Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 10 Dec 1997

Vol. 484 No. 4

Financial Resolution No. 9: General (Resumed).

Debate resumed on the following motion:

That it is expedient to amend the law relating to inland revenue (including value-added tax and excise) and to make further provision in connection with finance.

—(Minister for Education and Science).

Mr. Killeen

One of the great wonders of each year's budget debate is the ease with which Deputies on the Government side find items in the budget which they can commend and Deputies on the Opposition find provisions with which to find fault. That is stranger in recent times when parties have been moving from one side of the House to the other fairly frequently. Budgets have not been very different, being confined by the Maastricht guidelines.

The Minister for Finance, Deputy McCreevy, is to be commended for being consistent, in this his first budget, with the philosophy he has expressed for many years in the House and outside and which does not always find favour with people in his own party. His philosophy shines through in what he is proposing.

Tax breaks provided for employers and others who are perceived in certain circles as having a good deal of access to finance have been criticised. In that context, the Minister will look to employers to deliver more jobs. Provisions in the budget that allow greater flexibility and man-oeuvrability by the people who control the provision of employment and finance is an important aspect which will ensure a return in jobs in the short term and also in the medium to long-term, and it will be very important to undertake an ongoing assessment of the effects of these moves.

Regarding taxation, Ministers have been faulted for the direct effect of their budget provisions on taxation. On this occasion the Minister for Finance has been universally praised for having improved the lot of the worker. It is important to put this year's developments in taxation, especially personal taxation, into a fairly short-term context. It is not very long since the standard and higher rates of tax were 14 or 15 points higher than they are this year. A 2 per cent reduction may not seem significant, but in the overall context of the past five or six budgets, or more particularly in the context of the past ten years and the improvement in national finances over that time, there has been a truly massive improvement in terms of direct taxation on workers' incomes. All Ministers for Finance over that period of ten years or so have reason to feel proud of their efforts.

The Minister is imposing some restrictions relating to the business expansion scheme, but he has allowed some exceptions in the short term. The lead-in period for many of these projects is very long and initial costs are relatively high. The Minister should, therefore, err on the side of being liberal in allowing business expansion schemes which have not quite got off the ground to be completed in the format in which they were initially envisaged. I do not have specific examples in mind, but I have no doubt there are worthy schemes which have reached a certain stage and which ought to be nurtured rather than dispensed with.

I welcome the specific provisions for the long-term unemployed, particularly the double relief for employers of people in that category. It is a measure which will need to be monitored to ensure that in 12-24 months' time there will be something to show for it.

I also welcome the innovation in regard to donations to charity and the inclusion of disadvantaged schools in that category. It is a way to make additional finances available to worthy charities and schools in a manner that does not directly cost the taxpayer.

There are a number of developments in the area of sport and tourism. First there is the fact that they have been put together. It is clear that under the Minister, Dr. McDaid, sport is getting a more central role. I welcome that very strongly. One of the elements of the budget which was singled out for particular criticism was the £20 million provision for Croke Park. I welcome that provision. As the debate has developed, more and more people are coming to the view that money will be well spent. In the publicity which surrounded it, other elements of the package relating to sport were forgotten, and they are also worthy.

The Minister introduced a new tourism marketing fund directed at areas which have been losing ground or failing to benefit from the growth in tourism from which certain areas have benefited. That is a welcome innovation for which I commend the Minister. I hope it will be directed specifically at areas which have the capacity in the short term to deal with tourism numbers and which have not been showing the level of growth that some areas, particularly the capital city, have been enjoying over the past five to 15 years. The longer term assessment is more dramatic in terms of the growth of tourism in Dublin and the Dublin area as against other parts of the country.

The pilot resorts scheme was to come to an end next summer and is being extended for a year for people who have expended 15 per cent of the cost of their project. For people purchasing land, the cost of the purchase of the land would generally be allowed to be included in the 15 per cent. However, there are some people who were already owners of property at the inception of the scheme who, for one reason or another, were not able to develop it, in many instances for reasons outside their control; there may have been short-comings in the sewerage or water services which meant that planning permission could not be applied for or granted sooner, or there might have been title difficulties or any one of a number of other difficulties. Some of those people would have extreme difficulty in meeting the 15 per cent requirement by the end of July. I urge the Minister, when adding detail to this in the Finance Bill to allow people who have done a certain amount of work and who were clearly intent on developing certain projects to go ahead. There has been much negative publicity regarding developments under the seaside resort scheme in Lahinch and Kilkee in my constituency. However, there has been little reference to the adverse effect of these developments on the surrounding areas and resorts. For example, Liscannor and Lisdoonvarna have suffered badly from the dramatic developments in Lahinch. It is important that the person carrying out the assessment of the scheme should also consider its effect on the surrounding areas. I welcome the rural renewal scheme being introduced for the upper Shannon area. A case can be made for the introduction of similar schemes in small areas along the Shannon, Erne and other waterways which have not benefited from the huge growth in surrounding areas. The same applies to the scheme for hotels. A county base may be convenient for the administration of the scheme but this does not always reflect the reality on the ground. For example, some of the towns included in the scheme may already have a number of hotels, while many smaller towns in adjoining counties have not benefited from the developments in the tourism sector.

It is disappointing to note the 5.1 per cent decline in farm incomes this year. The Minister for Agriculture and Food said that during his previous term in office between 1992 and 1994 there was a cumulative growth in incomes of 24 per cent. I do not know who he was trying to blame for the decline in incomes during the interim but it is a problem which the Government, this House and the EU must face up to. This decline is particularly evident in the beef sector which is suffering many problems, for example, the blockade in the UK, the BSE crisis and the release of intervention beef in world markets at very low prices. I urge the Minister to address these problems and ensure that current beef production secures the prices which are possible and necessary.

Many sectors of the agricultural industry are experiencing difficulties. I welcome the additional headage payments for sheep farmers this year. There is much debate about farm incomes and their subsidisation by the EU. It is clear that the provisions put in place for 1994-9 will not be sufficient. One debate relates to the Santer proposals post 2000, while another debate relates to the shortfalls in the funding provided by the EU. I am glad the Minister for Agriculture and Food managed to secure an extra £23 million for next year as this will ensure that headage payments will be at the level they ought to be. I also welcome his undertaking that small farmers will retain the level of headage payments they received heretofore.

There has been much controversy about installation aid for farmers. The funding for this purpose ran out some time during the summer and I am glad the Minister has provided adequate funding for the processing of existing valid applications. He has been very successful in introducing measures which will ensure that young people are willing to take over farms in the future.

The increases in social welfare benefits always receive considerable airing. When compared to recent years, the increases this year are decent. Nevertheless, all Deputies agree that we must provide generously for older people. I commend the Minister for the increases he has given them this year. The cumulative increase over the past three or four years is impressive but we must avail of the opportunities in the coming years to increase payments even further. This also applies to many other areas.

I welcome the change in the family income supplement whereby the payment will be calculated on the basis of net income. This will make an enormous difference for many people and make the scheme much more attractive.

Mr. McGahon

I wish to share my time with Deputy Ulick Burke. I am pleased that the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, for whom I have great respect, is in the Chair. He also represents a Border constituency and has scaled the heights in terms of ministerial appointments. Later I will quote the remarks he made ten months ago during the debate on the Financial Resolutions. I hope someone on the Government side will explain these comments to me. In my capacity as a cynic, I wonder if this House is an asylum, whether it has any relevance and whether more sense is spoken in public houses. I am referring to the effect of the increase in petrol prices in Border areas.

Before I deal with this issue I will refer to the budget. Some people will always pick holes in a budget, but this is a reasonable and good budget which distributes a fair amount of largesse. My racing friend and colleague, the Minister for Finance, looked after the elderly and gave them an increase of £5. No previous Government gave them a similar increase. Even if he had given them a £10 increase there are people who would have found fault with it. Unfortunately this is the nature of our business.

He has also begun a cycle which hopefully will lead to a significant reduction in income tax rates. There may be some credence to the charges by Members on this side of the House that it will benefit the higher paid more than the lower paid, but middle income earners have been persecuted for many years. These people do not expect the State to give them a house and do not look for handouts. Young couples should have the courage to buy a house. These people need help and the Minister gave them some relief. Given the good state of the economy, I hope future budgets will move further in this direction so that people will benefit.

I have no problem with the budget other than the impact of the increase in petrol on Border areas. I have had this beef for the past 16 years. I represent a deprived area. The Leas-Cheann Comhairle knows that this area has been neglected by successive Governments, including Fine Gael Governments. We have been the victims of the war in the Six Counties, yet we have received no help. During the 1970s we should have been given a special status but this was not done. In my native town of Dundalk businesses went from the pinnacle of success down to an abyss. Today the unemployment rate in the town is double the national average.

On the increase of 20p in the price of a gallon of petrol, ten months ago on budget day the then leader of the Opposition, Deputy Bertie Ahern, asked the Taoiseach to justify the increase of 11p in a gallon of petrol. He went on to say that the increases were penal and against the spirit of removing the burden of taxation. The Leas-Ceann Comhairle, Deputy O'Hanlon, said at columns 1005-6, volume 473 of the Official Report for 22 January:

The Government has no commitment to the Border region.. This increase will have serious consequences for competitiveness in the Border region because higher transport costs will lead to an increase in the cost of all goods.. This Government is anti-motorist, anti-rural. and anti-Border. The Taoiseach must address this matter urgently. It is a major mistake to increase the price of petrol by 11.5p per gallon.

Was the Leas-Ceann Comhairle joking? Did he mean it or was he simply playing politics? The answer is "yes". The same could happen on this side of the House but not with me.

The Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs, Deputy Dermot Ahern, said at column 1002: "Deputy Carey was appointed a token Minister of State with responsibility for the Border areas.". With no disrespect, he was appointed as a token Minister of State. He had responsibility for western development. The Minister went on to say:

What chance is there for Border areas as far as input at the Cabinet table is concerned.. The Government had the opportunity not to touch petrol prices but unfortunately it did the opposite. This must be because of the lack of knowledge of the Border area and lack of input by someone from that region.

That could be said of Deputy Carey but it cannot be said of the Minister whose appointment was acclaimed in Dundalk. I was proud of him because for the first time in many years we are represented at the Cabinet table. The local newspaper, The Argus, assumed the role of John the Baptist, the man who went before, and predicted that Dundalk and County Louth would be in seventh heaven. Five months on, the unemployment figure in Dundalk remains the same. The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment has announced the creation of jobs all over the country, except in the Border region which has been devastated economically. Even if the peace holds it will take many years to rectify the damage caused by 25 years of warfare on our doorstep. We are crying out for special status and recognition by the Government. The Governments of which my party was part failed to grant it. I hope the Leas-Ceann Comhairle, as a Border Deputy, will concentrate on securing it for this deprived area.

I am an ex-league of Ireland footballer and had the pleasure of playing with Dundalk at the age of 17. I follow all sports, racing being my favourite. I will not begrudge the GAA the money it was given. I acknowledge the contribution it has made but baulk at the amount and the lack of conditions attached. It is wrong to make fish of one and flesh of another. The amount should be smaller. An equal amount should be given to the FAI and the Irish Rugby Football Union. Can we afford to give £20 million at a time when so many people are awaiting hip replacement operations and life-saving heart surgery? People will die while waiting to be called. We should not put sport before people's lives.

The GAA is an amateur association. What has it done with the huge amounts of money it has taken in during the years? It has built grounds in every townland. When the local club is beaten in the first round there is a lack of interest for a further year. GAA grounds should be shared and the GAA should explain what it does with the money it takes in each year.

The cigarette industry has been a major contributor in my county for many years but the bell is tolling for it. I accuse all Governments of hypocrisy for failing to acknowledge the damage caused by the drinks industry. There is at least one victim in every family. Alcoholism is an awful illness. The youth of Ireland are swimming in a sea of drink and the social problems caused are legion. More people die from drink related illnesses here than from smoking related illnesses. A cigarette smoker does not go home and sexually assault his child, beat his wife or leave them without food. It is tragic that all Governments have failed to address this problem honestly. We should curtail the seductive advertising which appears every ten minutes on television at night aimed at young people. We are told there are teenage alcoholics and how the single mother phenomenon has increased due to the consumption of alcohol.

The number of road deaths is unacceptable. More people are killed on the roads here per head of population than in any other country in Europe. We have turned a blind eye to this. In recent years when the Minister of Defence, Deputy Michael Smith, presented good proposals to curb the problem of drink driving we witnessed the power of the drinks lobby and backed down. The death toll continues to rise. Last week six people were killed, including a young girl from my own town whom I knew well. We lack courage in addressing the problem. Drink, not drugs, presents the biggest problem.

I criticise the Government for not including any location in County Louth in the hotels scheme. I am thinking in particular of the lovely village of Carlingford which is the jewel in the crown. It is hidden from the view of the masses of Irish people who will not go near the Border. It is a beautiful place which will develop when there is a major hotel located there. It will become the Kinsale of the east. It is a shame the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs, Deputy Ahern, did not insist on its inclusion in the scheme. With Omeath and, more particularly, the Minister's home village, Blackrock, it too could have benefited from the designated seaside resorts scheme. Having said that, my criticism of the Minister's lack of assistance for the Border region is muted because I accept he has been only five months in Government. I wish him well and hope that during the next five years his influence in Cabinet will be felt in Border areas.

Mr. U. Burke

I thank Deputy McGahon for sharing his time. Like many other Members, I welcome the opportunity to contribute. No matter what criticisms Members may level at the Minister, some aspects of the budget must be welcomed because they are long overdue. However, an opportunity has been squandered. A Minister for Finance may never again have such an opportunity to create a more just and caring society as the current Minister had on this occasion, but he failed to grasp it.

The budget widens the gap between the rich and the poor. The low paid, the poor and the disadvantaged have once again been told they must wait. This is another blow for them. The number of long-term unemployed will not be reduced substantially and waiting lists for hospitals and housing will persist at an unacceptably high level. The budget failed to focus on areas such as poverty and exclusion of the long-term unemployed. The homeless have been forgotten. It failed miserably to recognise the crisis in agriculture and no thought was given to reform of the tax system. While it is an acknowledgement of PD demands, a mere 2p off the higher and lower rates will not reform the overall tax system. Where is the imaginative reform we were promised when the Progressive Democrats were in Opposition? It has evaporated. If this is tax reform, we will have to wait a long time to achieve the goals set by the Government when in Opposition.

High earners benefit most. A total of 75 per cent of those polled in an MRBI poll in today's edition of The Irish Times indicated that they believe high earners will benefit most from the budget. This is not a case of the Opposition making jibes at the Government, it is the reality of the public perception. The lower paid and middle class earners have gained least from the budget. Some 40 per cent of the population will not benefit from the tax cuts and nothing has changed for the 26 per cent who do not have qualifications beyond junior certificate level. Permanent exclusion and helplessness will become a reality for greater numbers of society. The unemployed gain nothing from pay increases and tax reductions. While I welcome the additional tax free allowance of £3,000, plus £1,000 for each child in the first year, that will be made available to the long-term unemployed returning to work, it will help only a few. It will take a much greater effort to make a worthwhile dent in the number on the live register.

The budget was presented on European Day for People with Disabilities, but the Government's response in this area was inadequate. The provision of £3 million for people with physical and sensory disabilities does little to show we are serious about tackling this problem. The £7 million provided for the mentally handicapped is welcome, but also inadequate for the 3,000 or so people nationwide who need funding. These funds will not even begin to address the need for adequate and appropriate services for all persons with learning disabilities. Many of these people are placed in services that do not address their needs.

Despite the growing population with learning disabilities in the Ballinasloe area, new services have not been provided there for the past ten years. People requiring services have to be taken by bus to Athlone, Portumna or Galway city. Some of them travel for up to six hours in a mini bus to get to their place of service. Is this how the Minister, Deputy McCreevy, intended to address the problem when he stood for a photocall outside the Dáil with a disabled person before announcing the sum of £7 million for the mentally handicapped and £3 million for the physically disabled? An adequate and appropriate service for the Ballinasloe area would cost in the region of £800,000 per annum and £1.6 million in capital allocation. Where does that leave the £7 million provided for new services for the nation as a whole? It is totally inadequate. These figures are not good enough in the light of the Celtic tiger and the great need that exists for proper services for people with learning disabilities. When will the Government, which is supposed to care for their interests, provide adequate services for one of the most marginalised and discriminated against sections of our community? The handicapped feel betrayed, frustrated and bitterly disappointed with the budget.

The Government has abandoned our most important industry, agriculture. Provision was not made for the restoration of grants for the control of farmyard pollution or dairy hygiene. Those grants are essential to farmers who until now were unable to invest to improve their production capacity. How can new entrants to REPs comply with the regulations of the scheme if grants are not provided to carry out the work of farm pollution control? The grants must be restored as a matter of urgency because many farmers will not be in a position to invest in capital works on their farms if farming incomes continue to decline. The Minister for Agriculture and Food must wake from his slumber and tackle three major problems currently facing us. I am not sure the Government is making a reasonable and whole-hearted effort to lift the blockade against exports of beef and other products to England. The question of the live export trade has been dangling around the necks of farmers for the past six months, but little, if anything, has been done to resolve the matter. It behoves the Minister to actively pursue maximum tenders for the 5,000 tonnes of beef next Friday. It is incumbent on him to ensure the price of beef does not go below 85p. The Minister must tackle those three matters urgently.

Are we serious about the future of farming and encouraging young people into the industry, while at the same time refusing to reintroduce installation grants for all young farmers? It has been said that commitments given to previous applicants will be honoured and that certain other applicants from small farm backgrounds will have their case reviewed, but that is not good enough. We cannot divide and conquer as a way of solving the problem. We are talking about farming across the board and those young people who may enter it. There is no likelihood whatever of many young farmers entering agriculture at present.

If the Minister draws a line he will exclude the very people who might have an opportunity to make a whole-time income from farming in future. If he excludes them from installation grants he will drive more off the land. These two important promises were given by the former Minister prior to the last election, yet the current Minister has failed to honour them.

Another commitment given prior to the election concerned grant aid for abattoirs. Ten years ago there were over 900 abattoirs, while now there are only 400 plus. In the 1988-9 period huge pressure was put on abattoir owners to modernise their facilities as a result of EU directives to upgrade them. They are now being asked again to come up with an average figure of £50,000 each in order to meet new EU regulations. This will be impossible for many abattoirs, which are usually family run businesses, without a response from the Government.

I am asking the Minister, Deputy Walsh, and the Minister of State, Deputy Dan Wallace, as a matter of priority not to allow any more of our small abattoirs to close. It would have a snowball effect because if we lose competition for beef at local marts, which is always provided by local butchers, prices will be further depressed. That would be to the advantage only of the few major players in the beef sector. If more abattoirs close, local employment in rural areas will be further depressed. No Minister could stand over that and refuse to assist abattoir owners.

I want to raise the matter of what is happening in the Department of Agriculture and Food with regard to general applications for schemes. In 1993 the Department refused 5,487 applications for various schemes and in 1994 the figure rose substantially to 7,705. In 1996, some 9,191 applications for various schemes were refused by the Department. Something must be seriously wrong if the Department of Agriculture and Food cannot devise simple application forms which can be processed so that people can be paid appropriate grants without such a scandalous level of refusals. The fact that such refusals have increased by approximately 100 per cent in three years is a national scandal. I do not know what the 1997 figure is, but I have no reason to doubt it is anything less than last year's figure. Close to 10,000 applicants have probably been refused.

The Minister should undertake a root and branch review of activities in all sections of his Department as a matter of urgency. It cannot be the farmers' fault that 10,000 applications for schemes, which were made in good faith, have been refused. I am asking the Minister to rectify this as a matter of urgency.

I also wish to raise the total collapse of dental services in East Galway and in County Galway generally. The reason is simply that the health board and the Department will not offer permanent contracts to dentists in the area. There is an urgent need for the provision of finances to appoint dentists and orthodontists on a permanent basis in the Western Health Board area, of which County Galway is a part. The school dental service has been decimated and the problem it is now creeping further up along the various age groups. The Minister for Health and Children should institute a thorough review as to why County Galway cannot have a school dental service at a time when the finances are there to provide it.

I welcome the contribution of £20 million to the GAA by the Minister for Finance. It is important that our national stadium for Gaelic games is of the highest standard and, more importantly, that it is safe. If that £20 million saves one person from being injured while attending matches it will have been money well spent.

The president of the GAA is young and imaginative. In due course, as the GAA has received a generous £20 million grant from the Government, he will respond by saying that Croke Park might in the very near future be made available to other codes on major national or international sporting occasions. If the grant was given in the hope and anticipation that this might be a step in that direction, it will have been worthwhile. It may release funding from GAA headquarters to provide facilities throughout rural areas so that younger people can become involved.

Mr. Kenneally

I wish to share my time with Deputy Collins.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Is that agreed? Agreed.

Mr. Kenneally

I congratulate my colleague, the Minister for Finance, on introducing a budget aimed primarily at maintaining and further promoting economic growth. I am well aware that his critics are reluctant to accept that or to attempt to look at the various measures in an objective light. If they did so they would be forced, by logical assessment, to the same conclusion as those of us on this side of the House — that the Minister has achieved all he set out to do.

Let me repeat the Minister's objectives, which are those of a Government with a social conscience and with the good of all sections of society at heart. The Minister has attempted to control the expansion of public spending, to correct tax inequities and to acknowledge the role of the elderly over the generations.

I recall several Ministers representing various Governments crying into their budget scripts about the contribution of the elderly to this nation in their younger years. Those Ministers would then proceed to hand out a miserable pittance as a pension increase. The Minister, Deputy McCreevy, has declined to shed crocodile tears but he has handed the recipients of old age pensions the biggest increase they have ever had.

Whether the Opposition likes it or not, the reality is that pensioners never before got an increase of £5 per week. Deputy McGahon acknowledged that, at least. I seek no plaudits for it and neither does the Minister. It is a time of relative plenty when deficiencies can be rectified and living standards raised by some measures all around. However, the Minister and the parties in Government might expect to have that achievement acknowledged at least, however much it may disappoint the Opposition and reduce their popularity in the eyes of the public.

While I am as wary as the next Deputy of the value of opinion polls, I would be less than human if I did not take account of, and take a certain pride in, the popularity of this Government as detailed in this morning's opinion poll. I am always ready to acknowledge the astuteness and perceptiveness of the electorate. It has once more got it right in regard to the budget.

I am disappointed the fuel allowance was not increased from £5 per week. This figure was arrived at some years ago because the price of a bag of coal was £5. Since, then the price of a bag has risen to £7.50, although Deputy Noonan maintains it can still be bought in Limerick for £6.50. It must be an inferior quality to what we get elsewhere in the country. There was a saying among old people that a good fire was a half a meal and it still holds true for those who are too infirm to exercise for warmth or are too poor to eat well. I look forward to the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs reviewing the fuel allowance and know he will not be found wanting.

The Minister for Finance has also set a target of eliminating tax inequities. It was inevitable, given the climate in which we had to live over the past two decades, that there would be dissatisfaction with the tax system and genuine tax inequities interlaced in its various provisions. I am pleased the Minister has addressed the first and most important problem, the amount of tax paid by each individual. I acknowledge there is more than one way of tackling the various problems and regardless of which route he chose, he would have had his loud and hysterical critics.

It is important that as a result of his measures people will pay less tax. The budget will not have the affect of disadvantaging the employer by raising production costs and, therefore, will not have an adverse affect on our national performance. I do not expect the Minister to reverse the trends of almost two decades of injustice to the PAYE sector in just one budget and I look forward in future years to an adjustment of the tax bands which will further reduce the liability of ordinary workers to income tax and take more of them out of the tax net. The net effect of his actions will be to put more money in people's pockets and reduce the intrusiveness of the State into their ability to earn a decent living.

The Minister has acted in the interest of the environment even in the matter of the increase in the price of petrol. There are few cars built in the last decade which cannot run on low octane unleaded petrol. The effect of the scrappage scheme has been to remove even greater numbers of deficient cars and gas guzzlers from our roads and the move to unleaded petrol could not be made easier. Deputy McGahon was selective in his remarks on this issue.

Advertising measures do not seem to work in getting drivers to change to more environmentally friendly fuel. The only way to get the message across is to hit their pockets and that is why there was a significant increase in the price of premium petrol while the price of economical unleaded remained unchanged. It is simple, yet it will prove a very effective teaching aid for motorists.

I represent the Waterford constituency and would fail my constituents if I did not point out to the Minister that Waterford has seen little of the economic success the country is enjoying. The biggest economic news in Waterford this autumn was the takeover of Waterford Foods by the more powerful Avonmore group and it will prove to be a bitter winter for many of its employees. I deliberately refer to this deal as a takeover and not as a merger as portrayed to shareholders, workers and the public. Accountants can point to factors which show better percentage profits for the Avonmore group in the last reported year, while there are special short-term factors which have kept Waterford Food's profits lower than they would otherwise have been. This disadvantaged the Waterford group when the time came to marry the two agri-giants.

However, Waterford finds itself with the prospect of losing 200 well paid jobs in the coming year. The closure of the Dungarvan milk plant defies logic as all reports suggest it was a most successful enterprise in that it not alone made substantial profit, but made one of the finest brands of butter worldwide. This is not a proper merger. If it was, the cuts in employment would be borne equally by both sides, but the axe seems to be falling only on the Waterford side. This is a disgrace and while there is a fund of £7.5 million for assistance towards finding alternative industry in the worst hit areas, this is little consolation for the workers who know they had a product to be proud of, a plant which was viable and a future which seemed assured.

They were less than secure in their jobs and were deluded in their belief that they would be anything less than players on a checkers board to be swept aside as expediency demanded. A genuine and sustained effort will have to be made to identify alternative industry for Dungarvan, Kilmeadan and other hard hit locations and to provide employment for those who want to work.

Elsewhere in Dungarvan, the provision of the new technical college has been progressed. I am delighted the Minister has given his approval to a full investigation of the proposed new site and that under his guidance and direction, the long awaited and much needed new building will soon be a reality far from the position under the previous Administration, when there were three different plans on the table. I am confident a new air of realism obtains and the dithering of the last Minister has been replaced by the confident forward looking and positive approach of the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Martin.

Waterford city is the capital of the south east but, despite this, there has been a gradual erosion in the status of the city through the transfer of the functions of many public authority headquarters to other population centres in the region. Of the five other town authorities which have a mayor, outside of the five major cities, the south east has three located within its boundary. Other cities have no threat to their status as capital, but the claim of Waterford as capital of the south-east is threatened by the presence of Clonmel, Kilkenny and Wexford as its near neighbours. The region loses out because of the natural tension between the various cities and boroughs and the inevitable jockeying for position between the various large centres of population.

Waterford should not only be recognised as the de jure capital, but it should have the right to act as a de facto leader of the region as well. It is without the administrative regional headquarters of the South Eastern Health Board, the IDA, the South East Regional Authority, the ESB and more recently, the Garda Síochána which inexplicably —discounting a political motive by the previous Administration — was allocated to Kilkenny. I fully support the concept of decentralisation and any realistic moves to spread the fruits of economic success to all parts. It is not possible, however, to underpin the social and economic fabric of any region without strengthening its administrative capital. A strong regional capital has been established in the cities of Cork, Limerick and Galway and it would be equally unthinkable that an official body's headquarters would be established in the eastern region in any area but Dublin.

I am pleased, therefore, that when I was Minister of State at the Department of Tourism, Transport and Communications, I was able to effect the transfer of part of the Department of Social Welfare and the Land Registry office to Waterford, thereby adding not only to the status of the city, but also to the pool of employment. Waterford Regional Airport has been less favourably treated than other regional airports. Waterford Harbour Commissioners have yet to be promoted to the status of a State sponsored body, although I recognise other factors are involved. It is extraordinary that such a situation should have been allowed to arise in one of the four major ports of the nation, a fact recognised not only by the Government, but also by the European Union.

The Government must make a very significant investment in the reinstatement of Waterford as a major growth centre. This is in the interests, not only of the city and county of Waterford and the south east region generally, but, more fundamentally, it is vital to the balanced regional development of the entire country. Ireland needs a number of strategically positioned national and regional growth centres. The national growth centre is Dublin and that must necessarily remain the position. The principal regional growth centres are the four cities of Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford. In recent decades Waterford has been allowed slip behind other cities. There was a time when Waterford was the second city of the entire island of Ireland and was its principal port. Waterford is still strategically situated and its position could be reinstated in trading terms.

In 1993 the Government designated the port of Waterford as the principal lift-on lift-off freight port for traffic between Ireland and continental Europe. This is hardly surprising as it enjoys a closer location to the continent than any of the other four cities. The time is right to designate the port of Belview as a special tax area, as was done in the case of some airports many years ago and more recently at Knock. If we are serious about the development of the south east generally, the improvement of the port of Belview and the creation of regional capitals, this would be a positive step in that direction for Waterford. Perhaps the Minister would consider this proposal in the context of the forthcoming Finance Bill.

Belview also needs an improvement in the provision of public infrastructure, which is essential to underpin the development of the port. I have in mind the need to improve the national primary routes which give access to Waterford, including the N9 and N10 from Carlow and Kilkenny, together with the upgrading of the N30 from Enniscorthy to New Ross.

It is vital, from the access transport viewpoint and to relieve traffic congestion within Waterford City, that the long awaited second river crossing be provided with the utmost speed, as soon as the planning details have been finalised by the local authorities involved. This has been a live issue for more than a quarter of a century and the time is long past when the premier city of the south east should have the measure of independence and security which would be endowed by this greatly needed facility.

In relation to underpinning high added value, high skills employment in Waterford and the south east region, it is vital that the Government proceed immediately with the expansion plans which have been announced for the Waterford Institute for Technology. Development of the WIT is an essential prerequisite to the establishment of Waterford as a major location for high technology industry and for a wide range of professional service industries, which are much needed to give a more balanced employment profile in the city and the region.

Employers who are complaining bitterly about the budget should face up to their social responsibilities and pay their workers a decent wage. The day when one paid £1.20 per hour for adult work is long past and the sooner people realise that the better. The concept of a minimum hourly rate is a contentious one and agreement will not be achieved without a great deal of negotiation and concessions. If we are to truly espouse the principle of an honest day's pay for an honest day's work we will have to grasp the nettle and make a start on the road to social justice.

This budget has made a reasonable start towards resolving some of the major economic problems of our society. I look forward to the several budgets which the Minister will present. At the end of the natural life of this Dáil the country will be fitter and more vibrant to tackle any outstanding issues effectively.

Mr. Collins

I congratulate the Government and especially my Fianna Fáil colleague, the Minister for Finance, Deputy McCreevy, on his budget presentation on Wednesday, 3 December l997. It was heartening to listen to the Opposition speakers this afternoon who lavished praise on Mr. McCreevy for his good deeds but also criticised him for certain things he could not do. They should take into account that this is the first of five budgets. This is one of the most innovative budgets of modern times and I look forward to the next four to be presented during the lifetime of this Government. We in Fianna Fáil set high but achievable targets and goals in our election manifesto. We are well on the way to achieving these aims. Not only are we benefiting from the effects of the Celtic tiger in the budget but we are taking steps to ensure the economy remains strong and healthy in order that society will prosper in the future.

I welcome the budget changes regarding the elderly in our society. The increase of £5 per week is another indication of Fianna Fáil's commitment to our senior citizens. In the past my party demonstrated a recognition of the part played in society by our elder fellow citizens. The introduction of free travel by my party was regarded as a landmark decision. This increase, while not of the same magnitude, must rank as a generous gesture. The Minister demonstrated our commitment to the elderly by altering the capital acquisitions taxation provisions regarding the position of elderly brothers and sisters who share the family home. I was pleased to see this as the anomaly was a serious one and had been over-looked by Governments for many years.

I welcome the Minister's decision to increase the relief from inheritance tax from 60 per cent of the value of the home, or £80,000, to 80 per cent of the value, or £150,000, whichever is the lesser. Another example of our commitment to social inclusion is the increase of £1,000 per annum in the carer's allowance for the physically incapacitated and the mentally infirm. I welcome the allocation of £1.2 million to the marriage and child counselling and the family mediation service. As public representatives we have encountered the hardship and heartbreak of marital breakdown, particularly the effects on children. I readily acknowledge the great work done by many counselling and mediation services throughout the country. This work cannot be done on a shoestring. Society must accept its responsibilities in this field. I sincerely hope this is the beginning and I am sure this allocation will greatly assist these services in their good work.

I welcome the Minister's decision to allocate £20 million from the national lottery towards the continued development of Croke Park. The Minister has come in for some criticism in this regard. Everybody acknowledges the immense voluntary work carried out by the GAA in every parish. As a rural Deputy I fully appreciate the integral part played in community life by the Gaelic Athletic Association. The young people in our society are provided with recreational facilities by the GAA and the unselfish giving by members of the GAA of their time towards the development of our young athletes has been recognised by the Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats through this allocation.

State funding of a project of this nature is not uncommon elsewhere. We have only to look across the Irish Sea to Wales where the national sport is rugby and its national stadium, Cardiff Arms Park, is undergoing a complete reconstruction fully funded by the UK Exchequer. In the forthcoming Finance Bill I ask the Minister to examine the imposition of VAT on hurleys. This is one of the most serious problems encountered by the GAA, given that hurleys are quite expensive and that it takes considerable funds to run these clubs.

I welcome the initiatives in the budget dealing with agriculture. The full livestock headage will be paid to farmers in l998, towards which the Minister allocated £23 million, bringing the total to £110 million. This will ensure future competitiveness under the CAP. VAT refunds have been increased from 3.3 per cent to 3.6 per cent, which is equivalent to £8 million in a full year.

As regards young farmers, an allocation of £3.5 million has been made available for existing applicants and a new scheme for small farmers will be introduced next year. The current 100 per cent stock relief for young farmers will apply for four years instead of two. That clearly demonstrates the Government's commitment to young farmers. There will be an increase in expenditure of special capital allowance on pollution control from £20,000 to £30,000 from 5 April 1998. This will allow farmers to claim 50 per cent of capital expenditure up to £30,000 in any one year as an allowance. The support for farmers in the budget should stimulate on-farm investment and help young farmers through the initial years of taking over the farm. Coupled with those measures are the general taxation changes which also benefit farmers.

The Government's commitment to continued taxation reform is evident in this budget. There has been much debate about whether it is better to widen the tax bands or reduce the rates. The compromise introduced by the Minister will please many people, as can be seen from the opinion polls published in the national newspapers today. Cutting 2 per cent off the higher rate will encourage a willingness to earn higher income without people feeling that efforts made and overtime worked are not rewarded. A motivated workforce will help keep our booming economy on track.

On the business expansion scheme, the Minister has fine-tuned the legislation by reducing the amount of money which may be raised from £1 million to £250,000. That will have the desired effect of focusing on smaller indigenous enterprises as the legislation intended.

The State was founded 75 years ago this month. With that historic event, the dreams, ideas and aspirations of our founding fathers were realised. However, some people believed the new State would not succeed, that Ireland would not take its place among the nations of the world. It is uniquely appropriate that this budget should be presented by a Fianna Fáil Minister for Finance on the 75th anniversary of the founding of the State. The budget clearly demonstrates that the hopes and aspirations of that time have been realised, that the economy is soundly based and that as a nation we have taken our place. Fianna Fáil has done more during the past 75 years to achieve that than any other political party or organisation. In the coming years we will build on that and keep faith with the people who have supported us during that time.

Mr. Wall

The headlines about this budget declare it to be a give-away budget, but if the opinion poll in The Irish Times this morning is to be believed, the public is already aware at whom the give-away has been directed. The majority of taxpayers believe they would have done better if the Government had taken different options. It is difficult to fathom why the Government chose to take the route it followed. Fianna Fáil often claims credit for initiating social partnership. The former Taoiseach, Charles Haughey, put together the first Programme for National Recovery, but Fianna Fáil seems to have lost touch with developments since then. Social partnership represents an approach to the management of the economy which goes much further than mere pay agreements.

Partnership 2000, the latest partnership agreement, is among the most ambitious of the agreements. It contains commitments to the spending of £525 million on social inclusion measures as well as the customary tax reliefs for people in work. Because of the social position inherited by the Minister for Finance, the Government has been able to allocate this money in two years instead of three, as envisaged by the agreement, and that is welcome. In this context it is astonishing the Government has chosen to abandon the implicit understanding in the agreement that tax reliefs would be directed at people on lower and middle incomes. The reaction of the trade union movement, particularly SIPTU, to the Government's decision is understandable. A constituent of mine said the budget is worth an extra £3 in her pay packet, but given that this woman has to travel 150 miles per week to work, taking into account the increase in petrol, the extra money goes towards her transport costs.

Trade union leaders secured agreement to Partnership 2000 in good faith. As the economy expanded in recent years there has been a growing sense of frustration among workers that they are not getting a fair share of the cake they help to bake. When one sees the number of new cars on the road, particularly large cars such as BMWs and Mercedes, it is difficult not to have sympathy with that sentiment. Workers are aware the disparity between the well off and those on the other side of the spectrum has increased in recent years. They are entitled to expect that the Government's tax package would tackle this problem, but the contrary is the case.

I have heard criticism of previous budgets by some commentators who agree the rich fare better than those on low and middle incomes. The policy of increasing personal allowances and widening tax bands benefits those with money. In that sense a reduction in taxation is not a sufficient mechanism for reducing income disparities. This budget is unique in ensuring the well off fare better than the less well off in terms of the percentage of income they will gain from the tax reliefs announced in the budget. That has been described by many commentators as scandalous, and they are right.

It is not surprising SIPTU has reacted negatively to the budget. In short, the Minister has sold it a pup. Responsible trade unions which realise the advantages of partnership are aware this budget will make it more difficult for them to secure consent to future agreements. As a result of the Minister's actions, trade unions have a credibility problem with their members. I listened to the exchange between Des Geraghty of SIPTU and the Minister on the radio over the weekend. It is of concern that the Minister does not seem to understand, never mind acknowledge, the fundamental damage he has done to the strategy which underpins current economic success. The problem is compounded by some of the other measures announced in the budget.

There is no absolute measure of poverty or success in an economy. People at the bottom rung of the ladder fare much better than people in a comparable position 100 years ago. The only true measure of how one fares in society is by comparison with one's peers. Similarly, the only way one can determine how an individual has benefited from this budget is by comparison with how others have fared. In that context, the reduction in capital gains tax and the upper rate of corporation tax are inflammatory. The halving of capital gains tax is incredible. For a person selling £200,000 worth of shares after next April, the gain from the budget will be £20,000. The old adage that money begets money is truer now than ever, yet those who earn their living by their labour have fared badly in this budget. The reduction of 4 per cent in the upper corporation tax rate, as opposed to a 3 per cent reduction in the lower rate, is evidence that the Government has ignored the needs of small, mainly indigenous producers and given large companies and banks — whose recently announced large profits demonstrate they are doing extremely well — a huge dividend.

On this occasion also the Government eschewed a widening of the tax bands about which all one can say is that they are consistently bad and inequitable. This budget represents a missed opportunity to solve some of our pressing problems, for example, to tackle the interaction between our social welfare and taxation systems. Since simplicity is the key issue here, by far the easiest way to have resolved this problem would have been to raise personal allowances, thereby taking many people out of the tax net altogether. A special tax allowance for the unemployed is not available simultaneously with other employment schemes. Our taxation system is littered with poverty and unemployment traps and it is the responsibility of Government to tackle them.

I will cite one issue my party has attempted to raise. The Minister for Education and Science recently announced that families who hold a medical card would be exempt from State examination fees in respect of the junior and leaving certificates. This is a decision I support, but I must admit it will create additional problems. I ask the House to imagine the case of a family whose income exceeds the medical card eligibility limit by a mere £5 and who, despite that low income, will not benefit from this well intentioned move but instead will be penalised for working.

These are the kinds of issues needing urgent attention by the Government but which have been ignored in the preparation of this budget. However, it does contain some welcome provisions, such as the £5 increase for pensioners, an appropriate recognition of their efforts in building our society. I was disappointed to note that the fuel allowance, which is of special benefit to those living alone over the winter months, did not receive equal attention. Any such increase would have been welcomed by those unfortunate people who must travel the highways and byways to supplement their present miserly £5 fuel allowance.

The social welfare package is less than impressive when one examines it in detail. For example, I had hoped the widow's pension would have been increased by more than 4.4 per cent because, over the past four and a half years, I have had numerous representations made on their behalf. They appear to be the forgotten people in our society. On this occasion, when so much money was available, it is a pity their needs and concerns were not addressed more positively.

Numerous people coming to my clinic have been in receipt of disability benefit for more than 12 months and have not obtained the relevant medical clearance beyond that period to enable them claim invalidity pension. Yet other persons have been in receipt of disability benefit for anything between 18 and 21 months. When the 12 month term has expired, it is my belief that such persons should also be entitled to other allowances because invariably they experience enormous hardship which should be alleviated. I appeal to the Government to investigate the matter of those in receipt of disability benefit who exceed the 12 month time limit and to enable them apply for an invalidity pension and benefit from the provisions of other free schemes over that extended period.

The previous Government concentrated on addressing family poverty by substantially increasing child benefit. When in Government with my party, Fianna Fáil exerted considerable influence in granting the initial substantial increases in child benefit but, under the influence of the Progressive Democrats, it appears to have abandoned that sensible approach. There is nobody, ranging from commentators to the ordinary person in the street, who would not argue that there is no better means of improving the family structure than increasing the child benefit of each family unit. There is no other means of ensuring that mothers are guaranteed substantial support in the maintenance of their family structures. I hope the Minister will quickly realise this mistake and in his next budget revert to the agreement between the parties of the previous Government, when once again child benefit will be perceived as a major bulwark in maintaining the family structure. That departure from proven policy is all the more regrettable when one takes account of the fact that child dependant allowances in the case of social welfare recipients have been frozen. This is yet another example of an ideal opportunity to uphold the family structure having been ignored by the Government. That is inexplicable and means that families have fared worse under this budget than single people which, given the Government's rhetoric on families, is deeply disappointing.

As my party spokesman on finance, Deputy McDowell, indicated over the past weekend, none of these decisions is surprising. The Minister for Finance is one of the most ideological Members of the House, with a strong belief in the trickle-down effects of wealth creation and distribution. While he is entitled to his view, I had expected that the Taoiseach — who in the past was shown to have held different views — might have put a brake on his Minister but, on this occasion, with the Minister for Finance being backed by the Tánaiste, it appears he was unable to rein-in his Minister. This failure was unfortunate and, I suspect, already regretted by many Fianna Fáil supporters.

There has already been mention of the problems being encountered in the provision of various dental services. I ask the Minister to examine them since some families have to wait anything up to 28 months for orthodontic treatment for their children. Surely in our present strong financial climate, this should be rectified so that no child should have to endure orthodontic problems in this modern era. These problems sometimes lead to their being jeered in school by their fellow pupils.

The same applies in the case of the home help service operated by the Eastern Health Board. Sometimes a home help has to travel anything up to 15 miles for a miserly £2 per hour. Something must be done about this. Is it evidence of the great Celtic tiger, about which so much is spoken, that we require someone to travel anything from ten to 15 miles to be remunerated at that level for an hour's work? While that would not even pay for their petrol, I am aware of many people who, out of sympathy for the dependent person, will undertake such work regardless of the rate of remuneration. It is also my belief that the pilot programme initiated in respect of home attendance should be developed further to assist dependent people. Many senior citizens are badly in need of assistance at home, even with the dressing of wounds and other minor difficulties. The Department of Health and Children should consider expanding the home attendants service as the job of the home help is mainly to clean the house or light the fire.

In regard to the carer's allowance, many people look after their much loved kin. I became aware of a person recently who is caring for her sister 24 hours a day. I made an application on her behalf for the carer's allowance but the application was overruled on income grounds. I made further representations to the Eastern Health Board and, amazingly, it decided to give this person £2.50 per week. To make matters worse, that sum was to be paid on a monthly basis. We hear much talk about our booming economy, yet a person who is looking after her sister 24 hours a day receives a mere £2.50 per week. I strongly urge the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Health and Children to examine cases such as this to ensure they do not arise in the future. A person should not have to care for a family member for 24 hours per day. I have no doubt that person is giving tremendous care to her sister and that she would, if the finances were available, employ somebody to allow her have a break from her caring duties.

In my own constituency of Kildare South, there is an urgent need for industrial development. I have asked Ministers in the past to set up a task force in relation to this but I was told there was a great deal of industry in north Kildare, that the American methods of employment should be used and that the people of south Kildare should travel up to 50 miles to seek employment.

The Minister's statement on rural development referred to a pilot project in one area of Leitrim. The Minister does not live very far away from me in Kildare and I can assure him that similar projects will soon have to be initiated in south Kildare. Rural development is urgently needed because many of the people living in the area will have to move away because of a lack of initiative by relevant Ministers in respect of industry.

We have a major problem with drinking water supply in south Kildare. Six hundred students in the various schools in Castledermot had to beg for drinking water from one of the major suppliers of natural water to allow them attend their classes and prepare for their examinations, despite the existence of the south Kildare group water scheme. When I asked the Minister about this matter I was told that there were no finances available.

There is a similar problem in relation to road development. The infrastructure in certain parts of north Kildare is excellent but in the southern areas of the county such as Castledermot, Moone, Timolin and Athy, there is urgent need for road improvements to allow for industrial development.

I want to make an observation in regard to the budget day process. It is ludicrous that the Opposition is asked to respond immediately to a budget as soon as the Minister concludes his Budget Statement. It would be more appropriate to suspend the House at that stage or immediately following the passage of the necessary financial motions to allow the Opposition carefully consider the budget and all its details. Such a system would allow for a more reasoned and informed debate.

Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation (Dr. McDaid)

I wish to share my time with Deputies Cooper-Flynn and Keaveney.

An Ceann Comhairle

That is agreed.

Dr. McDaid

As Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, but particularly as the first Minister for Sport and Recreation, I welcome the opportunity to state that this budget delivered handsomely to both sport and tourism. The provisions made by my colleague, the Minister for Finance, will have a significant impact on the development of sport and tourism.

For the first time the Government of the day fully recognised the importance of sport both in our national life and in our local communities. Minister McCreevy's first budget will be recognised as an historic one for the development of Irish sport.

As a former Minister for Tourism, Deputy McCreevy also recognised the enormous importance of tourism to our national economy. Tourism is our second largest industry and accounts for one job in 12. Tourism has turned out to be the Celtic tiger's most vivacious cub. However, I remind the Minister and the Department of Finance that tiger cubs have a propensity to devour unless they are catered for. Thankfully, the Minister addressed that in the budget. The strong must always look after the weak and tourism has been one of the strengths of this economy.

On budget day, amidst other concerns, some of the important details of what was provided for my Department may have been lost in the usual verbal melee. Let me set out exactly what this Government has done.

Croke Park will receive £20 million over three years —£7 million in 1998. A total of £20 million will be provided towards the development of a national stadium for Gaelic games at Croke Park. The £20 million will go towards the £81 million cost of completing the different phases of the GAA's development plan. This will include the construction of a new stand at the canal end, the replacement of the Hogan Stand, the redevelopment of the Nally Stand and integration with Hill 16. A total of £7 million will be provided in 1998, £7 million in 1999 and £6 million in the year 2000.

There will be a special scheme for investment in certain hotels in particular parts of the country where the unrestricted availability of capital allowances to individual investors will continue. The areas I have in mind are counties where there are insufficient hotels of three star or higher standard and where an investment in upgrading facilities will help spread some of the tourist traffic to those parts of the country which, up to now, have not shared fully in the overall increase in tourist numbers. The counties proposed are Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Mayo, Monaghan, Roscommon and Sligo, excluding the designated seaside resorts in those counties.

The special tourism marketing initiative of £3.5 million was announced for 1998. The increased provision will provide for tourism marketing initiatives on special projects such as the Ryder Cup, overseas marketing in a wider spread of countries and an increased emphasis, of which I have spoken previously, on regional tourism promotion. This provision is in addition to the £5 million already provided for extra marketing funds in 1998.

The current sports expenditure of £1.75 million in 1998 will allow for a number of significant initiatives in sport which are at an advanced stage of preparation. One such initiative will be to provide for drug testing in sport which I made a priority on coming into office. Other initiatives will be designed to support our high performance athletes and our ever-increasing sporting talent. These additional moneys represent 21 per cent increase over 1997 in current sports spending.

Capital sports expenditure of £3 million in 1998 represents a 50 per cent increase on the £6 million already provided for 1998 and will be a significant boost to sporting activity at community level where individual clubs and schools benefit. The interdepartmental policy committee's pilot programme on integrated service delivery in disadvantaged areas was allocated £750,000 for 1998. That committee will oversee that project which is aimed at securing the integrated delivery of all State funded services in a number of urban areas of severe social disadvantage and deprivation.

This budget delivers on the promise of synergy and innovation which was implicit in the establishment of the Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation. The Dáil is fully aware of the importance of the tourism industry in Ireland and its ever increasing growth has been well documented. By establishing the Department of Tourism, Sport and Recreation, the Government not only continued to acknowledge the important role tourism plays in our economy but also recognised that sport and recreation can make a valuable contribution to it. As the Taoiseach said in this House on 26 June last, "sport has the same importance for national well-being as, for example, arts and culture".

I very much welcome the additional moneys allocated in the budget to current and capital programmes for sport for 1998. In total they amount to an increase of 95 per cent in 1998 over 1997. Spending on sport in 1997 was £13.348 million while in 1998 it will increase to £25.996 million. Leaving the £7 million for Croke Park in 1998 out of the equation, that will mean a sizeable increase compared to spending on sport in 1997. My Department will take over responsibility for swimming pools from the Department of the Environment, a matter which is currently under discussion. The provision in this regard, which was £3.5 million in 1997, will increase to £4 million in 1998. I also remind the House that the Government is committed to building a 50-metre swimming pool in 1998 and I will bring proposals on this to Government after I have received the tendering proposals which I hope to have early in the new year.

The increase in current sports spending will enable me to implement a range of new initiatives and to enhance a number of existing programmes in the development of sport. Areas of social and economic disadvantage are a priority for me and for the Government, and I am anxious that such areas should be targeted in particular. Sport can play a very special role in tackling problems of disadvantage. The provision of opportunities to take part in sport can greatly improve the quality of life, counteract the dangers of drug abuse and involvement in crime and provide positive and challenging activities for children and young people at risk in areas of disadvantage.

Addictions of all kinds lead to ill-health and misery, whether it is addiction to drugs, drink or tobacco. I would like those addictions among our young people replaced by an addiction to sport. Where stands the medical profession on this matter today? I compare the medical profession's position to that of someone attempting to wipe up the mess caused by a tap left running in a basement sink with the stopper in place. We should pull out the stopper and initiate prevention measures at the other end.

The timing of this increase is also connected with my plans to introduce a Bill early in the next year to put the Sports Council on a statutory basis and to facilitate the establishment of the council as an independent statutory body before the end of the year.

The additional funding will enable me to enhance the level and quality of support for our emerging and high performance sports people. A holistic support system will be put in place to include coaching, competitive, medical, physiological, scientific and financial backup for our top competitors. This is particularly important as we work towards success in the Sydney Olympic Games in the year 2000. National governing bodies of sport will also be encouraged to raise standards in competition and coaching as well as increasing participation in sport, especially by children and young people.

I regard the funding of sport as a sound investment in the health of our people.

Mr. Sheehan

The Minister should not put all his eggs in the one basket.

Dr. McDaid

A commitment to the level of fitness and the healthy lifestyle required for participation in sport would surely lead to significant savings in expenditure on health and medicines for the State and for individuals. We have increased our health budget by £1 billion in five years. That is something we should consider and we should pull out the stopper and initiate measures in the preventive area.

I would like to mention, in particular, the Government's decision to allocate funding to the GAA. It surely says a lot about the place the GAA holds in the hearts and minds of the our people that of the many measures dealt with in this budget, probably more column inches of newsprint and hours of air time have been directed to the allocation of £20 million to the development of Croke Park over a three year period. The Gaelic Athletic Association holds a unique position at the very core of Ireland's sporting and cultural heritage and has done so for more than a century. In that time it has provided our country's youth with facilities for recreation, training and community involvement on a scale unequalled by any other organisation. Throughout its history the association has consistently ploughed back the profits from its efforts into the developing and upgrading of facilities at club, county, provincial and national level. Nowhere is this policy more apparent than in the magnificent development that has already taken place at the association's headquarters in Croke Park.

It is in that context the Government considered the association's submission for assistance towards the completion of its £138 million development plan which will turn Croke Park into a showcase stadium of international quality.

The funding will be provided from national lottery funds amounting to £7 million in 1998, £7 million in 1999 and £6 million in the year 2000. It is a contribution towards a massive investment programme in Croke Park, which has been the flagship stadium for the GAA, the biggest and most successful amateur sporting organisation in the world. The UK Government gave £120 million to Wembley Stadium. Croke Park will have a capacity of 84,000 people and anyone who called there recently to see the developments would have seen the new museum that has been put in place, which I am sure will be an important additional tourist attraction on the north side of Dublin. The GAA has invested more than £1 billion in the provision of aid, whether in Munster, Ulster, Connacht or Leinster. What it has done over the past years is to its credit.

Ms Cooper-Flynn

I thank the Minister, Deputy McDaid, for sharing his time with me. I welcome the budget introduced by the Minister for Finance, Deputy McCreevy. It is a courageous and balanced budget which shows an element of foresight and recognises the needs of people living in rural communities, such as me and others in the county I represent. This budget was introduced at a time of record growth in our economy. The forecast growth for 1988 is 8 per cent and we also enjoyed that growth rate in 1997. This compares very favourably with other EU countries which have growth in the region of 2 per cent. Inflation is at 1.5 per cent and as a result of those economic indicators 50,000 additional jobs will be created this year and hopefully a similar number in 1998.

I welcome the tax changes introduced in the budget by the Minister, Deputy McCreevy. I am delighted he decided to reward the PAYE sector because when we were in a financial crisis and needed money the business and the PAYE sectors were targeted. Now when we have a booming economy with a record level of growth it is time to return some of the benefits gained by the economy to the taxpayers. I welcome the 2 per cent reduction in the standard and higher rates of tax. It will mean a significant increase in the take home pay of all our people.

I also welcome the Minister's decision to reduce capital gains tax from 40 per cent to 20 per cent. This decision rewards the business sector but releases a great deal of money for potential investment in our economy. It also legitimises many business deals. In the past, people may have hoarded money and attempted not to sell off their assets because of the very punitive level of capital gains tax to which they were subject. The 20 per cent rate is to be welcomed as is the fact that we have a Minister for Finance who is not afraid to reward the business community and the PAYE sector. Ministers seem to have shied away from that for too long. I also welcome the reduction from 36 to 32 per cent in corporation tax. That reduction is greatly welcomed by members of the business community. As well as rewarding the taxpayer and the business community, this has also been a very caring budget. It is the first time anything significant has been done for the long-term unemployed. A married man with four children who has been out of work for a number of years now enjoys an extra tax free allowance of £3,000 plus an additional allowance of £1,000 in respect of each of his children. Such a man can earn an extra £7,000 per year in addition to his other allowances before entering the tax net in year one. He will receive two thirds of that amount in year two and one third in year three. There is now no reason for an unemployed person to shy away from returning to the workforce. This is the first time any real incentive has been given to an unemployed person to rejoin the workforce and I welcome that development. While I know that bodies representing the unemployed will always argue that we have not gone far enough, they do recognise this as a significant step. There are large numbers of unemployed people in my county and this will help to create the correct environment to get many of those back in the workforce.

I also welcome the Minister's decision to increase the number of places on the back to work allowance scheme from 22,000 to 27,000. That goes to prove that this budget has achieved the proper balance between reductions in taxation and caring for the people in society who must be looked after.

The decision to increase the old age pension and related pensions by £5 per week is particularly commendable. We have heard a lot of talk from the Opposition benches on this issue. When they were in Government, the Opposition parties did not have the courage to give something of substance to old age pensioners. This Government is giving them an extra £5 per week or more than £20 per month. Across all levels of pensions, this represents an increase of between 6 and 7.5 per cent. I could even sense Opposition Members' embarrassment on this issue on budget day when they held their heads low.

Mr. Sheehan

There will be many disappointed pensioners in the Deputy's constituency when they read the contents of the budget.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Deputy Cooper-Flynn, without interruption, please.

Ms Cooper-Flynn

I sense Opposition Members' embarrassment again today at the fact that it took a Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats Government to introduce increases in the region of 6 to 7.5 per cent for old age pensioners. These people have contributed to our society and they deserve, in their old age, to reap some of the rewards of our economy at a time of unprecedented economic growth.

I am delighted to see an increase of £36.8 million in expenditure on health in 1998. In a full year this will amount to £61.8 million. This brings the total funding available to health services in 1998 to £2,964 million, a 9 per cent increase on 1997 figures. Excluding the funding of £100 million for hepatitis C, it is a 7.25 per cent increase. This is very significant at a time when it is much needed. I welcome the additional funding in the areas of dental services, cancer services, the reduction of waiting lists for our hospitals, mental health services and services for older people, to mention a few.

I will now turn to the area of agriculture which is particularly relevant in my constituency where many farmers rely on headage payments for their total income. I welcome the Minister for Finance's decision to provide £23 million additional expenditure for headage payments. That is very welcome and the farming bodies in this country recognise that this is a good and positive budget for farmers.

I am delighted to note that £3.5 million is being provided to pay outstanding installation aid applications. I am also happy to note that the Minister for Agriculture and Food is about to enter into negotiations to introduce a new focused scheme of installation aid in the near future.

I welcome the increase in the farm pollution control allowance from £20,000 to £30,000. These benefits have improved the lot of Irish farmers. I am somewhat disappointed that funding was not made available for the control of farmyard pollution grant. However, we must recognise this is year one of a five year programme and I am optimistic that something may happen in this regard in the near future.

The Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation mentioned he would like to see young people addicted to sport. That is an excellent theory. I would like to see a reduction in the number of people addicted to cigarettes. I am delighted the Minister for Finance has added 10 pence to the price of a packet of cigarettes and I am sorry it is not 50 pence. I also welcome recent EU decisions in relation to the banning of tobacco and tobacco-related products. It is unfortunate that in a society where 70 per cent of people do not smoke and 75 per cent of those who do want to stop smoking, we are confronted with glossy tobacco advertising every time we open a Sunday newspaper. These advertisements attempt to lure young people into this habit. Given that so many smokers die each year, tobacco firms must attract young people to this dirty habit in order to survive. Smoking kills 6,000 people in Ireland each year and 500,000 people in the EU. I compliment the Minister for Health and Children for supporting the EU measure to ban tobacco products. Every possible measure must be taken to outlaw the introduction of this habit into young people's lives. It is neither sexy nor cool to smoke cigarettes; it is a dirty habit which endangers people's health. I believe that if cigarette advertising were not so glossy and attractive, fewer people would take up the habit.

I compliment the Minister on a very innovative scheme for rural renewal. I am only sorry he chose to introduce the pilot scheme, which will offer a number of tax incentives, in the Shannon region although I do not begrudge this to the people there. I am delighted that the pilot scheme will be introduced if it receives EU approval but I am sorry it will not operate in north Mayo. The plight of the people there is very serious indeed and in the interests of rural revival something concrete must be done along these lines. I am confident that if the scheme receives EU approval and is successful, it will be implemented in other regions. I am hopeful that north Mayo will feature strongly next year when the Minister delivers the second of his five budgets.

The hotel scheme is good news for county Mayo. Under the scheme, unrestricted capital allowances are provided for investors in hotel projects, particularly in the counties of Cavan, Leitrim, Monaghan, Roscommon, Donegal, Mayo and Sligo. Last year, a number of towns in County Mayo benefited under the seaside resorts scheme. I am delighted to note that scheme is being extended by one year to allow projects which are currently in the pipeline to be completed where difficulties were being experienced in reaching the June 1998 deadline. The hotel project is a very interesting and innovative development which I believe will bring investors, who might have contemplated investing their money elsewhere, into County Mayo and the other six counties. The scheme will benefit tourism in all of these counties because, if any tourism product is to be successful, one must have adequate bed nights in the county. That is an area in which there is a shortfall at the moment and I am delighted the Minister has included County Mayo in this scheme.

This is year one of a five year programme. Fianna Fáil entered into a contract with the people; prior to the general election we drew up a manifesto on which we were subsequently elected. I am confident the Minister for Finance has commenced the implementation of that programme and I am confident, having read the contents of the budget, that contract will be honoured by this Government. I compliment the Minister.

Cecilia Keaveney

I thank the Minister, Deputy McDaid, and Deputy Cooper-Flynn for sharing their time with me. I am happy to speak on the remarkable budget delivered last week. I congratulate the Minister for Finance, Deputy McCreevy, on the first of five, and possibly more, budgets.

The budget offered tax reform, investment in the economy, a great deal of progress towards social inclusion and an aspiration to reduce our national debt in a single package. That is remarkable by anybody's standards. Everybody gained, including those who work, those who have no work, those who are categorised as too old or too young to work and those who are unable to work. Workers are pleased by the lowering of both the standard and the higher rates of tax. The elderly received an increase of £5 per week, which is far greater than the level of inflation, and an increase in income tax limits for people over 65. Welfare recipients will receive an extra £3 per week which is also above the level of inflation.

An important change is the increase in the thresholds for family income supplement. From October next year eligibility will be judged on net rather than gross income. There is an increase in child benefit and real recognition for people with disabilities. Small changes will have a large impact. The entitlement to a travel pass for all recipients of the carer's allowance might look small but it is important for the recipients. The 7.25 per cent increase in the health service budget, excluding moneys for hepatitis C, will be significant for many people. The introduction of tax relief for donations to domestic charities is also important.

Reductions in vehicle registration tax will be significant for the competitiveness of car dealers in Border areas. An important development for people who are trying to move into employment is the expansion of the community employment schemes. There is an increase of 5,000 places on the back-to-work scheme and generous tax reliefs for the long-term unemployed to encourage them back to work.

There are many other important elements in the budget and few people lost out. The price of unleaded petrol and diesel will remain the same —another important issue in Border areas — as will the price of drink. I welcome the extra £23 million for headage payments for farmers, which is of great significance for rural Deputies. It is important that this money is spent in disadvantaged areas and that farmers in these areas continue to receive such supports. We are anxious to keep people in rural Ireland and they need our support to stay. The £3.5 million installation aid was vital and I urge the Minister for Agriculture and Food to introduce another such scheme, albeit with tighter criteria. That scheme is of great importance in rural areas.

Other general and specific taxation provisions in relation to capital gains tax, increases in farmers' flat rate of VAT, refund extensions of the stock relief and so forth are also welcome. The commitment to examine the cross-Border personal taxation issue given by the Minister is most important for my constituency. The Minister promised to look at the issue in the context of the Finance Bill and the Taoiseach underlined that commitment in his speech on the budget. I welcome this development. I hope the Minister will continue to understand the importance of this issue for people in Border areas, particularly County Donegal.

My constituency is an area of disadvantage and peripherality and I congratulate the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation on the policy to develop high quality hotels in such areas. However, when the seaside resorts scheme is being reviewed I hope places such as Moville and Buncrana, which have suffered isolation as a result of the troubles, will be included. If better quality hotels are to be built, there must be a parallel measure to deal with valuations. If people improve a facility in an area which has not developed to a great degree it would be unfair to impose a high valuation on the property. In that case the value they have achieved in one pocket will be removed from another.

The proposal of a review group to examine housing aid for the elderly appears to be a small measure but it will be highly significant. Bodies such as the North-Western Health Board are doing tremendous work in this area with small amounts of money. They are starved of resources so I look forward to the results of the deliberations of the review group. They could have important repercussions for the elderly.

With regard to the allocation of funds for Croke Park, positive youth developments in relation to sport and recreation are most important. Access to funding for sporting and recreational facilities will be vital, not only in Croke Park but in every part of the country. I will call on my constituency colleague, Deputy McDaid, for assistance for local clubs in our constituency. They need every assistance to overcome their peripherality and to ensure that Donegal can soon reclaim the Sam Maguire.

This budget puts money in people's pockets. No area should be handicapped geographically and there should be more job creation in my constituency. There should also be further decentralisation of offices and urban development. Tourism is the way forward for Donegal and there should be more infrastructural investment, especially in marine facilities. There should also be greater cross-Border co-operation in matters such as developing the A5 and the train and air services. There are many problems in the education, health, farming and fishing sectors. There are other problems in the lives of the elderly, workers, those unable to work, the young and those without work. However, this budget takes the country a constructive and positive step forward. I look forward to the next four steps and to many more in the next century.

Mr. Perry

I wish to share my time with Deputy Sheehan.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Is that agreed? Agreed.

Mr. Perry

During the election campaign the parties proposed to make an assault on disadvantage and to halt the continuing drift towards the development of a two tier society. For a while it appeared that Fianna Fáil in Government would implement these promises. Leaders of the employers' group IBEC, the Irish Congress of Trades Unions and ISME were told over a month ago that the tax package would benefit low and middle income earners. This was to be achieved by increasing tax free allowances and widening the tax bands.

Under this budget a single person earning £10,000 per year will get an increase of £213 per annum, a benefit of 2.9 per cent, whereas a person earning £50,000 will take home an extra £1,045, or 3.7 per cent more in real terms. The Government has pointed to the increase of £5 per week in the old age pension and £3 per week in social welfare payments in support of its claim that the vulnerable were looked after. Five pounds is a small increase. Huge increases in the cost of living, particularly fuel costs in winter, mean that £5 is, in effect, the price of a bag of coal.

The Government cites changes in corporation tax and capital gains tax as measures which will encourage investment and boost employment. In the context of employment, the measures to improve work incentives and the employment chances of the unemployed, such as assessing eligibility for family income supplement on net income, double tax allowance for employers who hire the long-term unemployed and extra places on the back-to-work scheme, are welcome. However, there appears to be confusion among the unemployed about the practical details of many of the schemes and payments in existence, in addition to the many agencies which provide them. Does the Government intend to simplify these schemes, perhaps by reducing their number and by making direct employment schemes more focused on the long-term unemployed? While the schemes are welcome, many long-term unemployed people are unable to get work.

The current FÁS scheme in rural areas only allows a 10 per cent re-engagement, which is a major disadvantage. While there is a huge boom in the economy it does not appear to be reducing the number of unemployed dramatically. An incentive could be given to employers to offer in-house training to the unemployed whereby funds could be made available to employers who take the time to train personnel. That would be money well spent.

The budget widened the gap between the rich and the poor. This is not desirable as a number of people have not benefited from the economic boom. People borrow unnecessarily and are committed in the long term. Financial institutions are making money available too readily and people will borrow beyond their limit, which will cause problems in the future.

While I welcome the reduction in the amount which can be raised by a company under the BES scheme, I am disappointed that some fund managers such as AIB and ICC and clearing houses do not intend to raise BES funding because the figure was reduced. This is a mistake because the reduction in the amount from £1 million to £250,000 is a good measure. It was welcomed by the small industrial sector which is creating a huge number of jobs, particularly in the west. People should be encouraged to go into business because it is not easy.

The Government should discuss the matter with the big lenders to dispel the fear about the reduction of the amount. About 51,000 jobs are created by small firms. The BES scheme should be encouraged, particularly in the service industry. I support the reduction and I hope financial institutions take it on board. Small firms are disappointed by the reaction of fund managers but I hope this will change.

I welcome the introduction of the hotel expansion scheme in the industry blackspots and the fact that Sligo is included. There is no hotel in south Sligo and I hope the scheme will be taken up there. While tourism is promoted in areas which have been neglected up to now, hotels are important structures which are needed in all the counties included in the scheme.

The reduction of 2 per cent in both tax rates will boost most pay packets from next April. However, it is disappointing that the standard rate band was not widened more. The band was increased by £200 to bring it to a round figure of £20,000 for a married couple. A single person, as distinct from a widowed individual, is placed in the top rate of 46 per cent on pay levels close to average industrial earnings. When the employee's PRSI contribution of 6.75 per cent is added, the merged tax and PRSI rate is 52.25 per cent on earnings up to £24,000. In addition the employer has to pay a 12 per cent contribution. The net effect is that it costs a total of £23.45 to give an employee an extra £10 per week in take home pay. This discourages the service industry from taking on staff. The difference of £13.45 is an infamous tax wedge much loved by economists and I hope it is reduced considerably in future budgets. Reducing the employer's contribution will increase the opportunity to recruit additional staff.

While the Celtic tiger roars everywhere else, the west needs major support. While I welcome some of the schemes which will promote the development of tourism, particularly in the hotels sector, much remains to be done. While 55,000 jobs were created in the south, only 2,000 were created in the west. The Minister could have done more to help the peripheral regions which need advantages. I hope the Minister will look at tax designation for rural renewal schemes in villages and towns. It will be a sad day for the west if we lose the structure of development. We should encourage the business sector to invest in communities.

There seem to be major problems with the development of the rail network. The Government indicated it is seeking Structural Funding which it said will be difficult to obtain. Given the buoyant economy, the Government should spend Exchequer funds on the rail network. It is a sad state of affairs that in 1997, tilley lamps are being used as the transmission system on the Sligo to Mullingar line. Carriages are also outdated. Half a million people travel from Sligo to Dublin by rail. For £10 million, the cost of one bypass, the Government would get a huge return on its investment.

Mr. Sheehan

Many Deputies do not seem to understand that this Santa Claus budget has a sting in its tail. I welcome the increase of £5 per week in contributory pensions. However, why did the Minister increase the non-contributory pension by only £3 per week? The bulk of pensioners are under the impression they will get an increase of £5 per week. They will get a big surprise when the increase comes into force next June. This has created a two-tier society in the elderly community.

The Minister gave dependent relatives of non-contributory pensioners an increase of £1.20 per week whereas dependants of contributory pensioners will get an increase of £1.50 per week. There is a variation of 30p between both categories of dependants. Is it cheaper for a non-contributory pensioner to rear a dependant than a contributory pensioner? The same increase should apply across the board. This is an example of penny pinching at a time when the Celtic tiger dominates our economy.

The Minister saw fit to increase the children's allowance by 37p per week, which would pay for a bar of chocolate for a child. The second child did a little better and was given the equivalent of two bars of chocolate. What a big deal for the recipients of the children's allowance. The Minister should be ashamed to give out increases of pennies to the most vulnerable section of our community at a time when the Celtic tiger is raging.

Why did the Minister not generously increase the winter fuel allowance? The present rate of £5 per week would not purchase a bucket of coal. Everyone knows that the cheapest one hundred-weight of coal costs £12. The Minister forgot about increasing the £5 allowance. This is cold comfort to the shivering old age pensioners. When the unemployed get their rise of only £3 next June, they too will have sad memories of this Minister and his famous Santa Claus budget.

I welcome the increase in the family income supplement and the new criteria for calculating the allowance based on net income. It should apply to all benefits, for example, eligibility for medical cards, grants for third level education, etc.

Can the Minister say why increases in pensions will not be introduced until June 1998, increases in child benefit will not be introduced until September 1998, family income supplement will not be increased until October 1998, the increase in the carer's allowance will not be introduced until September 1998, and changes in the free schemes will not be introduced until September 1998, shortly before the introduction of another budget in November 1998? This is a three-card trick by this Government to deny all sections of our community their meagre increases until at least three quarters of the year has elapsed. It is amazing that increases provided for in a budget early in December will not be given before the best part of the fiscal year is up. Who does the Minister think he is fooling? Does he think people are fools? They thought the increases would be paid from 1 January. When they realise they will have to wait nine months before they get the meagre increases announced by the Minister they will not be impressed. Nor are they impressed with such meagre increases at a time when the Celtic tiger is creating a boom in our economy.

The Minister was very generous in giving £20 million to Croke Park. I do not begrudge the GAA the money. It is a great institution which plays its part in catering for young people, and I appreciate its efforts. However, there are other major playing pitches that could have done with some of that £20 million. One example is Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork where our recent county final had to be played on a quagmire. However, the Minister has put all his eggs in one basket. Is it because Croke Park is in the Taoiseach's constituency? I hope the Minister waves his magic wand and gives the GAA more money for the provincial centres which are so much in need of it.

The Minister did nothing about the long waiting lists for hip, optical and other medical procedures. Is he aware of the serious lack of funding for hospitals?

What is the Government's policy on country roads? Some roads in my county have not seen a drop of tar or a shovel of chippings for the past 30 years. West Cork lost its railway in the late 1950s. On that occasion we were promised an upgrading of our road network to secondary and national status. However, there is not one mile of national primary route from Cork city to Mizen Head and Dursey Sound, an area bigger than some counties of Ireland. We have no train service, no national primary road, and we get no grants to upgrade our road system or replace seriously flawed bridges. We have been left out in the cold. I do not understand why the Minister did not do something about that.

The budget gave nothing to agriculture. No money was provided for the reintroduction of the farm installation grant, which was terminated by the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Deputy Walsh, in August this year. The farm installation grant was the only thing to which young trained farmers looked forward when they got their EC green certificate. Two thousand young farmers were presented with EC green certificates this year. Of those, 500 are in Cork county, the home of the Minister for Agriculture and Food. However, he does not seem to have had any clout at the Cabinet table. It seems he was unable to persuade the Minister for Finance to fund the reintroduction of the farm installation grant. I am informed that interest in the EC green certificate has faded since the abolition of the £5,600 farm installation grant for young farmers. I call on Deputies Healy-Rae and Mildred Fox to vote against the Government if it does not reintroduce it. That is the only way to teach this Government a lesson. What will the people of south Kerry and Wicklow think of their representatives if they do not stand up and fight for their share of the cake?

The Minister promised to reintroduce farm improvement grants on his return to office. What about the export of live cattle to the Middle East? The last shipment of cattle left Greenore for the Middle East in November l996 and no beasts have been exported since then. In a glossy pamphlet containing a photograph of him and the Taoiseach which was issued to farmers last May, the Minister said that, if returned to office, he would send a boat packed with cattle to the Middle East within six weeks. However, the boat is still anchored and I am afraid it will remain that way for a long time. The price of cattle is down approximately £200 a head compared to this time last year. This has been caused by the mis-handling of the problem by the Minister.

What has happened to the promised aid for family butchers? Last May the Minister said he would give financial aid to family butchers to upgrade their abattoirs. However, they have not been paid one penny for this purpose. Even though butchers' backs are to the wall the Minister proposed upgrading an abattoir in Cairo so that it could handle the shipment of cattle which was supposed to be sent to Egypt. However, the boat never arrived. I hope the Minister has not given money to the Egyptians to improve this abattoir without first getting an assurance that they will take our cattle.

The Minister did not provide funding in the budget for the promising aquaculture and mariculture industries. He did not even refer to the marine industry in his Budget Statement. It is a sad day for the fishing industry when the Minister for Finance ignores it on budget day. The Minister does not seem to be au fait with what is happening in rural areas. What measures are being introduced to promote fish processing? Last year we imported 14,450 tonnes of fish at a cost of £51.4 million. At the same time we are dumping fish because they have not realised a flat price. Why has the Minister not made sufficient finance available to the marine industry to promote fish processing?

The Germans, Danes and Norwegians process herring fillets and export roe to Japan at a very high price. They also export herrings in wine, brine, mustard and cider to many countries. Yet our fishermen can do nothing with the herring caught in the Celtic Sea. The miserable £3 per box they receive does not even pay for the fuel burnt by the trawlers which catch the fish. When I asked the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources to pay a subsidy to herring fishermen for three months to offset the disastrous low price of £3 per box he told me politely this could not be done. No help has been given to misfortunate fishermen who have to make high repayments on their fishing vessels and who have to sell their product at a rock bottom price. Ten years ago herrings made £10 per box, while today they make only £3.

It is time the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources decentralised more sections of his Department to rural areas. Why has he not seen fit to decentralise the aquaculture and mariculture sections of his Department to my town of Bantry, the Mecca of the aquaculture industry? I made this appeal to the Minister at the meeting of the Select Committee yesterday and I hope he does not turn a deaf ear to it. This section of the Department should have been decentralised to Bantry many years ago.

It may not be too late to introduce a Supplementary Estimate to cover the important items highlighted by me. I hope my appeal will not fall on deaf ears. South-west Cork could also benefit from the hotel expansion scheme. There are some very good hotels in the area but they need to be upgraded. The same applies to other counties in the west. I hope the Minister accedes to my request and ensures reason prevails.

Minister of State at the Department of Public Enterprise (Mr. Jacob)

I wish to share my time with the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Woods.

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

Is that agreed? Agreed.

Debate adjourned.