There were great expectations about this budget. The economy was doing so well that substantive cuts for taxpayers were expected but, unfortunately, that did not happen. The general reaction to the budget has been negative. Commentators point to the negligible benefits passed on to the taxpayer. Much of the detail of the budget was leaked in advance and there was a deliberate effort by the three parties to put their respective slants on it. This is no way to treat the most important annual statement from the Minister for Finance who is charged with the management of our finances. We can all recall when the budget was a serious matter and was treated as such by everybody both inside and outside the House.
Last year the Minister for Finance, Deputy Quinn, presented his first Budget Statement which had little to recommend it. I thought we could look forward to a much improved budget this year, but the most significant change in this year's performance is that no member of Cabinet was forced to resign as a result of it. Apart from that, we received a repeat prescription of the Minister's medicine.
The Minister for Finance, Deputy Quinn, is a member of a Government which came to power at the end of 1994. The rainbow coalition was formed without a mandate from the people, but it was aptly named. I am sure the term "rainbow" was used to convey some new, colourful, bright and shiny image to the people. However, it should be noted that a rainbow is simply a reflection of light. It does not have any substance, it is merely an optical illusion. In layman's terms, it is a trick of the light and those who operate under the banner of the rainbow Government have proved, for a second year in succession, to be trick of the loop men.
The Minister for Finance made much of his concessions to the low paid and unemployed. He trumpeted the increase in child benefit and the introduction of subsidies. In reality, once again he failed large numbers of people. There is little or nothing for those most in need. This is a discredited Government which has failed to live up to its public spending targets. As a result it can afford to give very little to those to whom it promised most. To be able to improve living standards the State must live within its means, but that is not the case with this Government.
The leader of Fianna Fáil, Deputy Bertie Ahern, was Minister for Finance until the end of 1994 and left a healthy surplus to his successor. The current budget deficit had been wiped out for the first time in a quarter of a century, since the days of the late George Colley. Less than 14 months after that historic achievement, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Quinn, aided and abetted by the Taoiseach's Cabinet, has put us firmly back on the road to financial chaos. Most analysts agree that the increase in current public spending for 1996 will be approximately 6.2 per cent, despite all the efforts to cover that. If we took into account the Minister's creative accounting exercises regarding the hepatitis C payments and the arrangements made by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry, Deputy Yates, the figure would probably be closer to 7 per cent. This cannot be good news to anyone. Everything must be paid for when the reckoning is called and our national debt now stands at £30 billion. There are many who regard the national debt as something which does not affect them in their everyday lives. This is far from the truth. The interest payments must be made from the Exchequer and this means the Minister has less to spend on people, and especially on people who look to the Exchequer for increases in their allowances. It is small wonder that these people should look forward to increases in the budget. In 1995 pensioners were treated to a miserable 2.5 per cent increase in the Minister's first budget. I spoke on their behalf condemning this miserable increase as paltry. This year it was increased by 0.5 per cent to 3 per cent. That is still not sufficient. We should have increased that figure by at least another 1 per cent.
One anomaly in the social welfare system is the fact that widows and widowers are not entitled to social welfare benefits such as electricity allowances, television licence, free travel, etc. and I have called on consecutive Ministers for Social Welfare to have them included. In the improved economic climate I thought they would have been considered on this occasion. Those on survivor's contributory pensions or invalidity pensions received approximately £2 extra a week. They will benefit by £56 during 1996, which is not very much. How could the Minister possibly give less than £56 to those he insulted so grossly last year, especially when his colleague, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry, Deputy Yates, needed over £0.5 million to meet advance overtime payments in his Department prior to Christmas? One wonders why the vast sums of money being spent on public relations, advisers and programme managers in the Departments could not be put to better use and given to those who need it most. The reported average figure paid out by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry to ease tension in his Department amounted to £500 per head. I am sure those who get their £56 social welfare increases this year will be happy to know that their sacrifice has given peace of mind to one Cabinet Minister.
A rainbow is caused by light passing through water droplets. The water is transparent, but the workings of the rainbow Government would appear to be other than that. I spoke earlier of illusions and tricks of the light. This budget claims to help the low-paid and the long-term unemployed in particular. I can remember a time when there was only one way to describe people who could not find a job and that was as unemployed. We did not categorise them. We just knew that to our shame, too many people were unemployed. Now the spin doctors tell us that we have short-term unemployed. The Minister tells us he has plans to make life easier for them. We seem to have forgotten that the long-term unemployed. when they first signed on the live register, had no idea that they would one day fill the Minister's statistical records in that capacity. All most of them knew was that they needed to get back to work as quickly as possible. They needed jobs and they needed incentives to get to work. They see no hope in the Minister's proposals.
The combined PRSI and PAYE reductions for lower income groups average £88 per annum for a single person and £129 per annum for the married. The average PAYE worker, that includes all those lucky enough to have a job, will contribute an extra £6 a week to Exchequer funding in 1996. This is £300 plus a year. Given the reductions mentioned earlier, it does not take a mathematical wizard to work out that even those who benefit from the reductions will still lose out to the tune of at least £170 this year alone. I am told that total additional taxes to be paid on average this year will be £14 a week or £720 a year. This certainly does not seem like an incentive to anyone to get back to work.
There is not much comfort either in those figures for people already at work. They are becoming tired of bearing an unfair share of the burden and are making their dissatisfaction known. Last year the Minister announced tax cuts of £111 in his budget and he collected £196 million more than he announced for this year. This year he is setting out again to pull the wool over the eyes of the taxpayer. I have news for him. This great Labour PR machine is grinding to a halt — people will not be fooled any longer. The Minister will have to do more than announce subsidies of £80 for recruitment if he wishes to end unemployment. He will certainly have to back up his announcement with a sum greater than £1 million. If the Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Deputy Richard Bruton, funds 5,000 offers of recruitment among the business community he would need £10.5 million to keep the newly employed on the payroll until Christmas. The Minister has provided less than 10 per cent of this amount, but he talks about transparency. What is really transparent is this Government's pathetic attempt to persuade the people that it is capable of management.
I was interested to note the reaction of SIPTU, one of the strongest trade unions in the country, to the budget. Their opinion of this feeble effort is damning, to say the least. Their national executive, which issued the weekend condemnation, is responsible to a very large membership. The Minister too is accountable to a great number of people and the time has long since arrived to seriously consider his position.
The Government is charged with the overall management of the economy. The main focus at budget time is usually on such items as social welfare payments, income tax and increases in excise duties, and these are of great interest to large numbers of people. They are also the items which are highlighted most effectively in the presentation of a budget statement. We should not forget that many items in the budget presentation are overlooked at least at first sight. In this budget, for example, we have heard no mention of reductions in mortgage interest and insurance relief, the increases in the cost of electricity and the proposed increase in the cost of a television licence, but they will offset any increase or tax reliefs granted in the budget.
Many problems exist in Ireland which are crying out for attention. There are certain areas where the immediate injection of additional funds is necessary. Crime has the nation in a grip of terror. Citizens are in fear and dread of their lives. They are not safe on the streets and they are not safe in their own houses. Urgent action is needed to restore public confidence in the rule of law, but the figures provided by the Minister to this House show that the provisions of the 1996 White Paper for the Garda Síochána and for the courts have been adjusted downwards, showing reductions of £0.25 million in the case of the Garda Síochána and £0.5 million in the case of the courts, this at a time when additional resources are badly needed in these areas —"miscellaneous minor adjustments" is the term used to explain these figures. At the same time £3 million is set aside as a contribution towards providing security for cash transporters. Like others in this House, I often wonder why the companies that own the large amounts of cash being transported cannot contribute towards the cost of transport, particularly in the light of the profits shown by these companies.
What price does this Government place on the security of our citizens? Precious little, it appears. I welcome the announcement by the Minister for Justice yesterday of her package to combat crime. However, it is high time we put a police presence back into every parish and village in rural Ireland. Any person from a rural constituency would agree with that. I was a member of a county council in the early 1980s. My Garda division was selected, with the Westport division, for a pilot project involving the introduction of the small green machine on the wall. People were to report crimes to the Garda by speaking into this machine and they could be heard in a central office. Members of the county council from all parties unanimously agreed that this would be a failure. We had meetings with the Garda Commissioner and the chief superintendent responsible and expressed our view to them. They gave us statistical information indicating that this project would be a success. What every councillor said on that occasion 15 years ago has turned out to be true although the Garda thought we knew nothing about crime and law enforcement.
The scheme was extended to the entire country. This resulted in practically all gardaí in rural Garda stations being removed and we have seen the consequences. There is a serious lack of confidence because of the non-presence of gardaí in some areas. There is no continuity of Garda personnel. In my Garda division there has been a change of superintendent almost a couple of times a year. This does not help in the fight against crime and criminals are well aware of this. This issue should be taken on board as there is general agreement in the House on it. There is a cost involved but can anyone put a cost on the present level of crime? In light of recent sad events throughout the country, the announcements of the Minister for Justice will not make people sleep more soundly in their beds.
It was announced in the budget that there would be £800 relief for the purchase of alarm systems by the elderly. This is one of the biggest con jobs I have seen for a long time. I compare it with the relief granted against service charges. There would be general agreement in the House that this will not work. Some 95 per cent of pensioners who live in rural areas will not be able to avail of this relief and I call on the Minister for Finance to change it in the Finance Bill and provide a direct grant. There are plenty of examples the Minister could consider. In County Kilkenny a scheme has been in operation for many years and this could be used as a pilot project. Health boards should be involved in this because they have knowledge of problems through community welfare officers. I strongly advocate that this be taken on board. It would be a small gesture to people that the Government and the House are concerned about their needs.
In common with most Deputies in daily contact with their constituents, the biggest problem brought to my attention is the poor condition of county roads. The amount allocated by the Minister for the Environment for county roads in my constituency in 1995 was not nearly adequate to carry out repairs or improvements. I see, to my dismay, that revised figures for that Department for 1996 show a decrease of £200,000. This means that allocations to local authorities this year will not meet the amounts required by them.
No provision has been made for flood relief. Every single area of the south-east was devastated by floods this year. The residents of these and many other areas who suffered from the effects of recent flooding will be disappointed with the Minister.
If the Department of Justice and the Department of the Environment have not been well served by this budget, they are not alone. There are other Cinderellas in the ranks of the Departments which regulate the daily lives of many thousands of citizens.
The Estimates for the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry have been revised downwards by £250,000. This is explained by a reduction in the grant to An Bord Bia. I would have thought that in a county in which farming plays such a vital role the route to providing new jobs would be to utilise the food processing industry to its full potential. We produce some of the finest food in the world and we should increase its processing to gain added value for ourselves. Surely An Bord Bia has a central role to play in setting standards and creating markets. I call on the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry to do everything in his power at EU level to restore export refunds to their former levels. I condemn the shortage of money for REPS. The Department seems to be run by public relations rather than strong firm action.
I was disappointed with the first budget of the Minister for Finance last year and I am outraged at this one. I am an Opposition Deputy but I also speak as a tax-paying citizen. Many share my view on this catalogue of waste and lost opportunities. I will illustrate my point with a personal anecdote. Last weekend I attended a function in Kilkenny which was organised to raise funds for two well known charities, one of which was Rehab. The local Rehab organisation received greater per capita benefit from this event than it is likely to get under the budget proposals. It is a sad state of affairs when people who, through no fault of their own, need our help are ignored by the Government which supposedly hails them as equals. Once again it was left to the decency of the ordinary citizen to ensure some measure of fair play.
The Department of Social Welfare spends annually four times the total amount spent on agriculture and business combined. The £23,000 spent by the Minister for Social Welfare on promotional diaries would have been welcomed and well used by many voluntary organisations. The five advisers recently appointed to his Department will each benefit from the budget at a much higher rate than the £56 paid to social welfare recipients. These jobs were advertised only in the Democratic Left's magazine. This begs a question about the transparency of the Government. It also proves that Labour is not the only party involved in nepotism, which is very much alive on the left.
The rainbow is shining brightly at the moment and the colours are not coming apart as can be judged from what is happening here. The fact that the unfortunate people who live under the rainbow are dejected and bewildered is of no importance to the leprechauns at the end of it. They are far too busy counting their personal pots of gold to see and recognise, or, unfortunately, to care about the state of the nation.