I wish to refer to a number of the matters raised by my good friend, the Deputy from County Meath. He mentioned county roads, a subject which has received a good airing during this debate. As I am sure he is aware, a substantial extra allocation was provided last year and again this year. The Government is conscious that we will not be able to tackle the problem unless it is done in a co-ordinated and concerted manner. That is the reason the Minister for Finance, in conjunction with the Minister for the Environment, has asked for a report from all county managers on the condition of county roads. Otherwise we will attempt to provide £10 million to £20 million per annum without seeing any results.
The two main priorities of this Government in this budget are simply stated. First, we must translate the growth in our economy into jobs and a secure future for our people. Second, we must help in every way we can to build a lasting agreement among the people who live on this island.
Those two priorities dominate everything we do. They represent both an exciting opportunity and a daunting challenge. They have to be approached in the knowledge that no one politician or political party has a monopoly of all wisdom, that every Member of this House has a contribution to make and that many of the best ideas that will help us to secure those priorities will come from within the wider community we seek to represent.
The 1995 budget was one of the many instruments available to us in setting out to achieve the first priority I mentioned. In the time available to me I want to commend that budget to this House for what it does and to deal with one or two specific areas of the budget of direct concern to me as Minister for Foreign Affairs.
First I want to refer to the other priority — the task of building agreement on this island.
Yesterday, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and I had a very productive meeting which overcame a number of complex issues that had been delaying completion of the Joint Framework Document. In the next few days, I hope to be in a position where the document can be sent to the Taoiseach and the British Prime Minister for their consideration.The aim is to publish it as soon as possible and to invite the people of these islands to consider it. Especially we want to invite the political parties of Northern Ireland to examine it closely.
I do not expect anyone to like everything they find in the Joint Framework Document. Anyone, on either side of the divide, who expects to find a victory for their point of view in the document is going to be disappointed, but my strongest hope is that anyone who expects to find betrayal of their hopes and aspirations in the document will be relieved.
This document is no sell-out, neither is it a magic wand that has been waved over the divisions of years, to make them disappear. It is no more and no less than we have ever said it was — a framework for discussion and negotiation, representing the best effort of the two Governments to provide impetus and focus for those negotiations.
The Joint Framework Document, complex as it may seem, is based on a simple premise. The cease-fires of last year were a start. As I have said many times, the cease-fires took the violence out of the conflict, but the conflict goes on. It will not end until mistrust is replaced by co-operation and until people are prepared to work together for commonly agreed objectives. The ending of the conflict does not require, and cannot spring from, victory or defeat for either set of passionately-held beliefs.
The last Irish Government knew, just as the present Government knows, that the ending of the conflict cannot come either from the maintenance of any perceived threat over the population of Northern Ireland. Our purpose and determination is to remove any sense of threat, territorial or otherwise.
We want to help in achieving a new dispensation, where the future development of Northern Ireland is a matter for the people of Northern Ireland, free of any threat or the perception of a threat, and underpinned only by principles of fairness and equality. We want to arrive at a point where the issue of sovereignty is no longer an issue that drives people apart.
The process we are engaged in is not about forcing either side to settle for whatever it can get. It is about encouraging both sides to settle with each other. The essential principle that has underpinned our approach — the approach of the last Irish Government just as much as the present one — to all these talks is the principle of consent. That means no more or less than it says. There will be no change in the constitutional position of Northern Ireland, and no Irish Government will seek to change it, without the consent of the people of Northern Ireland. For many years now it has been recognised that we cannot solve the problem without addressing all its dimensions. Nobody will ever persuade Nationalists to give their allegiance to a state that denies their fundamental aspiration to Irishness and no one can successfully coerce Unionists into a state that denies their fundamental aspiration to Britishness.
That is why approach to the problem must recognise that there is a complex set of relationships involved. The North-South relationship is a difficult one for Unionists to address, but relationships within Northern Ireland present fundamental difficulties for Nationalists. Everyone has to face those difficulties in their own way.
The Joint Framework Document seeks to challange, not to appease. It is not based on the comfortable assumption that no one needs to compromise. That assumption is a receipe for disaster.The truth is that everyone needs to compromise — the Governments, the parties, the traditions.
That is why our only appeal, in relation to the Joint Framework Document, is to ask people to read it: "Don't look for victory — you won't find it. Don't look for betrayal — you won't find that either. Look for a new way forward, through agreement and better relationships — that's what is on offer." That is all that is on offer — no secret deals, no hidden agendas. All the cards are going to be put on the table and they are all going to be dealt face up.
Turning now to the budget, it is widely accepted that our economy is in a very strong position. That strength would not have been possible without sacrifice on the part of thousands of families. Now that the economy is growing strongly, those families are entitled to share in that growth.
That is what we have tried to do in this budget. We are giving people a dividend, a share of the growth they have helped to generate. The decision to approach the budget in that way reflected the concerns and policies of each of the parties in Government. Every Minister, from whatever party, played a full role in putting forward ideas and arguing for them, and the process of putting the budget together involved frank and serious discussion, conducted in the most constructive atmosphere in which I have ever participated.
The budget will help every family in Ireland. The increases in child benefit, widely recognised as the most essential weapon in the struggle against family poverty, are the biggest ever. The tax reliefs are more than three times the rate of inflation, and will be felt in every single pay-packet in April. I am particularly proud of the fact that the balance of resources devoted to this area has clearly favoured the hundreds of thousands of Irish workers who are in low-paid jobs.
The jobs impact of the budget will be very substantial and positive, especially for the long term unemployed. We are putting special measures in place — measures they have campaigned for themselves — to help them make the breakthrough. We are trying to gear all the approaches we make to business and enterprise towards encouraging more and more investment in jobs.
I am delighted with the progress we have made in one area in particular. 1995 will be remembered as the year we began to make education free at every level. The abolition of third level fees is a huge psychological breakthrough for thousands of young people. It is a very important start on the investment in education that is a crucial part of our future.
In overall terms, this is a budget with a human face, a budget for people. We have put it together while at the same time maintaining a strong and careful approach to the management of peoples' money. We have achieved a budget that will encourage even more growth in the economy, and a better future for everyone. My prediction is that those critics and commentators who have ignored the potential for stronger growth in our economy, and the contribution that the budget will make towards that, will be forced to eat their words by the end of the year.
Before concluding I want to refer to two issues arising from the budget, of direct concern to my ministry — the forthcoming Presidency of the European Union and the further moves we have been able to make to improve Ireland's contribution to the developing world.
The main obligation on any Presidency is to ensure an efficient and effective approach to the discharge of the Union's business. Ireland has a good record in this respect in the conduct of past Presidencies, achieved through timely planning, preparation and the adequate allocation of resources.
However, there are a number of new challenges facing our Presidency in 1996 and which will have to be taken into account in the planning process. In addition, our Presidency will take place against the background of a view among some members of the Union that the smaller member states are no longer capable of adequately carrying out the responsibilities of the Presidency. Our performance as Presidency of the Union will be judged, therefore, not by our performances in 1975, 1979, 1984, and 1990 but against the standard set by Germany, France, Spain and Italy, countries that immediately precede us in the Presidency.
The major development since the Presidency in 1990 has been the adoption of the Maastricht Treaty. The main features of the Treaty which will have an impact on the work of our Presidency in 1996 are as follows: the move towards economic and monetary union; the strengthening of procedures for systematic co-operation in common foreign and security policy; matters coming under the justice and home affairs or third pillar of the Treaty on European Union including immigration, asylum aspects of judical co-operation in civil and criminal matters, the fight against drugs, fraud, customs co-operation and police matters; new policy areas of the Union and those expanded by the Treaty on European Union including education, public health, culture, consumer protection, industry, development co-operation and trans-European networks and the expanded role of the European Parliament, particularly the co-decision procedure which allows the Parliament to reject legislation in certain areas.
While it is too early to predict the issues that will dominate our Presidency in 1996 the issues facing the European Union, and likely to provide at least part of the framework for our Presidency, can be identified broadly. These include the Intergovernmental Conference due to start in 1996 and likely to be in place for the duration of our Presidency; the issue of growth, competitiveness and employment and action for economic recovery; the decision on the move to the third stage of Economic and Monetary Union which must be taken not later than 31 December 1996; implementation of the Common Foreign and Security Policy; immigration, extradition, organised crime and drug smuggling seem likely to remain dominant issues on the justice and home affairs agenda and the further development of relations with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe with a view to accession.
It is appropriate that the budget and the Estimates for 1995 should contain a number of measures aimed at assisting the peoples of the developing world. People in all walks of life in Ireland have gone to great lengths to support those living in poverty and deprivation in the Third World.
Crises such as that which struck Rwanda last summer bring out the best in the Irish people. Their generosity is second to none. Not only did they contribute in cash and kind to help the Rwandan people, many of them went out to that country and to the refugee camps in Tanzania and Zaire to give direct assistance, often at considerable personal sacrifice.
These concrete examples of commitment and solidarity with the disadvantaged both at home and in the developing world highlight the fact that, within the limits of our means, we in Ireland recognise that our collective responsibility for the alleviation of poverty and disadvantage in our own society does not eliminate our responsibility to assist those in greater relative need in other countries. I strongly believe we are generous enough in our approach to accept that action for social justice and human rights at home is complementary to action on these very same issues internationally.
The budget contains two provisions designed to recognise and support the public's efforts to assist the Third World. First, the Government has decided to give a tax rebate on private donations of between £200 and £750 to designated Third World charities. The effect of this will be to make a donation of £750 worth over £1,000 to the charity concerned. I believe this measure will be a strong incentive to people wishing to contribute to the Irish NGOs which are making such an effective contribution to the developing world.
Second, my colleague, the Minister for Finance, has announced that he intends to introduce measures to protect the pension rights of public servants doing voluntary work in developing countries for the Agency for Personal Service Overseas. I very much welcome this initiative. Those who carry out voluntary work in the Third World should not be at a disadvantage because of their humanitarian actions. I hope the private sector will be encouraged to introduce similar measures for their employees in the light of the Government's initiative on volunteers from the public sector.
The Irish people have clearly demonstrated their wish to help those in need and it is right that the Government should match this private generosity by allocating an appropriate level of public funding to official development assistance.This year's allocation for ODA is 26 per cent higher than last year's. It means that for the third year in a row funding for ODA has substantially increased. The total to be spent on ODA in 1995 will be £89 million; this is more than twice what was spent in 1992.
In allocating this record level of expenditure, the Government is delivering on the promise to raise Ireland's Official Development Assistance to the kind of level which our European partners allocate. We are also committed to making steady progress towards the United Nations target of 0.7 per cent of GNP. This year's increase puts us well on the way towards that target.
Emergencies in countries such as Rwanda, Angola and Sierra Leone are what we most frequently see on our television screens, and they cost a great deal of money to put right. Despite the end of the Cold War there has been no let-up in the number of conflicts throughout the world. One estimate is that there were 160 significant cases of conflict worldwide in the two years 1993-94. The international community's response has been to increase the amount of money spent on emergency assistance but, with limited resources available, this has meant a serious drop in the amount of funding being made available for long term development.
I am glad to report that Ireland is bucking this trend in that our spending on development aid, both emergency and long term, is steadily rising. The purpose of long term development is to create a culture of self-help among countries and communities so that they can take charge of their own affairs. Ireland's approach is to concentrate on meeting basic needs in fields such as health, education, water and infrastructure and we work in close partnership with the peoples of those countries which we assist. The expanded funding which is being made available in this year's Estimates mean that we can strengthen and diversify our programmes of assistance to enable countries which are suffering poverty, malnutrition and lack of basic facilities to improve the standard of living of their citizens.
Last year we added Ethiopia and Uganda to the list of countries enjoying priority status for Irish aid. This year we are increasing the level of our co-operation with Mozambique and are stepping up our programme of assistance to South Africa where we will be concentrating on education, water resources and community initiatives.
Increased ODA will also mean that we can support initiatives designed to strengthen the democratic process and observance of human rights in the developing world and particularly in those emerging democracies where these concepts are still fragile. We will, of course, continue our strong commitment to the co-funding of projects with non-governmental organisations such as Concern, Goal and Trócaire; to development education and fellowships for students from overseas and to contributing to the operations of the major multilateral aid agencies such as UNICEF, the World Food Programme and the UN High Commission for Refugees.
Nobody could underestimate the challenges which face us in our relations with the developing world. However, the extent of the needs which persist should not and cannot weaken our resolve to play our part in resolving crises and conflicts and promoting sustainable development. Our policy and approach must be developed on the basis of clearly enunciated principles — in this regard the public discussions on the White Paper on Foreign Policy is timely and welcome.
We must continue to provide increased levels of aid to countries in the south and to promote support for human rights, but I also believe that we are obliged to make every effort to ensure that the aid we give is used effectively to alleviate basic needs, to support human rights and to promote the ability of people in the developing countries to help themselves.
This year's budget was the first of three that my colleague Deputy Ruairí Quinn will introduce on behalf of this Government. Our programme, as a Government, is aimed at renewal, and the budgetary strategy we intend to follow will be a strategy of renewal. That is why the emphasis in this budget was on jobs and families, and why the same emphasis will inform the 1996 and 1997 budgets. We intend to carry on the process of making it easier to employ people, of opening up options to people who are in long term unemployment, of ensuring that resources are effectively targeted where they can do the most good.
We intend to ensure that growth remains high. We also intend to ensure that growth is channelled effectively into the areas where it is most needed — into families and into work. Our people have worked for growth — now we have to make growth work for them.
