasting Act, 1990 which put in place certain restrictions, known as the "cap", on RTE's advertising revenue. The Government has considered how RTE's accumulated income in excess of the cap, approximately £17.5 million, should be disposed of. Faoi mar a ghealladh i gClár an Rialtais, tá ceithre mhilliún punt go leith a sholáthar ionas go bhfeadfar tús a chur le bunú Telefís na Gaeilge. The Government has decided that the balance of £13 million should be paid into the Exchequer.

Social Housing

Housing is a basic need. I have therefore provided increased resources for social housing in the 1993 Estimates and the Public Capital Programme. These extra resources should ensure that the total output of social housing units will increase significantly. In 1992, 6,000 households were provided with social housing and this will increase to almost 7,000 in 1993 and 9,000 in 1994 — an increase of 50 per cent over a two-year period. In relation to the remedial works programme, provision has already been made for expenditure of £16 million, and I am providing a further £1 million for the renovation of flats, mainly for the elderly in the Dublin inner city area. This demonstrates clearly this Government's determination to make housing available to those who cannot afford to provide it from their own resources.

Official Development Assistance

The objective set out in the Programme for a Partnership Government of providing Official Development Assistance of 0.2 per cent of GNP was met by the provision in the 1993 Estimates published last week. This represents a very considerable improvement on the 1992 figure of about 0.16 per cent of GNP and will give a substantial boost to the scale and impact of our assistance to the Third World.

Co-operation Agreement with European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

I am making £80,000 available to enable Ireland to participate in the funding of technical assistance to Central and Eastern European and former Soviet Union countries under the arrangements currently operated by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Irish consultancy firms may as a result be facilitated to avail of the opportunities for consultancy assignments in these countries.

Public Capital Programme

The summary Public Capital Programme published last week provided for expenditure of £2,216 million. This represented an increase of more than £370 million or 20 per cent on the 1992 outturn and allowed for Exchequer-financed spending to rise by £88 million or 11 per cent, and non-Exchequer financed spending by £285 million or 28 per cent. All available EC funds under the Community Support Framework will be fully drawn down by the end of this year in line with the present Structural Funds programme.

As already outlined, I am also providing an additional £148 million in respect of projects aided under the Cohesion Fund. Part of this expenditure is non-Exchequer, and the net cost to the Exchequer, taking account of Cohesion Fund receipts expected this year, will be of the order of £27 million. Including the Cohesion Fund addition, and miscellaneous other provisions to the Public Capital Programme, the year-on-year increase in capital spending will total almost £500 million, or 27 per cent.

Expenditure affecting the construction industry in the Public Capital Programme is estimated at £1,367 million or about 22 per cent more than last year. This increase is expected to contribute more than 6 per cent to construction industry output in 1993 and should generate up to 3,500 direct and indirect jobs in the construction industry. Indeed, it is estimated that the building and construction component of the programme already directly supports more than 29,000 jobs, with many more jobs indirectly supported by this expenditure.

The combination of the Public Capital Programme, the Cohesion Fund expenditure and the additional expenditure for the enterprise partnership boards is by any standards a very substantial investment stimulus to the economy and a considerable boost to employment.

Non Programme Outlays

The provision in the White Paper on Receipts and Expenditure for non-programme outlays is £67 million. This provision allows the Government to meet financial restructuring costs, such as increased State equity in State-sponsored bodies, together with miscellaneous capital payments.

Aer Lingus

The Programme for Government contains a commitment that the Government will ensure a commercial future for the national airline. Like virtually every airline in the world, Aer Lingus is experiencing difficult trading conditions but it is a large and diverse group with a wide spread of interests and very substantial assets. While not minimising the group's present problems, one should not exaggerate them.

The board of Aer Lingus has put forward its recovery proposals and these are being considered by the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications. Subject to the constraints on the national finances, which rule out very large injections of equity in the group by the Exchequer, the Government will be prepared to support a viable and convincing recovery plan.

Mrs. Owen

So much for 14,000 first preferences in Dublin North.

Asset Sales

Mr. B. Ahern

Receipts of £150 million in respect of asset disposals are included in the budgetary arithmetic. In carrying through these sales, the Government will be guided by the principles set out in the Programme for a Partnership Government.

TAXATION

I come now to the subject of taxation.

Review of Tax Policy

The Government is committed, through the Programme for a Partnership Government, to continuing the process of tax reform. Our guiding principle in that regard will be to shape the tax system so that it best supports our employment objectives. We have defined a number of priorities with this, and the broad equity of the system, in mind. Taxation reform, however, must be consistent with overall bugetary requirements. It is possible, though many would prefer not to see it this way, to have reform without overall relief.

The past few years have, of course, seen wide-ranging reforms, aided by the revenue buoyancy associated with growth. Significant base-broadening and rationalisation measures were implemented across the tax code. Tax collection and enforcement were considerably improved. These factors, with a significantly increased contribution from the corporate sector, helped make possible notable improvements in personal income tax, particularly lower marginal rates on a broad front. At the same time, we made substantial progress in restructuring VAT and excise duties in preparation for the Single Market, indeed to the extent that this event passed almost without notice last month. Those reforms were pursued on a basis fully consistent with sound budgetary policy; indeed, they went hand-in-hand with a considerable improvement in the Exchequer finances and the debt to GNP ratio.

Though the budgetary circumstances of 1993 require the raising of additional revenue, we have been concerned to raise these extra revenues in the fairest possible way. A key concern was that the position of the low-paid should, if possible, be improved. In striking a balance between the various tax-headings, we were conscious that a tax system supportive of employment is one which seeks to minimise its impact on incentives to work, effort, enterprise and productive investment. For that reason, we have decided to rely on taxes on spending and assets for the greater part of the needed revenues. We have also made a provision for a number of measures which should encourage business investment, in parallel with the emphasis on this aspect of public spending.

Personal Income Tax

Significant progress was achieved in income tax reform during the period of the Programme for National Recovery and the Programme for Economic and Social Progress. Over that period, rates were reduced substantially on a broad front, the standard rate being cut from 35 per cent to 27 per cent and the higher rates consolidated into a single 48 per cent top rate. Substantial improvement was also made in the exemption limits and the standard band was widened. An integral part of that strategy was a broadening of the tax base generally so as to make the system more equitable and more consistent with the economy's needs and, of course, to provide funding for the tax improvements.

The new Government programme defines our priority objectives. I must emphasise, however, that this is a five-year programme; the objectives set must be seen both in that context and in relation to the programme's overriding commitment to budgetary discipline. In this year's circumstances there is no choice but to seek a revenue contribution from the income tax area. However, I have sought to keep it to a minimum, and to find room for some desirable improvements.

Income Levy

Despite the budgetary constraints facing them, the Government has decided not to increase income tax rates which would involve reversing some of the major progress made in the income tax area in the last few years. However, it has decided to introduce a temporary income levy as a means of seeking an equitable contribution from all income earners in a position to bear such a burden. The levy will apply to all income on a similar basis to the existing health and employment levies and not just to employment income. The new levy will be at a rate of 1 per cent but with an income exemption in order to protect the lower paid. In the case of the self-employed, exemption will apply where income for the year is not greater than £9,000. In the case of employees, the levy will not be payable in any week where income is not greater than £173. In setting the income threshold at this level rather than at the general income tax exemption limits, the potential full-year yield from the levy is diminished by some £20 million. However, by doing so, I have ensured that a further 217,000 taxpayers will not be affected by the levy — over and above the 290,000 who are exempted from income tax. The resulting shortfall must be found elsewhere. I believe that the higher exemption threshold is fully justified from the view point of work-incentives and general equity.

In addition all medical card-holders, including those whose income is above £9,000 per annum, will be exempt from the levy. Welfare payments will also be exempt from the new levy and such payments will not be taken into account in determining whether an individual qualifies for an income exemption from the levy. Unlike the existing levies which applied in the early eighties, employers will not be required to bear the cost of the new income levy in respect of employees holding medical cards. This will ensure that the new levy does not impose additional costs on employers. The levy should yield £78 million in 1993 and £130 million in a full year.

The introduction of the new levy has to be seen against the background of the income increases and tax improvements of recent years, which have produced a significant increase in real take-home pay and incomes generally. I would again emphasise that the new levy is temporary and the Government is satisfied that all taxpayers, having benefited in recent years, would be prepared to make a small sacrifice now to help the maintenance both of a sound budgetary policy as an essential element in employment strategy and of adequate social services and programmes. The cost of the changes in the social welfare area alone this year amounts to about £75 million.

Allowances and other aspects

The income tax priorities set out in the Programme for Government are to remove the low-paid, especially families, from the tax net and to broaden the standard band. In line with these priorities, I am proposing the following measures today:

—the personal allowance is being increased by £150 for a married couple and £75 for a single person, with comparable increases in the widowed, single parent and widowed parent allowances;

—the standard rate tax band is being extended from £14,950 to £15,350 for a married couple and £7,475 to £7,675 for a single person;

—the general exemption limits are being increased from £7,000 to £7,200 for a married couple and from £3,500 to £3,600 for a single person. The exemption limits for elderly taxpayers are being increased by a similar amount. The child addition is being increased by £50 per child for all children. This means that, in future, the child addition will be £350 per child for the first and second child and £550 per child for the third child and subsequent children.

It is estimated that these changes will remove 13,500 taxpayers from the tax net and will cost an estimated £37.6 million in 1993. I am also renewing the PRSI allowance for a further year, at a 1993 cost of £36 million.

Unavoidably, the new income levy will offset the benefits of these changes for middle and higher income taxpayers but the net outcome will be positive for taxpayers earning up to £9,000 per annum; in the case of those with larger families, there will be a net benefit up to higher income levels.

Details of the mainstream income tax changes, showing their effect on different income categories, are contained in the Principal Features of the Budget. As usual, the Revenue Commissioners will be sending an information leaflet about the exemption limit changes to low paid taxpayers over the coming weeks; the leaflet will also contain details of the improvements in the family income supplement scheme operated by the Department of Social Welfare.

Mortgage Interest Relief

The Programme for Government states that mortgage interest relief will be maintained and that the Government will consider measures in the 1993 Budget to relieve the position faced by mortgage holders while the present high interest rates last.

Mortgage interest relief is one of the most expensive tax reliefs and its cost to the Exchequer increases as mortgage rates increase. The full-year cost to the Exchequer of a 3 per cent rise in mortgage rates, which is broadly what has happened since last September, is about £40 million. The counterpart of the increased cost of the relief is that those with interest below the current ceilings are entitled, as matters stand, to the available relief on the increase in their outgoings. By approaching the Revenue Commissioners, they can ensure that this higher relief is reflected in their 1993-94 tax free allowance certificates and also get relief in respect of 1992-93.

At the same time, the Government recognises that people with larger borrowings, many of whom are heavily burdened, have got no such respite. Accordingly, it has been decided to increase the interest ceilings from £2,000 (single) and £4,000 (married) to £2,500 and £5,000, respectively. The new ceiling for widowed people will be £3,600 compared with £2,900 at present.

We have also decided on a further measure directed at first-time purchasers with effect from the 1993-94 tax year. The percentage allowable of such persons for the first three tax years in which they claim mortgage interest relief will be increased to 100 per cent, subject, of course, to the new ceilings, after which they will revert to the normal percentage rate. In the case of people who start to claim mortgage interest relief on or after 6 April next, the 100 per cent rate will apply for the next three tax years. People who started to claim mortgage interest relief in the tax year 1991-92 or later will also benefit as follows:

(1) people whose first claim was in 1992-93 will get the extra relief in 1993-94 and the following tax year;

(2) people whose first claim was in the 1991-92 tax year will get the extra relief in the 1993-94 tax year.

The Government has decided that, because of the very high level of mortgage rates in recent months, some more general but temporary measure is also warranted. Thus, for the coming tax year, the percentage of interest qualifying for relief will be increased exceptionally from 80 per cent to 90 per cent. This will benefit those below the current ceilings as well as those assisted by the general increase in the ceilings; on that account, it adds substantially to the overall cost.

The Exchequer could not support the full cost of this package, and it would be unreasonable to ask the general body of taxpayers, many of whom are not so fortunate as to own their own homes, to carry it. Accordingly, it has been decided that a part should be met by a limited curtailment of the relief, affecting mainly those home-owners who, while benefiting from the new provisions, are not greatly burdened by higher mortgage rates. To this end it has been decided to introduce a de minimis exclusion for mortgage interest relief of £100 for single and widowed persons and £200 for married couples. The effect of this measure will be to disallow for the purpose of relief the first £100/£200 of interest currently allowable. The cost of this measure for a married couple with an income under £20,000 or so would be confined to £54 per annum, at most.

In fact, any married couple with more than £15,000 outstanding on their mortgage will gain overall from the new arrangements. Obviously the greater the mortgage burden the more will be the benefit, subject of course to the new ceiling. The estimated net cost of the combined measures is about £17.5 million in 1993, and £29 million in a full year. I am asking the Revenue Commissioners to publicise the arrangements for these changes as soon as possible, including the availability of additional relief which may arise for 1992-93 in certain cases.

Business Expansion Scheme

The business expansion scheme, which was restructured in the 1991 Finance Act with a view to focusing the support it gives to equity investments on smaller, riskier companies in sectors with the capacity to generate sustainable output and jobs, remains in effect until 5 April 1993.

The Programme for a Partnership Government stated that, to encourage productive investment resulting in job creation, the business expansion scheme would be extended. In fulfilment of that commitment and in view of the employment potential of the scheme, I propose to renew the BES for a further three years, that is up to 5 April 1996. I believe that this renewal is justified on the basis of maintaining the scheme's current focus on economic sectors and firms that are both high-risk and offer a prospect of extra sustainable output and jobs. From the standpoint of ensuring that essential focus, I propose to maintain the company limit at its current level of £500,000.

I am also abolishing the £75,000 lifetime cap for individual investors in respect of subscriptions made on or after today though I would point out that the lifetime cap is not being removed in respect of subscriptions made prior to today. This will mean that BES projects can immediately begin to raise money from investors who were previously excluded by the cap. The cost of extending the BES is estimated at £5 million in 1993 and £13.5 million in a full year. The extension of the BES and removal of the lifetime cap will provide a significant boost to business.

Special Investment Accounts

The BES scheme is designed to encourage direct personal investment in smaller companies. To provide a further incentive aimed at generating employment, the Government introduced special investment accounts from 1 February. These accounts are designed to encourage collective investment in Irish companies and direct personal investment in publicly quoted companies and they can be offered by life assurance companies, unit trusts and stockbrokers. They are taxed at a special low tax rate of 10 per cent which applies to all income and capital gains. To ensure that the investments are in line with the needs of the economy, these accounts are required to have a minimum percentage of their total investments in Irish equities. This minimum is 40 per cent in year one rising to 55 per cent over four years. There is a further provision requiring that 6 per cent of the investment is made in smaller Irish companies in the first year, rising to 15 per cent over four years. In addition, there is an extra tax incentive for investments in ‘venture capital' companies whereby both the income and capital gains on such investments will be ignored for tax purposes.

Pension Fund Investment

The largest group of investors in Ireland are pension funds. The total value of Irish pension funds is now over £9,000 million and their total annual cash flow and investment income is of the order of £750 million. Occupational pension schemes obtain very favourable treatment in the taxation system. While it has been suggested that these concessions warrant some form of taxation of the pension funds' income, I am not proposing to alter the present situation in that regard.

The Government considers that Irish pension funds have a national responsibility to take the needs of the Irish economy, particularly the need for more jobs, into account when making their investment decisions, and that they should make a greater contribution to the development of employment. These funds should, therefore, invest as much as possible of their assets in Ireland and should reverse the trend of recent years which have seen the Irish share of their total assets dropping from 79 per cent at the end of 1988 to 68 per cent at the end of 1991. Given that employer contributions account for the bulk of the annual cash flows of the funds, there should be an obvious self-interest on the part of the pension funds to help Irish business. This will be to the long term mutual advantage of both Irish companies and employees. In order to assist this process of increased Irish investment, I propose to enter into immediate discussions with the representatives of Irish pension funds. The aim will be to set up a suitable mechanism for getting the pension funds to invest more in Irish job-creation projects, particularly in the manufacturing sector. It is my intention that this new initiative will come into operation within the next few months and thereby give an early boost to job-creation in the areas selected.

Small Business Start-up and Development

I am very conscious of the vital role played by small firms, especially those in the exposed sectors, in our economy and in the provision of self-sustaining employment. If we are to make headway on employment, we need more people of enterprise. One of the crucial elements in getting such business on their feet is ‘seed capital'. Understandably, getting capital for business start-ups in high risk sectors is not easy, although the State agencies play an important role in that context. In renewing the business expansion scheme, now focused firmly on the high-risk sectors, and opening it up to a wider pool of investors, my aim has been to improve the flow of equity capital to such business. As I have indicated, I have also included in the special investment account arrangements and inducement, to the savings institutions to take more interest in this area.

I am aware, however, that the crucial factor in many business start-ups is the owner's own capital injection. This is an area at which I will be looking in the Finance Bill together with the question of incentives for employee investment. It will be understood that, given the capacity for many well-intentioned tax incentives to be transformed into ‘tax shelters', resulting in a loss of revenue for little real economic benefit, any action in this area needs very careful consideration.

Disability Benefit

The 1992 Finance Act included a provision to enable specified social welfare benefits to be made reckonable for tax purposes. To bring this into effect, a commencement order must get the approval of the House. I propose that from 6 April next all disability benefit will be reckonable for tax purposes. A draft commencement order is being laid before the House today and a motion on the order will be taken as soon as possible. For those in employment, the system of taxation will involve their tax free allowances being reduced by the amount of DB paid. It will also mean that no tax refunds will be paid while such people are claiming DB. For those not in employment, arrangements are being put in place between the Department of Social Welfare and the Revenue Commissioners to allow taxation, where appropriate. Whether taxation liability will actually arise in a particular case will of course, depend largely on whether the recipient has any other income and the amount of that income. The estimated yield from this change is £10 million in 1993.

Stock Relief for Farmers

The present system of stock relief for farmers is due to expire on 5 April 1993. I will examine over the next month the question of the possible continuation of this relief in the light of all relevant factors, including changes in the Common Agricultural Policy. An announcement will be made on the matter prior to the commencement of the next year.

Tax Clearance for licences

In last year's budget I announced my intention to extend the tax clearance arrangements to applications for licences. The measures in the Finance Act, 1992, which concentrated on liquor retailers' licences issued by the Revenue Commissioners, have proved very successful. I now propose to further extend the tax clearance requirements to other excise licences issued by Revenue. The extension will apply in 1993 to bookmakers and certain gaming licences. In the case of licences for auctioneers, hydrocarbon oil and LPG vendors and dealers in spirits, beer and wine and other gaming licences, it will not apply until 1994 as the legislation in the 1993 Finance Bill will not be passed in time to allow a smooth introduction in relation to the 1993 issue of licences. This measure is expected to yield £2 million in 1993.

The extension of tax clearance to other public licences is being considered in my Department.

Overall effect of Income Tax measures

In line with the commitment in the Programme for a Partnership in Government, I have made every effort in the income tax area to protect the low-paid, particularly families. The personal allowance is being increased. The standard rate band is being extended for the sixth budget in succession and is now 63 per cent wider than it was in 1987. The increase in exemption limits will be of further benefit to the lower-paid taxpayer whose position has been substantially improved over the past few years. Some 13,500 taxpayers with 12,000 children will be exempted by the changes, and a further 14,200 taxpayers with 14,700 children will be brought into marginal relief. We have thus gone some way towards meeting the income tax objectives set out in the Programme for Government. The overall income taxation package I have mentioned will, notwithstanding the new temporary levy, cost £8 million in 1993.

I turn now to the area of capital taxation.

Capital Taxes

Farm Transfers

The Government wants to encourage the early transfer of farms to young farmers. To help meet this objective, I am allocating £1 million to finance the cost of the EC early retirement scheme this year. The rate of European Community part funding of the scheme will be 75 per cent. The details of this scheme are currently being finalised and will be announced by my colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry, as soon as he has received the necessary EC approval for the scheme.

In line with the commitment contained in the Programme for Government, I propose to increase agricultural relief in respect of capital acquisitions tax on gifts from 55 per cent of eligible assets with a ceiling of £200,000——

Mr. Rabbitte

Now we know where the Minister's heart is.

Mr. B. Ahern

——to 75 per cent of eligible assets with a ceiling of £250,000. All farmers with potential liabilities to capital acquisitions tax will be able to benefit from this change which should have a positive impact on the land transfer environment for the family farm. The enhanced relief, which will be provided for in the Finance Bill, is estimated to cost £0.3 million in 1993 rising to an annual cost of £1 million after a number of years. I am confident that these two measures will make a significant contribution to the structural reform of farm holdings and assist the early transfer of farms to the younger generation.

Taxation of Inheritance

The Programme for Economic and Social Progress contains a commitment to increase the tax yield from capital taxes. A number of changes have been made over the last few years to rationalise capital taxes and ensure a fairer distribution of the tax burden. However, it remains the position that many inheritances pass from one generation to the next without incurring any tax liability. While full taxation of these inheritances might not be warranted, it is certainly true that in current economic circumstances a small charge can easily be justified. It is therefore proposed to introduce a 2 per cent probate tax to be payable on all estates valued at more than £10,000. The tax will apply to all assets passing on inheritance, except the family home where that is inherited by the spouse of the deceased. Hardship provisions, similar to those which already exist for capital acquisitions tax, will apply to this tax. The tax will come into effect in respect of deaths occurring after the date of passing of the 1993 Finance Act and is estimated to yield about £6 million in 1993 and about £12 million in a full year.

Mr. Yates

A tax on the dead.