I may need the permission of the House to share my time with Deputy Tony Dempsey, if he arrives in time.
Book of Estimates, 2003: Motion (Resumed).
The following motion was moved by the Minister for Finance on Tuesday, 19 November 2002:
That Dáil Éireann commends the 2003 Estimates for Public Services (Abridged) published by the Minister for Finance on 14th November, 2002.
Debate resumed on amendment No. 1:
To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:
"rejects the Book of Estimates for 2003 which have failed to initiate any serious reform of public services to deliver value for money but have simply targeted the easy options for cutting spending without heed to their impact on the economy or the community."
–(Deputy R. Bruton).
We are anxious to hear the Minister.
I welcome this opportunity to speak in this debate on the Abridged Estimates for 2003. I wish at the outset to place the Education Estimates in the general context of Government policy.
In terms of an overall strategy for the Estimates for 2003, the Government is strongly of the view that we need to take prudent decisions now to protect the gains of recent years and to prepare the country for the anticipated upturn in the economy. Failure to follow a sound economic policy would inevitably result in returning us to the position we faced in the late 1980s when there were massive cuts in public spending. The Government is not prepared to put at risk the advances of the last five years.
A recurrent theme of this debate has been that the background to framing the Estimates for 2003 has not been as favourable as in previous years. We have seen a significant slowing of the economy and this has impacted on tax revenue.
The 2003 Estimates for education continue the progress made in relation to the Government's massive investment in education since 1997. For example, in 1997 the gross education budget was €2.92 billion and in 2003 it will be €5.65 billion, an increase of €2.73 billion or almost 94%. The increases in capital spending have been even more dramatic with the investment level rising from €123 million in 1997 to €508 million in 2003. As far as first and second level education are concerned, capital funding in 1997 was €93 million and in 2003 it will be €338 million. This represents an increase of more than 350% over five years.
There have been achievements across all sectors of education, some of which were mentioned in the recent OECD publication "Education at a Glance 2002" and the House has a right to feel proud of this progress. The OECD report draws particular attention to the success some countries, including Ireland, have had in combining high quality education with social equity. This finding shows that our schools are having much success in ensuring that all students, whatever their backgrounds, can develop to their potential and is a great tribute to the work of both teachers and the school authorities.
For 2003, the Education Estimate on the current side will total €5.1 billion, an increase of €290 million, or 6%, on the 2002 Estimate. This increase, although significant and almost twice as high as the current increase across all Departments, is lower than in recent years. This brings the need for prioritisation to the forefront. I have already said publicly that my priority is to assist the most disadvantaged people in the education system. Consequently, I have decided that for 2003 priority will be afforded to specific targeted programmes for tackling education disadvantage and for primary and post-primary education.
The level of investment provided for in the current Estimates will enable us to maintain existing services and make further progress in a number of key areas. The provision for resource teachers and special needs assistants in primary schools has been increased further in the 2003 Estimates. My policy is to ensure the maximum possible integration of children with special needs into mainstream schools.
The 2003 Estimates provide for 2,400 whole-time equivalent resource teachers supporting children with disabilities. Over €100 million has been provided in 2003 for the employment of special needs assistants in primary schools. The level of special needs assistants has increased from fewer than 300 in 1998 to approximately 5,000 in 2003.
We will be developing the national council for special education in 2003 and that is provided for in the Estimates. We have also increased the provision for school retention initiatives to €23 million in 2003. The school completion programme will be expanded in 2003. The objective of that programme is to provide for a range of interventions in areas of disadvantage that support the retention of young people in education.
An area of continuing concern to me and the Government is that of access by adults to education after they leave school, especially those who leave school early. That priority is recognised in these Estimates where there is an increase of €5.9 million for the full-year costs of the Back to Education initiative. Also, an extra 6,000 part-time places have been approved in 2002. The area of further education has also received increases and the programme that has been rolled out over the past four or five years is being expanded even further.
Regarding schools, I want to put capital investment in the primary and secondary sectors on a sound footing. Much as I would like to do so, I cannot solve all of the problems in a short space of time. For that reason, I have proposed with the Minister of Finance that we agree a five year envelope for investment in these two areas to be financed through a combination of Exchequer funding and public private partnership. I look forward to that happening in the very near future.
The Estimates show a consolidation of the progress of recent years in providing funding for the education sector despite the more difficult economic environment and the many demands on the Government's finances. The provision for education in the 2003 Estimate is a clear demonstration of the priority that this Government has accorded to education.
Ar dtús báire, gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as ucht gur roinn sé a chuid ama féin liom agus gur thug sé seans dom caint faoi chúrsaí Meastachán, go mórmhór chomh fada is a bhaineann siad le cúrsaí oideachais.
I thank the Minister for sharing his time and wish to make a few brief comments, particularly in respect of the Estimates and education and how education can play a different type of role in society. The Celtic tiger, if it is not dead, is certainly taking a breather, as we might say in sport. It is obvious to me as a former teacher that many different participants helped to build that Celtic tiger. The politicians, particularly the current Minister for Finance, Deputy McCreevy, can claim much credit despite some media criticism and political criticism in recent days, but that is part and parcel of political life.
The Deputy is only telling the truth.
I am not used to this kind of thing, but if one is increasing expenditure by 20% one year on the other, surely one should say "Well done." rather than "You should have done better."
Education has played a very important role. In times of scarcity we have to balance what we can spend against tax, but taxation has been a crude method of redistributing wealth, which I am thankful is near and dear to my heart and the hearts of politicians of every hue in this country. Taxation is crude because if one over-taxes those who create wealth, they will emigrate with either their talents or capital. Then we would not have the wealth to give to the socio-economically disadvantaged.
Perhaps we should look at the Estimates and the role they will play in education. We should appreciate education not only in terms of literacy and mathematical intelligence, but also in terms of the intelligence that exists in entrepreneurship and sports. Social intelligence must also be considered. It has always amazed me as a teacher that we have to send young Irish boys and girls abroad to train for nursing because of the over-emphasis on academia and because highly intelligent youngsters fail to get into nursing training courses here. They go abroad to England and then we pay them salaries to come back or we invite foreign nurses over here to fill the places that should have been filled.
Let us look at social education and hope that the Estimates take account of it. Consider the driving test, for example, about which we have heard so much, along with the points system of which Deputy Brennan has spoken. The rules of the road could become part of a civic, social and political education curriculum. Youngsters of 17 and 18 in our second level schools could do the theory section of the driving test as part of such a leaving certificate curriculum.
The Minister and the Minister for Finance, Deputy McCreevy, should be congratulated on the €5.6 billion expenditure which is estimated, an increase of 77% on 1977 and an increase of 3% on last year. Recognising the contribution of education, I congratulate Deputy Noel Dempsey on the fact that he is looking at the disadvantaged. Education, through qualifications, can actually make wealth available not just to the few. I concede that the Celtic tiger has favoured too small a number. That is regrettable and it is regretted by politicians on every side.
We should look at taking education into the poorer housing estates. One has to be very careful because I do not want to be patronising, but some of the education that is on offer is irrelevant to many people from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Perhaps we should consider enterprise centres, for example, as part of the education system. We should possibly consider them in parts of rural Ireland, which seem to be dying for different reasons.
The Deputy's time has expired.
Ba mhaith liom críochnú mar sin. Caithfimid béim a chur ar conas a chaithfimid an t-airgead atá gann faoi láthair ach a thiocfaidh ar ais chugainn sna blianta amach romhainn.
I am sharing my time with my colleague, Deputy Hayes.
The way in which the budget Estimates have been presented was a masterpiece. All 75 spin doctors the Government has employed must have been brought together to work on how they could best present bad news and dress it up in such a way that the Government would get away with what it has done. Certainly it pulled off a masterpiece. The Government used the trick, which is probably used in the grocery trade, of lost leader. It has come out with a lost leader and the lost leader is that we are cutting the first time buyer's grant. That is the lost leader on which everyone is homing in. The whole public has been taken in by it, as have the media, and it has been the focus of attention on the Estimates in recent days. Because the focus has been on that one item, many of the other things contained in the Estimates are hidden and have not been subjected to public debate or public disgust. In that way, the Government has pulled off a masterpiece.
All the backbenchers who have been talking about the Estimates and criticising them are not prepared to vote down this motion in the Dáil. They will appear to have been listened to. On budget day, the message will go out that the Minister, Deputy McCreevy, has not been too bad after all and that he has put things right. This also is how the Government has pulled off a masterpiece and has managed to switch the debate in the way it wanted. Many of the terrible things have been hidden.
Some of those terrible things relate to regional county roads, the spending on which is to decrease by 27%. How will that affect ordinary local authorities throughout the country? Take my own county of Westmeath for example. The cut amounts to a reduction of €750,000 in the roads fund for this year. That will have devastating consequences for the county and its regional roads. Good work has been done on the roads in recent years. There has been much surface work and strengthening done, but much of this will be of no consequence because of this huge cutback.
This cutback will leave the local authorities in difficulty when balancing their books this year. The local government fund is being frozen. As everybody knows, public service employees got a rise of 4% in October. How will that be paid for in the coming year if one freezes the local government fund? Where will the 4% come from to cover the wages? What about inflation that has occurred on many other fronts? Will the local authorities increase charges in that regard? Hence, taxation will increase.
I am disappointed that the Minister, Deputy Noel Dempsey, has left the chamber because there was one point I wanted to make specifically to him. I hope he will hear it on the monitor. He is a straight talking guy and I am surprised and disappointed that some of the information emanating from his Department is what I could only call deceptive, inaccurate and unworthy in terms of any Minister standing over it. I refer particularly to what appears on the website under the heading "Major primary school projects approved to go to tender". The Department's website had a heading last April that read: "Major primary school projects approved to go to tender". Thirty primary schools were listed. The ordinary interpretation of the heading was that the schools were to go to tender. That was before the general election when Fianna Fáil candidates sent letters to constituents advising of the situation. Parents were pleased that new schools were to be built. However, six months later, of the 30 schools on the list, only 17 have gone to tender and seven have gone to construction.
A new list has appeared on the website with the same heading detailing 24 schools that are to go to tender. An additional one has been added. However, only some have been approved, some have gone to tender but the remainder have not been approved. This deception was played on the public before the general election. The Fianna Fáil candidate in my constituency, Deputy Cassidy, told people that their school would be built. Worse, the then Minister, Deputy Woods, con spired with him, had a photograph taken and announced that the money was secured. That was deception.
I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak in this debate. If we were honest we would not refer to the Book of Estimates but to the promises and commitments made in the course of the general election. The Government told lies in its attempt to be returned to office.
Deputy, I ask you not to use the word "lie". It is unparliamentary in any civilised democratic Parliament. In recent times it has been used in this House. My predecessors always objected to its use and the Members of the House did not use it for the past 80 years. I ask Members to refrain from using the word "lie" in this House.
The Government told untruths, if that term is acceptable to you, Sir, to return to power. The electorate is very annoyed with what happened because the truth will always emerge. When I went to school I once saw on a local billboard a big sign which was headed: "Help de Valera clean up the mess". That sentiment is appropriate today because the country is in a mess as a consequence of the wasteful spending by the Government over recent years in an attempt to buy its way back into power. Future generations will have to pay for it.
The country is crying out for new infrastructure. The road network needs to be upgraded, yet despite repeated promises that new roads would be built there are to be cuts in infrastructure spending. In my constituency of Tipperary South, the Cashel bypass, promised since 1991, is again long-fingered by the current Administration.
There are to be cuts in spending on agriculture, the country's main industry. The Government is presiding over the demise of agriculture while the Book of Estimates proposes more cutbacks. In 1997, 1,200 farmers took up farming while last year only 35 young people took it up. Rural Ireland is being closed down because the Government does not care.
Over the next 12 months hospital corridors will be full of beds and wards will be closed because of the Estimates. The Minister for Education and Science outlined the implications for education. In every constituency primary and secondary schools are awaiting badly needed capital allocations. Last week I visited a school where water is flowing from the roof of the toilets on top of children. People are crying out for funds for school repairs.
It took time for forestry to develop, but people saw it as a substitute for agriculture and began to invest in it. Many have benefited, yet the Government now proposes to slash funding in this area.
I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak in this debate and to refute what some commentators have said about the decisions taken by the Government. In these difficult economic times the Abridged Estimates for 2003, published last week, reflect consolidation and re-prioritisation of Government spending after several years of strong growth. I am happy that the €390 million available to my Department will enable me to maintain the thrust of State support for the arts, sport and tourism sectors.
The Government is still fully committed to the development and promotion of arts and culture and to the commitments set out in An Agreed Programme for Government. However, it is clear that at a time of national financial difficulty, support for the sector must be in line with available resources. I am satisfied that with prudent management by all concerned, the funding to be provided will be sufficient to achieve our objectives for arts and culture, building on the significantly increased funding provided by the Government in recent years.
In the case of the Arts Council, while the allocation for 2003 is reduced from €47.6 million to €44 million, funding for the council in 1997 was just €26.4 million. The reduced allocation for the Irish Film Board must be seen against a background in which the board's funding more than doubled over the five year period 1997-2002. The Government remains committed to the strategic development of the film industry, with the board having a role in that process. The new structures recently put in place in line with the recommendations of the strategic report on the film industry are already having a significant impact.
Although slightly down on the current year, funding for the major national cultural institutions next year will enable them to continue their important work of conserving and displaying our national heritage of arts and antiquities. A sum of €2.5 million will be added to the heritage fund next year which should facilitate the acquisition of significant heritage objects by the national collection institutions. Significantly increased funding has also been made available for international cultural exchanges. This will enable the Department to press ahead with planning for a major reciprocal exhibition of Chinese and Irish arts and cultural treasures in both countries.
The period since 1997 has seen an unprecedented level of Government support for sport in Ireland. When the Government took office in 1997 the budget for sport was frozen at approximately €17 million. This level of funding was expected to meet the needs of national governing bodies, elite competitors and local organisations as well as providing much needed sports facilities around the country. This was inadequate to fund the many priorities to be addressed in sport. The new Government which took office in 1997 set about making a major investment in sport, including appointing the country's first full Minister with responsibility for sport. This Government appreciates the importance of sport in the social and economic life of Irish people. It has provided realistic funding to reflect this central role of sport in our society and the increasing demand for improved sports services and facilities. In 2001, the sports budget of €93 million showed an almost fivefold increase over 1997. This year the budget was increased by a further 73% bringing it to a total of €161.4 million. This increased level of funding has enabled many major proposals to become a reality and since 1997 the sporting landscape has changed dramatically.
The Government is proud of the following highlights in sports development. The statutory Irish Sports Council was established in July 1999 and for the first time ever, Ireland has an organisation focused fully on sport and its development. Funding for the Irish Sports Council has increased by over 100% since 2000, its first full year of operation. With increased Government funding, the council has been able to raise the level and quality of support to governing bodies and Ireland's top international competitors are now in receipt of the type of funding and support about which they only dreamed some few years ago. It has now embarked on the establishment of local sports partnerships around the country. A new high performance strategy is being implemented with the help of increased funding of €3 million introduced in 2002, leading to the Athens Olympics in 2004. Ireland has its first ever national anti-doping programme, one of a select group of 30 countries in the world with one. Almost 3000 sports facilities, at all levels, throughout the country have received grants totalling over €213 million. Major national sports facilities have been provided or upgraded, including the new 50 metre pool opened in Limerick this year, a refurbished national boxing stadium, and a new national centre for rowing in Inniscarra, County Cork. In addition, almost 3,000 clubs and community organisations throughout the country have been supported to the value of €213 million in providing much needed sporting and recreational facilities. Under the local authority swimming pool programme pools have been built and refurbished at Arklow, Courtown, Dundalk, Ennis, Enniscorthy, Monaghan, Navan, Roscommon and Wicklow.
Despite the tight budgetary situation the Government has attempted to ensure that the excellent work carried out between 1997 and 2002 is not diminished by a reduction in funding for 2003. With the level of funding provided for 2003, the momentum and the commitment to sport by this Government is being sustained. The Irish Sports Council will be able to maintain its levels of support for the wide range of programmes and initiatives in place for the development and progress of Irish sport, from recreational sport to top national and international teams and competitors. The capital programmes administered by my Department will continue to assist organisations in every part of the country in their work in providing appropriate, high quality, sustainable facilities to meet the varied needs of Irish sport at national, regional and local level throughout Ireland. Under the local authority swimming pool programme we will continue to support local authorities towards providing swimming facilities for the public.
Funding is being provided to ensure the completion of the national aquatic centre at Abbotstown, which will be completed at the end of the year and will come into use early next year. As the House will be aware these facilities are being provided to enable the aquatic events of the Special Olympics world summer games to be held there in June 2003. This is the first time that the world games are being held outside America and, therefore, it behoves us all to ensure that the event is one of the best ever. To ensure its success the Government has provided dedicated funding towards the organising and holding of these games.
What about the national stadium? Has the Minister forgotten about it?
We dealt with that earlier when the Deputy's colleague, Deputy Deenihan, raised the matter.
I thought the Minister had forgotten about it.
No, it is very much on my mind.
I am particularly pleased that the Government has agreed to increase the 2003 budget subhead for tourism marketing by 20% to €30.4 million, the highest level in the history of the State. This reflects my policy of re-orientating my Department's tourism funding towards frontline marketing activity, a process that I began shortly after I assumed office when I freed up €3 million for additional marketing activities to generate extra business this year. With the help of that funding, Tourism Ireland Limited has been able to extend its marketing activities in those markets with the best prospects for generating visitors and revenue in the short-term, targeting in particular Great Britain, closely followed by Europe and North America. The additional marketing funding that is to be provided in next year's Estimates will enable an even stronger programme of international marketing to be rolled out in 2003 and I look forward to launching detailed marketing and operational plans on behalf of Tourism Ireland Limited and Bord Fáilte Éireann early next month.
After ten successive years of uninterrupted growth up to 2000, the industry faced its first major setback with the double blow of the foot and mouth disease crisis in the spring of 2001 and the aftermath of the tragic events of 11 September in the US. However, although there were varying fortunes within and between different sectors and regions, the hard evidence is that we coped well due to a combination of resolute actions at industry and Government level. While official CSO figures for 2001 show that the number of overseas visitors to Ireland fell by 5% in comparison with 2000, they were still at a very healthy level of six million. Even more remarkable is the fact that total foreign revenue earnings from all overseas visits actually increased by 8% to €3.96 billion. In addition, domestic holiday business remained buoyant last year, with expenditure rising by 16% according to Bord Fáilte figures. Our performance in terms of tourism receipts was ahead of the world and European averages.
While evidence from CERT employment surveys shows there was a marginal reduction in permanent employment in Irish tourism in 2001, recruitment of skilled staff remained a challenge for the sector, with evidence of a continuing interest in recruiting labour from third countries. There was little hard evidence of major permanent job losses or closures in 2001, although margins were undoubtedly under pressure in many businesses. Overall, on the basis of the information currently available to the tourism State agencies, the outturn for this year will be better than originally expected with current forecasts suggesting a small percentage increase in visitor numbers which could bring us close to the 2000 performance.
As to the prospects for 2003, the medium to long-term outlook for the tourism sector remains bright. As long as we can maintain our international competitiveness in terms of pricing, access and the quality of our product, the sector can, in time, overcome its present difficulties. I would have to temper that statement by saying that recovery is dependent on a stable international political and economic situation. A major political crisis, such as a gulf war, could damage tourism and travel prospects both nationally and globally. Tourism Ireland and Bord Fáilte are working in close consultation with the industry on their marketing programmes for 2003. This close interface with the industry will ensure that the programmes are soundly based and target the available resources where they can deliver the greatest dividends.
I am convinced from my recent tourism promotional visits abroad that we need to sustain strong international marketing campaigns to ensure that Ireland remains on the radar screen for potential visitors and to meet the more intense international competition that has emerged recently. My priority during the discussions on the departmental Estimates for 2003 was to ensure that sufficient funding would be available within the tourism budget to mount robust marketing campaigns in our key target markets next year. I am happy that I have achieved this objective and I welcome the positive public expressions of support from the key industry groups following the publication of the Estimates. In conclusion, I want to reaffirm the commitment of this Government to the arts, sport and tourism sectors even at a time of budgetary restraint, and I commend the Estimates to the House.
I wish to share my time with Deputy Allen.
Deputy Enright will share time with Deputy Allen.
Last week's Estimates leave education and capital spending programmes facing confusion, crisis and, in many instances, collapse. Right across the board, no matter what sector of education one chooses, substantial cuts have been made. The Estimates are a blatant attack on young people in every sector of our educational system. I welcome the increase in funding for special needs assistants that the Minister, Deputy Noel Dempsey, announced and I recognise its importance, but after that there is little good news.
Hundreds of school building projects are anxiously awaiting confirmation from the Minister on where they stand. It seems certain that many of them will be delayed or halted completely. In every county, there are schools in dire condition, rodent infested and freezing cold, which would not pass either a health and safety or fire safety inspection. Children use unhygienic toilets and eat in the same overcrowded classrooms in which they sit all day.
The Minister for Education and Science Deputy Noel Dempsey mentioned an announcement on extra resource teachers, but already these teachers are juggling their timetables with remedial teachers, often sharing or using a back kitchen, office, staff room or cloakroom in which to try and teach already deprived children. These children cannot achieve their full potential by being given extra teaching in such terrible conditions, yet the Government, through the Estimates, is condemning them to these awful conditions indefinitely.
No one is fooled by a figure of a cut of 4% in primary schools' and 10% in secondary schools' capital spending. The teachers, boards of management and parents live in the real world and know that this is in effect a far higher figure when construction inflation is taken into account. The Minister stated this afternoon that he could not solve all the problems in a short time and has proposed to the Minister of Finance that they agree a five year envelope for investment. I am not sure what a five year envelope is, but Deputy Noel Dempsey sat in the last Government, although not as the Minister responsible for education, but he was a member of the Cabinet that made the decisions and to decide now to provide a five year envelope for schools building projects is little comfort for all those who have been waiting for the past five years to be seen.
One of the most baffling decisions in these Estimates is the cut of 60% in the information technology programmes. The short-sightedness of that decision is incredible. Very few schools have adequate IT facilities and those which have com puters are working with out-of-date equipment. Computer literacy and the development of information technology skills are as important, if not more so, in today's climate as the three Rs were years ago. Many young people who are not attracted by traditional teaching methods find they can be switched on by working in the computer technology area. Slashing the information and communications technology budgets for schools will deny our young people the qualifications needed to compete in today's high-tech world. We have begun to accept, and it has been quite a transition, that the type of industry we are in a position to attract is changing. We are told we have to move on from the labour intensive industries on which we have relied to the more technological and communications based industries, yet we will not provide our young people with the skills they need to obtain employment in these sectors. What sort of economic sense is that?
When it comes to third level institutions, the Minister for Finance, Deputy McCreevy, appears to be paving the way to allow the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Noel Dempsey, to bring in his pet project of returning third level fees.
In the programme for Government, which is a master work of fiction, the Government admitted that the infrastructure in colleges had not kept pace with the growth in student numbers, and that it would change that. It appears the only way this will happen is when student numbers fall as there is a massive drop in the budget for capital spending in our third level institutions.
The 1% cut in current spending will have negative consequences also. The Conference of the Heads of Irish Universities, which the Minister for Education and Science and his Department are fond of quoting when it suits them, reckons this to be effectively a cut of 8%. It has said it is impossible to follow the Minister's advice and achieve the necessary savings in non-staff costs only. Ireland is already ranked 25 out of 30 OECD states in spending per student. How much farther in the ranks will the Government allow third level education to fall?
Where does the Government stand on research in third level institutions and what type of "pause" does the Minister have in mind? I realise that in the response to that question I will have to listen to a litany of money spent in this area since 1997, which appears to be the Government's favourite year from which to quote figures. I accept that the money was spent, but research on third level is not sustainable on a stop-go-pause-go-stop basis.
A decision was made in 2001 to provide an agreed amount of funding for research. This money was divided between capital and recurrent spending. The Higher Education Authority agreed to fund certain projects. An enormous amount of work went into putting together programmes for these projects and to making proposals. Colleges went ahead and employed people to carry out the research. The former Minister for Education and Science, until his change of position, signalled that he would bring in a fourth cycle of funding for these projects. We now have researchers employed to carry out valuable research without laboratories, instruments and building space in which to work. Contracts have been entered into which universities will have to honour but they will have nothing to show for it. That is this Government's version of value for money.
It is now widely accepted that the Government plundered the public finances to get itself elected last summer, and the public is now being asked to foot the election bill. We had a mini-budget shortly after the election where we saw the cost of visits to casualty departments increase by 40%, VHI charges increase by 18%, ESB charges increase by 10%, college registration fees increase by 69% and the threshold for the drugs refund scheme increase by 22%. These increases came at a time when we had the highest inflation level in Europe. We also had a summer of massive cutbacks but I do not have the time to detail those this evening.
Over the weekend we heard some of the Government Deputies moaning and groaning about the latest series of cuts. They are seen as seething tigers in their constituencies but as we have seen already in the Dáil this week they are purring kittens under the eagle eye of the Government Whip. However, the litmus test will come tonight for the magnificent 11. Will they be tigers or pussy cats when asked to vote "Yes" or "No" on the cuts in public expenditure?
The abolition of the first-time buyer's grant has torpedoed the hopes and aspirations of many young people and, in a heartless decision, has put owning a home at any time way beyond the reach of people already struggling to buy their first house. This is the same Government which, prior to the election, promised not only to keep the grant but to increase it to €6,350 for couples. After the election, however, the Minister opposite described the first-time buyer's grant as an inefficient use of funds.
In the past seven days I have received dozens of telephone calls and personal calls from panicking people who cannot get straight answers to their anxious questions. The latest one, received just an hour ago in my office, was from a young man who is buying a house with a local authority under the shared ownership scheme. The local authority had purchased the house but because he had not signed on the dotted line with the local authority, he will now lose the grant. That is according to the local authority.
As the Minister for the Environment and Local Government is in the House, will he indicate what will happen to a person in those circumstances? The local authority had bought the house but they had not completed the deal with this man as co-owner. Will he lose the grant? I would like the Minister to address that issue in his contribution and to make clear to local authorities the true position because they are whistling in the dark at this stage.
It has been made clear to them.
It has not been made clear to them. Twenty-five minutes ago a local authority official could not give me the answer because he could not get clarification from the Minister's Department, yet the Minister is now saying it has been made clear to the local authorities. You should get your act together because what you have done is heartless.
The Deputy should address his remarks through the Chair.
The Minister responded, just like he did last night when he kept interrupting speakers.
If the Deputy addressed his remarks through the Chair he might not invite interruptions.
In the appendix on page 55 of the Estimates for the Public Service, the stark reality is shown. It states that the estimated spend this year is €1,039 million, factoring in inflation at 4.5%, which equals about €41 million. The local authorities' requirements for this year, therefore, total €1,080 million. The local authorities are getting €975 million, leaving a shortfall of €105 million. This shortfall can be met only by raising charges and-or cutting services. In addition to that we have a 47% cut in the road allocations. We will shortly be back to the era of potholes. The local authorities have always been treated by this Government as the second division of our democracy but they are now being called upon to act as front-line troops to wage a war of attrition on the public involving savage services cuts, a new array of taxes and a new poll tax.
We have read already of proposals to cut back services and increase charges. One local authority, my own council, Cork City Council, is facing the possibility of a 46% increase in refuse collection charges, an 8% increase in commercial rates, a 6% increase in commercial water charges as well as a 20% increase in parking charges. The full waiver for service charges allowed to old age pensioners is being removed and they will be asked to pay 25% of the final charge, or approximately €82 per annum, of which €20 will revert to the Government under the waste charge levy. This is the introduction of a poll tax, a demand for charges irrespective of means. I am aware that another local authority in Mayo has overspent this year by €20 million and will have to accommodate that overspend as well as the effect of cutbacks it will experience this year.
The impact of these measures on local authorities will be catastrophic and traumatic. Local councillors will not tolerate the treatment they are getting and they are being forced to act as front-line troops in the Government's campaign of taxing and cutting. The next number of weeks will be very difficult for councillors.
Before I commence my contribution I want to answer the question raised by Deputy Allen. The position is that the local authority is the contracting authority, not the individual, with the builder of the scheme. To the best of my knowledge most of them have already done the business with their individual clients, the people they are putting into the houses, and in that case they qualify for the grant. I hope there was not any tardiness on the part of the local authority to which the Deputy referred.
Blame the local authority again.
No. I am simply saying that—
Is the Minister telling me he will get the grant?
Allow the Minister to continue without interruption.
I have given the Deputy a straight answer to a straight question. The matter is uncomplicated.
Will he get the grant?
He should, if the local authority has done its work properly—
I thank the Minister.
—the same as every other local authority. Economic management is one of the most important foundations on which good government is built. We have just come through a period of sustained economic growth which has transformed our country, especially in terms of employment availability and opportunity. I remind the Deputy that the environment budget has been raised by 170% in the last five years.
It did not go up this year.
The Deputy is not a fool and I never took him to be one. There will not be the same level of increases every year but that figure is some increase in the last five years. The Deputy should deal with fact rather than fantasy.
There were no increases. It is an effective cut of 5%.
The economy clearly suffered a number of external shocks last year and growth declined from the record highs of 1999 and 2000. However, growth has resumed in the current year from a virtual standstill in 2001. In its recent Quarterly Economic Commentary, the Economic and Social Research Institute estimates that real GDP growth will be 4% in 2002 and 2.5% in real GNP terms. The commentary says that “there is a need to consolidate the public finances by bringing expenditure growth under control” and this is what the Government has done in framing the Abridged Estimates for 2003.
The Government could have taken the soft option; it would have been easier politically and every other way to avoid taking some difficult decisions and in the process to delay full economic recovery. It would have been easier to mortgage our future at the expense of the present, but this would not be good government, and we are not prepared to sacrifice the future well-being of our economy at the altar of expediency. With public expenditure increases running ahead of tax yields, it was essential for us to take a number of difficult decisions in order to match Government resources and expenditure.
One of these decisions involved termination of the new house grant. This grant was introduced in 1977 with the main purpose of encouraging new house building. First-time buyers of existing housing received no grant assistance. At that time the grant was set at £1,000 and it represented about 7% of the average new house price when private house building was around 17,000 to 18,000 units each year. This is in stark contrast to output of over 47,000 units in 2001. By general consent, the grant has for some time now outlived its usefulness as an economic incentive because its impact has been absorbed into house prices. The Government appreciates that €3,800 is a substantial sum to persons purchasing their first house, but while termination of the grant was a difficult decision, it was the right decision. Over time, house prices will reflect the abolition of the grant, and first-time buyers will be at little, if any, loss. Some €40 million will be freed up to be used—
How can the Minister justify that statement? He is whistling in the dark.
—for the social housing programme each year. In recent years, there have been substantial increases in housing provision, both in terms of the levels of funding made available and in the numbers of social and affordable housing units provided. While the Exchequer provision for 2003 is down 5%, the provision of €932 million for Exchequer capital expenditure in 2003 is more than double the spending in 2000, when Exchequer capital spending was almost €452 million.
In overall terms the total capital funding for housing in 2003, Exchequer and non-Exchequer, is up almost 7% at €1.7 billion on the 2002 provision. In effect, we are consolidating the very significant progress made in recent years and maintaining a very high level of commitment to social and affordable housing.
The focus of housing expenditure in the future must be on the range of better targeted schemes to assist low income purchasers such as the shared ownership and affordable housing schemes and those with social housing needs. The funding being made available under the social and affordable housing measures in 2003 will provide accommodation for almost 12,000 households in 2003, an increase of about 40% when compared to 1998 when we provided accommodation for somewhat less than 8,500 households.
The largest area of spending is the local authority programme. We had a substantial overhang of commitments coming into 2002 which will not be repeated in 2003 and the funding reflects this. The provisions available are likely to allow some increase in starts under the local authority programme in 2003 and we expect to meet our national development plan commitments in relation to provisions of both voluntary and co-operative sector housing and the affordable housing initiatives. In these Estimates we are focused on consolidating progress in meeting targeted housing needs and providing a range of accommodation options for the most vulnerable groups and low-income households.
After housing, the capital programme for water and waste water services is the largest spending programme for which I am responsible, and the one which has the greatest environmental impact. The main objectives of the programme are to provide an adequate supply of suitable quality water for a range of uses, as well as providing systems for the safe and adequate disposal of sewage and other water-borne wastes.
These objectives underpin the current water services investment programme which was launched earlier this year and covers the period 2002-04. Funding in 2003 will enable us to progress over 600 schemes in the programme to increase the quality and capacity of water and wastewater systems across the country. The availability of serviced residential land will continue to be a special focus of the investment in water and sewerage services so as to deliver some 170,000 sites under the serviced land initiative. A major water conservation programme as a sustainable alternative to the provision of infrastructure will also be funded in order to meet additional demands arising.
One of the highlights of the new programme is that it now incorporates all the remaining waste water schemes needed for Ireland to comply with existing and future sewage treatment standards for urban areas under the EU waste water treatment directive. Many larger schemes required to comply with the terms of the directive, such as Cork, Limerick, and Galway main drainage schemes and particularly the Dublin Bay project, are at an advanced stage of construction. The latter includes at Ringsend the largest waste water treatment scheme currently under construction in the EU and is due to be completed shortly.
The record levels of expenditure being invested in the rural water programme will be maintained in 2003 to address the urgent water quality problems in privately sourced schemes. The pro gramme is funding a number of targeted initiatives aimed at improving the quality, reliability and efficiency of rural water supply systems. Funding will ensure the implementation of the agreed strategy for the upgrading and renewal of these schemes.
The accelerated investment in water services infrastructure in recent years is beginning to underpin a reversal in river pollution. The most recent Environmental Protection Agency report on river quality confirms that for the first time since national surveys commenced in the 1970s there has been an increase in the length of unpolluted river channel from 67% in the 1995-97 period to 70% in the 1998-2000 period. I expect this trend to continue with the level of investment now being provided.
Demand for water and sewerage services has increased at an unprecedented rate over the last few years due to strong economic and demographic growth, increased tourism numbers and record levels of new residential development. The level of investment proposed next year will ensure that all demands arising from this growth will continue to be met.
The Abridged Estimates also give details of expenditure from the environment fund in 2003 which will amount to around €48 million. The environment fund is financed by the levies on plastic bags and on the landfilling of waste. This level of expenditure will provide a substantial increase in environmental funding over and above the projected out-turn of around €17 million in 2002 on environmental initiatives under the relevant subhead of this year's Estimates. It will enable us to increase substantially investment in waste management infrastructure as well as taking new initiatives in waste prevention and minimisation and in developing markets for recyclable materials. I also intend to direct substantial resources to increased environmental enforcement, an area which has long been identified as requiring additional attention at local authority level.
The Abridged Estimates 2003 reflect the Government's focus on sound and responsible economic management. The rate of increase in public spending in recent years was unsustainable and had to be reduced. We are still investing in our public services but we have had to take some difficult decisions about programmes of a lower priority. This should not obscure the fact that there have been very large increases in public spending since 1997. Capital spending, in particular, is up 170% on the 1997 level. These Estimates consolidate public investment, give effect to our priorities and lay the foundation for continued economic prosperity into the future. I commend the Estimates to the House.
I wish to share my time with my colleague, Deputy Shortall. It is a fact that we live in a country with one of the richest economies in the world. We also live in a country with one of the highest levels of poverty in the Western world. If proof of that is needed, 30% of the population qualify for medical cards; the cut-off limit for a medical card is €135 a week for an adult which is a real poverty level of income. It is a further fact that the last five years of economic boom have seen the gap between rich and poor widen even further. This did not happen by accident; it is the direct and calculated result of the implementation of right-wing policies by a Minister for Finance who by his own admission is a right-wing ideologue. I wonder where all the Fianna Fáil republicans have gone. Are they out cherishing the children of the nation equally on their local radio stations and then rushing back to this House to vote through the anti-people proposals of their right-wing Government and Minister for Finance? If they believe what they say on local radio they are morally bound to vote against these Estimates tonight at 7 p.m. Otherwise they will be exposed as hypocrites.
Deputy Ned O'Keeffe, a senior member of Fianna Fáil, has described the regime as the most right-wing in the history of the State. Deputy McCreevy's ideology dictates, like his mentor Margaret Thatcher, that there is no such thing as society or community. It dictates that there is no need for any sense of equality, that equality is only for the weak; that there is no reason for fair play; and that only the fittest should survive. It dictates that those in need have only themselves to blame. It dictates that the individual is superior to society or community. Those who have argued otherwise have been dismissed as "pinkos" by Deputy McCreevy and his supporters. In his mad rush to implement those right wing theories, Deputy McCreevy effectively destroyed the tax base and gave 85% of the proceeds to those who were already well off and certainly not in need. That was a deliberate and calculated decision.
The effect of this is to weaken the State and its power to intervene in society to such a degree that it is ineffective. They now call that a lack of resources. That is a lie. Now they tell us that people must provide for themselves or do without. If a person cannot provide for himself, it is his own fault according to the Minister's creed. Let us look at some examples of how he is seeking to achieve his goals. He taxes stable lads and girls while the stud owners are tax-free. He cuts funding for social housing while giving 100% tax relief to the vultures who speculate in rented residential properties. It matters not a whit to Deputy McCreevy that there are 50,000 families on the housing waiting lists.
He refuses medical cards to 200,000 people who are on a minimal income of €135 per week while cutting capital gains tax from 40% to 20%. He abolishes the first-time buyer's grant while refusing to tackle or tax the massive gains made in land zoning and speculation. He slashes funding for rebuilding national schools while funding the 25% per annum bonus to those who can afford to save. He has dumped the Government health plan while granting a 40% per annum bonus to those who can afford to augment their pensions.
It is fine with Deputy McCreevy for people to lie on trolleys for days or wait for years for vital medical procedures – and many die while they wait. So it is obvious that this Government and particularly the Minister for Finance have made clear decisions. It is not the case that there are no resources – there are plenty – but the Minister and his colleagues have established their priorities. Their priorities as set out in these Estimates favour the rich over the poor and favour the individual over society.
The stud owners, the multiple house owners, the land speculators, the so-called non-resident tax dodgers and the recipients of massive capital gains have nothing to fear from these Estimates. They can buy services. The poor and those in need of medical treatment, the children in rat infested pre-fabricated national schools, the sick on waiting lists and on trolleys at the end of their wait, those waiting for social housing, those who were struggling to buy a modest home – the weakest of our society – all have much to fear from Deputy McCreevy and his right wing ideology. They will be punished because he has decided to protect the rich. It is time now for Fianna Fáil to put a stop to his mad gallop, and if it does not have the courage to do it in this House, it might do it in its party rooms.
I will focus upon the whole area of transport and traffic. Nowhere are the results of this Government's mismanagement of the economy more evident that in the area of transport. A failure to invest sufficiently in major transport and road projects in recent years and the indecisiveness of former Minister, Senator O'Rourke has resulted in a situation where much of our infrastructure is at Third World levels.
Many of the major projects which had been earmarked over several years are now significantly behind time. In Dublin, traffic is almost at a standstill and public transport provision is hopelessly inadequate. In the rest of the country, people are struggling with an awfully inadequate road network, traffic congestion in most towns and reduced rather than improved rural public transport systems. Much of this arises as a result of the failure of the present and the previous Governments to produce a spatial plan. Development is taking place at a phenomenal rate along the eastern seaboard – at the expense of the rest of the country. We now have congestion throughout greater Dublin and the eastern region. The quality of life of most people living and working in that region has been seriously affected by the lack of a decent road structure and, more importantly, the lack of adequate public transport.
In the rest of the country, many of our rural areas are being denuded and run down. The failure to put in place a proper development plan for the entire country has meant that development has been dictated by developers alone and there is no overall strategy or plan on the part of the Government. The attempts of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Brennan, to massage the figures that came out last week in the Estimates do not stand up. We cannot avoid the fact that there is a mere 2% increase in the Estimate for his Department. Deputy Brennan has said that we are able to support about the same level activity as last year, but this simply cannot happen.
As a result of the real reduction in the Estimates for the Department of Transport, we will see significant cutbacks and delays in all of our major traffic and transport projects. In the Dublin area alone there are significant projects being long-fingered and delayed by more than two or three years in some cases. The Minister has approved a fare increase of 9% on buses and trains. This does not make sense. It will add significantly to overall inflation rates. More importantly, it goes against all of the principles in traffic management and public transport in so far as it will act as a serious disincentive for people to use public transport. That goes against what we are in theory trying to achieve. It simply does not make sense that we are discouraging people from using public transport on cost grounds by sanctioning this 9% fare increase.
We know only too well in Dublin in particular that there is mayhem on many of our streets. People increasingly are ignoring the rules of the road, ignoring red lights, ignoring bus lanes and parking restrictions and there is inadequate enforcement of traffic laws. It is clear that the Garda is not in a position to enforce the traffic laws adequately, nor should they be expected to. They have more to do in terms of enforcing laws in relation to criminal activity. We desperately need a traffic corps, especially in Dublin but in other parts of the country also to ensure that people adhere to speed limits and so on. It is a critical element in a proper transport and traffic management system, and now it would appear that that element has been completely dropped from the Government transport plans. There is no funding there, despite what the Minister has been saying about the traffic corps being delayed and not meeting the target of early 2003. It will not meet any target in 2003 because the money simply is not there, and the core area of dealing with traffic has obviously now been dropped by the Minister.
We have two light rail lines at present. The funding provided for capital infrastructure in relation to light rail is the same as last year so there can be no expansion of the system. The Minister suggests that the rail procurement agency will be able to raise funds of €90 million, but this is not what the agency was set up to do, it is not why it was given the power to borrow money. It was given the power to borrow money to extend the network. It will not be able to do that within the current constraints. Similarly, a metro system has now been long-fingered indefinitely, so there is no single public transport initiative for the northside of Dublin, in particular to service Dublin Airport.
It seems that the people living and working on the northside of Dublin are to continue living and working with the kind of traffic gridlock we have at the moment, with no prospect of relief. I could go on for the next half an hour about major projects being shelved, which will have serious implications for the quality of life of people around the country, as well as for business. Traffic congestion is costing the business community more than €600 million per year. This is not sustainable. The Minister for Transport has failed the commuter and failed the public transport user in his inability to secure adequate funds to put in place the kind of infrastructure a modern economy needs.
I propose to deal with two Votes of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Vote 38, which funds the main policy, administrative and consular service of the Department, and Vote 39, the Vote for International Co-operation which supports the Ireland Aid programme.
I will comment first on Vote 38. The Estimates for Vote 38 for 2003 amount to €163.739 million, which is a reduction of 5% of the allocation for 2002. As in previous years, most of the Estimates for Vote 38 will be taken up by the administrative budget which amounts to €133.399 million, or more than 81% of our total Vote.
Like other Departments, the proposed budget for the Department of Foreign Affairs for 2003 reflects the general economic reality and the more difficult budgetary situation with which the Government must now deal. One of the major commitments that will face the Department during 2003 is the Presidency of the European Union, which runs for the first six months of 2004. For the Department of Foreign Affairs, Presidency related work will commence in the middle of 2003, in particular through our involvement in the Troika, the so-called committee of the past, present and future Presidencies, which spearheads the Union's political activities during a Presidency. In addition, all the necessary planning and logical preparation will have to be completed during 2003.
An allocation of €7 million has been provided in the Department's administrative budget to cover its Presidency responsibility in 2003. As with the previous five Irish Presidencies of the European Union, Ireland is determined that its stewardship of the Presidency on this occasion will be as effective and efficient as those in the past. It is possible that this may be the last EU Presidency in the present format and we are determined to make it a successful one.
Our Presidency is likely to be marked by a number of major events such as the historic enlargement of the European Union to 25 states and the final negotiating phase of the Intergovernmental Conference dealing with the future of Europe. The expansion of EU activities means that the next Irish Presidency will have to implement the largest and most complex programme of work ever undertaken by an Irish Administration. We will need to provide the necessary resources to ensure that the Presidency is successful.
The terrorist attacks on the US on 11 September last and more recently in Bali and in Moscow have highlighted the need for the Department to maintain in place and develop further well prepared systems of support both at headquarters and within our missions abroad for the protection of Irish citizens. This together with the ongoing high level service of consular protection offered to Irish citizens abroad will be a particular priority for the coming year.
On the programme side of Vote 38, the Department has been allocated €30.34 million, which is only slightly less than what was provided in 2002. This level of funding will enable the Department to maintain its commitments to various programmes in 2003. For instance, we will continue to support projects which enhance North-South co-operation and build on the Good Friday Agreement. We will provide continued assistance to the European Union accession countries in the form of support for training programmes to help them meet accession requirements and we will support peace and election monitoring programmes under the control of the European Union, especially in the Balkans region. We will also meet our ongoing financial commitments to international organisations, in particular the UN and its peacekeeping operations. Ireland's role in UN peacekeeping operations continues to be an important signal of our commitment to the ideals of the organisation.
Before dealing with Vote 39, I wish to refer briefly to a service provided by the Department that does not always come to the notice of this House, but I know Deputies appreciate this service. There has been a significant increase in the number of Irish passports issued over recent years. On current trends, over 430,000 passports will be issued in Dublin and Cork this year, up from 394,000 last year. Over 50,000 passports are likely to be issued by the Irish Embassy in London and passports issued by other missions should be in excess of 35,000. This will bring worldwide passports issued for 2002 to nearly 520,000, which is approximately 10% up on last year and 80% up on 1996. Fees received in Dublin and Cork for the first ten months this year amount to €18.2 million. On current trends, the end of year revenue will amount to over €19.1 million. Worldwide passport revenue should be in the region of €23 million. In order to improve the level of service to the public, we are currently examining proposals for the development of a modern, automated passport production facility which will result in a more efficient passport delivery system.
The 2003 allocation for Vote 39 is €373.449 million. This compares with an allocation in 2002 of €340 million and represents an increase of €33 million or 9.7% on that figure. The 2003 allocation of €373.449 million is the highest ever in the history of the Ireland Aid programme. It is a measure of the Government's commitment to the area of overseas development aid that despite the changed and difficult financial circumstances, our level of assistance to developing countries will be maintained at an unprecedented high level. The increase in the allocation for 2003 follows a period of unprecedented growth in our overseas aid. This growth is pursuant to the Government's commitment, which is restated in the programme for Government to achieve the UN target for ODA of 0.7% of GNP by 2007. Five years ago when the Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats Coalition assumed office Ireland's programme for development assistance amounted to €158 million. Since then the programme has more than doubled. Much of the expansion has come in the past two years and it is anticipated that our contribution, as a percentage of GNP, will have increased from 0.33% in 2001 to 0.41% in 2002. Increasing the allocation to Vote 39 in 2003 by a further €33 million bringing the total allocation to €373 million should enable us to maintain our contribution of 0.41% of GNP next year. As a proportion of GNP, Ireland is now placed among the top five donors in the European Union and among the top six donors in the OECD.
The main focus in 2003 will be on consolidating the progress which has been made possible in recent years through the rapid expansion of the aid programme and to lay the groundwork for further expansion in the years to come. Rapid growth has enabled us to expand and deepen our support for programmes in a range of countries and fields. Our programme enjoys a worldwide reputation for high quality and effective aid and we will continue to seek to improve further the effectiveness of the programme through closer co-operation with partner Governments and with Irish NGOs and missionaries.
While our relationship with NGOs has always been a fruitful one, the establishment of the Development Forum under the aegis of the Advisory Board for Ireland Aid will provide a formal mechanism for closer co-operation in 2003 and beyond. I recently met representatives of a number of NGOs and reiterated my desire to see our partnership deepen at the programme and policy level.
I would like to refer to the detailed breakdown of Vote 39 as outlined in the Abridged Estimates Volume. The vast bulk of funding under Vote 39, €355 million, or 94% is allocated across the various programme subheads while administration accounts for €22.3 million, or 6% of the total allocation. This latter amount, which is marginally down on the allocation for 2002, includes the salary and allowances cost of permanent civil servants and specialist contract staff as well as locally employed advisers and support staff in programme country missions, travel and subsistence costs, consultancy services, premises, telecom munications and other running costs for the programme.
The Abridged Estimates Volume provides a breakdown of the €355 million. As in previous years, priority will continue to be given to bilateral grant aid under subhead B. The key focus of the bilateral programme is on a small number of least developed countries. The programme countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, which are among the poorest in the world, will account for more than half of the total allocated to the bilateral programme.
Subhead B will also include an increased dedicated provision for NGOs in recognition of the vital role they play in development and as a measure of our commitment to enhance co-operation with the NGO sector. The planned introduction of a multi-annual programme scheme for a number of NGOs from next year represents a further strengthening of our support for the important work undertaken in that sector. We will also continue the fight against HIV-AIDS as the Taoiseach announced. We will also support APSO, Agency for Personnel Services Overseas.
I wish to clarify an issue. I am aware that some concerns have been expressed about the apparent reduction in support under subhead D in respect of our response to emergency and humanitarian crises worldwide and I wish to take this opportunity to clarify the position on this issue. This area is a key component of the Ireland Aid programme with particular attention given in 2002 to famine affected countries in southern Africa, to the emerging food crisis in Ethiopia and the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan. As Minister of State with responsibility for development, I will take steps to ensure that resources, at least of the order of those made available in 2002, will be provided again in 2003 to support emergency and humanitarian operations and to enable a rapid and effective response to emergencies worldwide. Some €51 million will be allocated to subheads E and F in respect of our multilateral programme of assistance. Subhead E concerns mandatory payments due under international treaties while subhead F comprises voluntary contributions to UN development and relief agencies.
In line with the recommendations of the Ireland Aid review, a small allocation will continue to be set aside for development co-operation in Eastern Europe under subhead G. Notwithstanding our current financial difficulty, and I have listened to contributors to this debate, I am pleased that we will have the scope to strengthen the quality of our support for developing countries and the poorest of the poor in 2003.
I wish to share my time with Deputies Joe Higgins and Connolly.
Reading the Estimates published last week, I was struck by the question as to who they are aimed at. Much has been said about the abolition of the first-time buyer's grant which, in a calendar year, would cost the Exchequer €40 million, and rightly so. Last year the Minister for Finance reinstated mortgage relief for purchasers of second homes giving an estimated €50 million in tax breaks to house speculators. It is clear these Estimates are budgeting to protect the wealthy, while penalising average workers and their families.
In the vital area of economic development, this double standard is also being applied. The cuts proposed in the Estimates will impact severely on the job creation activities of Enterprise Ireland, Shannon Development, the county enterprise boards and the Western Development Commission. At a time when we need to invest in indigenous industry and employment, the funds for these agencies are being cut by 18%, 30% and 13%, respectively. Spending on some elements of FÁS is to be cut by 41%. What message is the Government and, in particular, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment sending to Irish business? Now is the time for innovative investment in developing Irish business, and not for cutbacks. IDA grants to industry are increasing yet the cost of a new job in an IDA backed company was €13,375 in 2001. The cost of an Enterprise Ireland job was less than €9,000, €4,000 cheaper but still more costly than the €4,500 it took a county enterprise board to create a job. We urgently need to review how funds are being allocated by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.
An example of the lack of accountability of spending is the failure to evaluate the actual cost of the 19 task forces created since 1997 by the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. The Government does not know how much these 19 task forces have cost and has not undertaken any cost benefit evaluation, but believes they "provide an effective, co-ordinated response to major company closures". How do we know that? This is just one small example of the lack of thought on how effectively public funds are being spent.
Over €161 million was spent last year on job creation grants to industry. This is only one part of a substantial economic development budget. We need to know this money is being spent fairly and effectively. We need a review of the share of that grant allocation to the various industries to give the more cost-effective agencies, such as the county enterprise boards and Enterprise Ireland, a better share of this more productive grant being handed out. The sooner indigenous industry is recognised as an integral part of the economy, the better.
I view the proposal to abolish the first-time buyer's grant as one of the most regressive steps taken as a panic measure by this bankrupt Government. Bereft of ideas and cash and having squandered the boom from the posi tion of a €4.8 billion surplus last year to a €2 billion deficit nearly 12 months later, this has to be the most reckless, feckless and gung-ho bunch of wastrels since Papa Doc Duvalier and his gang. I hope the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform's sense of humour has not gone with all the billions.
In this Government's headlong dash towards bankruptcy, haemorrhaging cash with gay abandon, it has succeeded in turning Ireland into a tribunal ridden society with the legal profession being the principal beneficiaries of the corruption fall-out which has enveloped our body politic. Using the Lindsay tribunal as a yardstick at a cost of €23 million, which laboured for over a year and produced nothing tangible, scant thought has been directed towards the value for money principal in the swathe of tribunals which continue to ponderously and meticulously pursue their work. Indeed, the Government would be well advised to borrow a leaf from the FAI's experience with the eminently worthwhile Genesis inquiry which recently completed its report at a cost of €30,000. The Government regularly spends millions of euro and gets no answers. At least with the Genesis report, the FAI had a result.
The Government which presides over the economy's mismanagement and misdirection has grievously let down all those couples desperately seeking to gain a foothold on the residential property ladder. For them, their first home represented an enormous personal financial burden and commitment – indeed, the greatest single investment of their lives. Both the Minister for Finance and the Taoiseach displayed an appalling lack of understanding about how young couples must cope. It is easy for them speaking from the comparative comfort of their respective pads in Dublin. Ministers with their triple housing breaks untouched by the Minister for Finance are cushioned from the impact of grant cutbacks and receive an allowance of nearly €11,000 to build another house in Dublin far removed from their constituencies. Ministers also have the comfort of 100% mortgage interest relief on a second home and standard tax relief on their primary home.
Another scheme which is severely undermined as a result of the abolition of the first-time buyer's grant is the shared ownership scheme. This scheme has an honourable record of enabling less well off first time buyers to gain a toe hold in the housing market with the co-operation of the county council. The effect of the grant cutback will be to virtually eliminate this scheme since at this end of the market, every penny counts to help bridge the gap. The €3,800 represents a small fortune to buyers in this position.
I welcome a delegation of striking fire-fighters from Northern Ireland to the Visitor's Gallery and express my solidarity and that of Irish workers and the Socialist Party with their just struggle.
The publication of the Estimates for public expenditure reveals an utterly discredited crew of politicians ruling this State and calling themselves a Government who have lied and cheated their way back into power and then with cynical callousness kicked in the teeth those who they duped into believing them. What a cast of characters we have had thrown up in the recent days since the publication of these Estimates. The Minister for Finance and his party leader have been widely labelled as cowboys, unfairly because there is no evidence that a majority of those who honestly herd cows for a living are chancers and cheats. Then we had the parade of the mighty mice roaring from the safety of the Fianna Fáil backbenches about the abolition of the first-time house buyer's grant. We heard their roars from Cork to Swords and beyond but come 7 p.m. this evening, which of the brave mice will come into this House and bell the McCreevy cat by voting in the lobbies against these draconian measures being introduced by the Government? Clearly, they will stick with their chunk of cheese and will be exposed – I welcome this – as fraudulent champions of young workers.
What about the Progressive Democrats? We know the Tánaiste believes working class people are some form of primitive life but what about the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform? His greatest achievement in recent times has been to climb ladders for Ireland during the general election campaign. He has no time to listen to the trauma of those who will endure his cuts; he is too busy hiring aeroplanes to deport a handful of people to Nigeria. How we wish the Minister would leave the few unfortunate asylum seekers here and take the plane to Nigeria and stay there.
These cuts coming at the first hint of economic slow down in national and international capitalism signal the beginning of an onslaught on the living standards of working people and the crucial public services on which they depend. For five years this Government has handed billions to speculators, big business, corporations and the wealthy in concessions and cuts in their taxes. It did not lift a finger as the obscene profiteering and speculation in housing doubled and trebled the price of a home putting it outside the reach of working people. What an outrage now that those who the Government kicks are the victims of the speculators rather than the speculators themselves. My call to working people, trade Unionists, working class communities, students, youths and to those needing homes is, let us not lie down in front of it anymore – take to the streets, mobilise in open, visible opposition in the unions and communities to a Government which is determined to solve whatever crisis lies down the road on the backs of ordinary people while protecting its rich backers. We will force back these draconian cuts and send the Government scurrying. We will expose its members for the frauds they are.
It is very entertaining to hear the incorruptible Deputy from the Socialist Party expostulating on the frauds of others. Let us remind ourselves of one thing – if the public knew the kind of society he really stands for, he would not even have his own seat. He has been peddling Marxist-Trotskyism for years dressed up as socialism. It is Communism with a pink bow tie. It is fair enough if he really believes in his demand that the workers should take to the streets and send the Government scurrying.
Yes, and I will say it as well.
He is doomed to the marginalisation that Trotskyism deserves.
It is the Minister who is doomed.
Marxism has been seen to fail the very people it pretends to protect. This is all cant about the working class. When Marxists had control of Europe they had to erect minefields and barbed wire fences to keep the workers in the paradises that turned out to be tyrannies.
They were Stalinists, not Marxists.
Whether they were Stalinist or Trotskyite the same thing applies. They are all Communists and the people are entitled to know that. If the Deputy stands up in the House to berate others for flying under false colours at elections, he should make it clear that he is a Communist. Why does he not tell his constituents that he wants to bring about Communism in Ireland?
It is democratic socialism not Communism.
No it is not. Socialism is the phrase that is frequently used to dress up Communism by people who are ashamed of what they really stand for.
This is pathetic. Let us talk about the Estimates now.
The Deputy is a fraud, if I may say so. He is a con man who has been peddling Communist politics under a false pretence for a long time. If he does not like the heat then he should get out of the kitchen. The Deputy can give it but he cannot take it. He is blustering away there pretending he is not a Communist.
Let the Minister justify the cuts.
I will yield in this debate if Deputy Higgins will stand up and say that he repudiates Communism and Marxism. He will not do it because he believes in it. That is what he stands for. I defer to nobody and particularly not to Deputy Higgins on a charge of fraudulent politics.
In the last election I stood clearly on a platform which had as its primary role the keeping of the finances of the country on a sound basis. Deputy Higgins was the first to say that I would stand for the kind of politics for which I stand. He was the first to go on platforms in his constituency and berate me and hold me up as an object of contempt because I wish to do what it takes to make this country successful.
Let us be clear about this. The Deputy is a Trotskyite and a Communist. I am not. That is the truth of the matter. I do not wish to hear Deputy Higgins going on about fraudulent politics, fraudulent labels and getting elected by fraud. If the Deputy actually told his constituents what he stands for, the kind of society he wants to create, the kind of society that people like him have created in the past, he would not even save his notional deposit.
The Minister has said that three times. Let us hear about the cuts.
I also want to deal with another contribution that was made by a Member of the technical group. It is important that it should be said, although it may not be the appropriate occasion on which to do it. I completely reject the shallow attack on the Lindsay report which was just delivered in this House. It was a well structured and careful report by a responsible and decent judge.
Why did the Minister not come in and defend it when it was being debated?
Because the Deputy and his friends so badly disrupted the debate that there was not time for me to speak.
Rubbish. Talk about a fraudulent claim.
Order, please.
There was loads of time.
The Lindsay report which was referred to by Deputy Connolly is a model of clarity, concision and fairness. It is entirely faithful to the terms of reference which this House set for the tribunal. It is a sad day when politicians turn themselves into a lynch mob to turn on the Judiciary to whom they entrust serious inquiries. I completely reject the series of increasingly vindictive and thoughtless attacks on an honourable member of the Judiciary who presented to this House a careful, well balanced and proper report on a subject.
It was not the woman's honour I attacked but the cost of the report at €23 million.
I entirely reject and distance myself from that type of mealy mouthed lynch mob oratory to the effect that somehow she had let this House down. She most certainly did not and I will stand up for the rights of a judge who cannot defend herself in this House against ignorant criticism of the kind to which she has had to submit.
We made the same comments two weeks ago and the Minister had the chance to say it then.
The Minister is two weeks too late.
Order, please.
I wish to deal briefly with some issues more relevant to this debate, the Estimates that are before the House. The Estimates will, in combination with the measures taken on budget day, approximate the growth in public spending to the growth in available revenue. Before the election, that is something which I said I would ensure happened. I, and my party, are clear that if revenue is available we will spend it. If it is not available we will not borrow in order to create the kind of economic mess that brought me into politics in the first place, the situation that existed in 1987 when the country's debt had doubled in five years. We were pictured on the front of The Economist magazine as the sick man of Europe and the IMF was going to come in to rescue us from the absolutely irresponsible politics that had brought us to our knees.
Unemployment stood at 250,000 and 19% of workers were without jobs. There were areas, particularly in Deputy Higgins' constituency, with 80% to 90% unemployment. There were no jobs and third generation unemployment was a fact in some houses. It is the policies of the Progressive Democrats in combination with Fianna Fáil that turned this country around and brought unemployment down to 4%.
No way.
The Deputy cannot take it.
The Minister warned us about Fianna Fáil before the election.
Please allow the Minister without interruption.
In the course of the election, the Labour Party only wanted to raise taxes but it was afraid to say it. It suggested that it wanted to bring our tax rates up to the European average. Effectively, that meant that it wanted to double some rates of taxation and make our system of taxation the kind that has driven jobs out of central Europe. It wanted to undo all the work that had been done to make this country successful.
The Minister warned us about Fianna Fáil before the election.
The Deputy will get her opportunity. It wanted to borrow left, right and centre to bring us back to where it really wants the country to be – in a state of economic failure – so that it can weep crocodile tears for that section of society it claims to protect. I believe social justice comes from giving people the chance to participate in the economic life of the country. I do not believe in socialist politics of human set-aside. I do not want to go back to a situation of 250,000 people out of work.
The Minister wants us all to work for a very low wage.
I do not want to go back to the failed politics of tax and spend that dragged the country down, and we are not going to do it either. We are determined to stick to the formula that has delivered success to the country and got people in Deputy Higgins' constituency off the dole queue and back to work.
They cannot have a medical card or a home.
I cannot reverse that. No amount of bluster involving Trotskyite-Communist rhetoric or the mildly Left socialism advocated by the Labour Party will deflect me in this regard. We are taking tough decisions to make sure people stay in jobs.
Many of them will continue to pay tax on the little they earn.
We are not cutting back on employment. We are not sacrificing jobs on the ideological altar of socialism or Communism, as has been suggested by Opposition Members.
Tell us about the people on CE schemes in the west.
I make no apology even though I enjoy listening to the baying mob opposite. I enjoy listening to Members who like to shout others down while talking about democracy.
What about the people on the CE schemes in the west?
The Government has shown that it intends to continue to govern in a way that generates more prosperity, jobs and opportunities for our children to remain and live in the country.
Only for people with rich friends.
Answer the question. Those people are going back to the dole queues.
I am proud to be part of a Government that is determined to do the right thing.
The Minister means the right wing thing.
I am glad I am not sitting on the Opposition benches among people who hold a rag-bag of totally incoherent, diverse views. The one thing that unites the legions of the left is that all of them have experienced political failure and have only economic failure to offer the public.
We have not had the Minister's experience.
Has the Government restored the first-time buyer's grant after its backbenchers went crying to all the newspapers?
I have witnessed the publication of 20 books of Estimates and I have never experienced such a negative reaction by the public to the publication of this year's Estimates. There is a number of reasons for that. The cutbacks signposted in the Estimates will affect the vulnerable and less well-off sections of our communities, from Deputy Higgins's constituency to my constituency in north-west Donegal. However, what has hurt the people most is that they have been misled by the Government and its predecessor because only a few months ago while the election campaign was being fought we were told no cutbacks were envisaged in the near future and everything was rosy in the garden.
I am interested in the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform's assertion that he stood in the general election on the platform of implementing sound financial policies. I am glad he has been reformed. He was a member of the previous Administration and attended Cabinet meetings. It emerged in a recent Sunday newspaper that long before the election was held every Department and Minister knew the public finances were not healthy and were not in the condition outlined by the Minister for Finance right up to election day. They knew a crisis was around the corner and the general election was the reason the crisis was postponed.
I refer to the document that was inadvertently released by the Department of Foreign Affairs, which contained a circular to all Departments that outlined cuts that needed to be implemented, amounting to €300 million. We did not hear about these cutbacks until the election was over. The amount of cutbacks was subsequently increased to €900 million. No sooner was the election over than the truth emerged, and that is what has hurt people most. They were misled and they re-elected a Government that withheld the truth until the election had been held. The Government will pay the price for this at a later date.
Commentators are asking what would the Opposition do, but the question that should be asked is how we got into this mess. Since the Minister for Finance took office in 1997 there have been surpluses of between €3 billion and €5 billion annually, but suddenly these surpluses have turned into a deficit of almost €1.5 billion. The reason for this is that over the past two years every measure taken by the Government was designed to purchase this year's election by hook or by crook and not to maintain a sound economy. The Government has succeeded and the poor people of Ireland will pay for that in coming years.
Because we have a watchdog.
So the Minister says. The last election was my eighth and for the first time I witnessed national newspapers publishing a list of schools with various building needs in the week prior to the election. Every board of management, teacher and parent was told the new buildings and resources were around the corner. The reality is, however, that next to nothing will be provided next year unless the children are out on the road.
That is not true.
That was the first con job. Enough has been said about the abolition of the first-time buyer's grant. Taking such decisions is not new to the Government parties. I have been a Member long enough to recall when Fine Gael and Labour were in government together. We introduced one of the most enlightened grants that was ever introduced in this State. It was the pre-1940 house grant, which provided money to put new roofs, windows and doors on the houses of 140,000 people.
That Government doubled the national debt.
That was Charlie Haughey's legacy.
Were the grants paid?
We looked after the poor people and put a roof over their heads. Within three weeks of Fianna Fáil getting back into Government, that scheme was ended and there has not been a penny available from the Department of the Environment and Local Government for renovation grants since.
Those grants were not paid.
When one reflects on the generous grants available in Northern Ireland, we have nothing to crow about. A certain section of the electorate was looked after in the Book of Estimates. Luxury apartments went on sale in Spencer Dock last week and people queued for hours. I do not know how they generate their incomes but 90% of them already owned homes.
They were gardaí.
They were killing one another to buy these apartments. The Government looks after its own friends and is hammering poor people from Dublin to Donegal.
That is not true.
I refer to the Estimate for the Department of Health and Children. Because today is world day for the prevention of child abuse it is appropriate that I should deal with the lack of resources to ensure children are not abused and that those who are abused have adequate services available to them. There is no allocation in the Estimates to improve the necessary level of services to protect children or for the employment of an adequate complement of social service and child care workers to respond to children's protection and counselling needs. Children in need of social services or counselling should not be prevented from receiving care because of a lack of staff or resources.
Waiting lists for social services exceeded 2,000 in certain parts of the area covered by the Eastern Regional Health Authority and children have been let down by the Government. While recognising the challenges and difficulties involved in staff recruitment and retention, staff vacancy levels of between 25% and 50% generate increased workloads for existing staff and undermine the effectiveness of service provision. The Minister has not allocated money for the establishment of a child death review committee, which has been demanded to ensure formal and standard examinations of the circumstances of unexpected child deaths. In the past two years there have been at least 21 instances of fatal abuse of children in Ireland. To determine what steps might be taken to reverse this trend, the Government should establish a child death review committee to examine the circumstances surrounding these deaths and to make recommendations for policies and practices that would help prevent such tragedies in the future.
The American Academy of Pediatrics noted in its recommendations regarding child deaths and death review teams that the lack of adequate investigations of infant deaths allowed flawed systems to continue and were an impediment to preventing the death of other children at risk. The establishment of a child death review panel, which was a key recommendation emerging from a special conference on child abuse in March this year, will not now take place.
I compliment the Children's Rights Alliance on its work in this area and for drawing these matters to our attention. The alliance advocates three steps to protect children, measures which have been recommended over the past year by the alliance's member organisations. I understand they are under review in the relevant Departments for implementation this year but, on seeing the Estimates, there must be a serious doubt that any attempt will be made to prioritise their implementation next year.
I raised one of the measures advocated by the alliance in the Dáil last week, the vetting of non-statutory staff who work with children. There is an urgent need to address the crisis in the community and voluntary sector with regard to the vetting of staff who work with children. Currently, vetting support provided by the Garda vetting unit is not extended to those outside the statutory sector. Voluntary organisations and other non-governmental organisations that work directly with children are not being given adequate assistance to ensure that protective staff are fully and effectively screened. Vetting support must be extended to these NGOs without delay but no money is provided in the Estimates to do so, which is a disgrace.
I wish to share time with Deputy Cregan.
Is that agreed? Agreed.
The publication of the Estimates for public services last week was a stark reminder that the high increases in expenditure which occurred during the past few years are over. Everybody has to manage their personal finances and knows that income must equal expenditure. The management of a country's finances is no different.
Unfortunately, the income available to the Government has decreased during the past few months. This is due to external factors such as the terrible events of 11 September last year and the general uncertainty surrounding the situation in Iraq. These factors have resulted in a decrease in the tax take available to the Government. It would be extremely foolhardy to expect a Government to continue to spend money it did not have.
They gave it away.
The Minister is displaying prudence in publishing these Estimates. Nobody wants to return to the awful days of the 1980s when the State had to resort to high borrowing to fulfil its responsibilities. Eventually, the chickens came home to roost. There were extreme and severe cutbacks, the effects of which persisted for years. The Minister is wise to resist going down that road.
The Deputy should return that script to whoever wrote it.
The economy is extremely robust despite the marked drop in income. The Estimates show growth this year at 2%, a rate many countries in Europe would be glad to have. I am particularly glad the Minister has decided to concentrate most resources in the areas of health, education and family and social affairs. Expenditure on health in 2003 will be €8.9 billion, a 6% increase on last year.
The Deputy's colleagues have mentioned that a few times already.
The Estimates for education are €5.6 billion, a 3% increase, with a further 3% increase for social and family affairs. These increases are greater than the overall increase in spending of 2%. These figures are a massive increase on the amount of money spent on these services in 1997.
Could the Deputy live on it?
The increase in spending in the Department of Health and Children has been 147% in five years. On the capital side, more than €500 million will be spent on health infrastructure with another €500 million being spent on education. A sum of €1 billion will be spent on housing. Overall capital expenditure will be €5.3 billion.
Overall spending on health will be increased by 6%. An extra €53 million is provided for the completion of an additional 709 beds in acute hospitals and €31 million will be provided for the treatment purchase fund. This will ensure that the Government continues to make waiting lists shorter by treating in excess of 7,000 extra patients in 2003. There will be an increase of €15 million for services for older people and services for disability will receive €28 million. An additional €7.5 million is being provided for child care services, which also covers child homelessness. A sum of €10 million is also being provided for general practice units and primary care co-operatives. I have worked in this area for the last 27 years and I believe this is a worthwhile investment.
Is there anything for medical cards?
I commend the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Dempsey, for making it his priority to tackle disadvantage and special needs. A sum of over €100 million will be provided for special needs assistants at primary level. The people involved in this area are providing an excellent service to the primary school sector and I welcome the huge increase in expenditure, nearly 100%, in this area.
There is a 6% increase in the budget for roads this year, for which over €1 billion has been allocated. The inner relief road in my home town of Sligo is part of the current roads programme and it is important that the NRA allocates €10 million from its budget to allow the archaeological contract to be completed—
It is gone; it has been chopped out.
—the advance work contract to be finished and a start made on the main contract. This road is vital to the future development of Sligo—
It is gone.
—as huge investment projects worth in excess of €130 million are dependent on its completion.
The Deputy should vote against the Estimates.
It has suffered enough hold ups during its long gestation and it must be completed as speedily as possible.
The Deputy is voting for the cuts.
A member of the Labour Party has consistently opposed the development of that road for the last 20 years.
The road is number five on the list and it is gone.
As this is my first time to speak in the Dáil, I wish to thank the electorate of Limerick West for electing me. I hope I can repay the confidence the people entrusted in me and that I can live up to their expectations.
A firm approach to public spending is necessary. Worldwide economic growth this year has slowed markedly and the outlook for 2003 is not very different. The first priority must be to return to a sustainable rate of spending growth. This does not mean a reduction in absolute levels of spending or low levels of public spending, even though spending rose by 40% in the last two years. We cannot spend what we do not have no matter how desirable the objective.
The Government chose to focus available resources on health, social welfare, education, transport and infrastructure, and I welcome that. There have been suggestions that the Government should allow a modest planned deficit. The Government's intention is to pursue a sustainable course, suitable for the needs of the time, and one that is capable of quickly restoring our capacity to meet our promises to the electorate, as we did after 1997.
Next year, current spending will be more than €31 billion, compared to €17 billion in 1997. On the current side, 7% of available resources are being devoted to health, social and family affairs, and education. Health spending is up €520 million, or 7% on 2002, and €4.9 billion, or 141%, on 1997. Social and family affairs spending is up nearly €300 million, 3% on 2002, and nearly €4 billion, or 70% on 1997. Education spending is up nearly €300 million, that is 6% on 2002, and €2.1 billion, or 71%, on 1997.
While the €5.3 billion for capital spending being invested in 2003 is 6% less than the figure for 2002, it is almost 170% above the 1997 investment level. Almost €1.5 billion is being provided for infrastructural investment in roads and public transport. Over €1 billion will be available for housing, while health infrastructural investment will exceed €500 million. The education sector will also receive over €500 million for investment in school building and refurbishment, and over €470 million has been made available for water and sewerage services.
I look forward to budget day and, indeed, to the next five budgets that the Minister for Finance, Deputy McCreevy, will introduce in the House. I also look forward to seeing existing anomalies in the tax system and laws being removed and all loopholes being closed off. The Opposition is in agreement that this is a time for prudent management of our national finances, but will they tell us where they would take the tough decisions? All I hear from them is an exhortation to borrow more.
Indirect taxes.
As my colleague, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform said earlier, borrowings must be paid for.
Is the Deputy opposed to borrowing this year?
We can all remember 1997 when this country was on the brink of bankruptcy after five years of—
The Deputy should stick to the script or he will make a mistake.
It is my own script, Deputy Stagg. After five years of a Fine Gael-led Government, joined by their partners in Labour, we were bankrupt. So, do we go back to that stage again?
Will the Deputy vote for that?
Senator Mansergh did not write that.
No. I wrote it myself, as a matter of fact, and it is in my own handwriting.
That explains a lot.
I ask the Minister with responsibility for afforestation to examine his departmental budget to try to redirect as much finance as possible towards the continuation of planting.
Do not vote for it.
It is important to continue the same levels of plantation we have had in previous years to ensure that small landowners on poor land can diversify and get a decent income. In particular, we must ensure that people working in that industry will not suffer any job losses.
The Deputy should use his vote then.
Much has been said about the abolition of the first-time buyer's grant, but that grant was full of inequities and those who deserved it most did not receive it. I can never understand why people who bought second-hand houses did not receive a grant, yet those who purchased new houses did. Following the economic growth of recent years, many people are building houses in rural areas that are well in excess of grant size. That is their prerogative and they have chosen to do so. On budget day, the Minister for Finance should provide a tax break or some additional mortgage relief to those who were depending on the first-time buyer's grant.
If Deputy Cregan thinks that the country was on the verge of bankruptcy in 1997—
In 1987.
—the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party was in a more stressful state than I thought.
The Deputy said 1997.
I should have said 1987.
After being forced to plough through a speech like that from the Fianna Fáil script factory, the least Deputy Devins deserves is that the road in Sligo, to which he referred, should be reinstated.
This combination of Government parties deliberately calculated some two years ahead of the 2002 electoral contest that it was going to buy the general election with taxpayers' money. In doing so Fianna Fáil demonstrated utter disregard for the public finances and a reckless lack of interest in the damage that might be inflicted on the economy. Less frequently commented on, however, is the craven self-interested acquiescence of those pillars of fiscal rectitude, the Progressive Democrats. Michael McDowell, as he then was, appealed to the electorate to save themselves from Fianna Fáil and the dangers inherent in allowing that party to govern alone. He never admitted that the damage was already done with the Progressive Democrats at the Cabinet table. He devoted his slot this evening to an attack on Deputy Joe Higgins's socialism and a declaration that he, the Minister, is not a communist. As a revelation, that admission ranks with the news that Fianna Fáil should not be let out alone or that the Pope is a Catholic.
The Minister for Finance, Deputy McCreevy, tries to hide behind the fig-leaf of two and a half lines buried away in the party's manifesto that the Fianna Fáil promises were predicated on the public finances. The public were well protected from that secret by an army of hand-holders and spin doctors, whose bivouac was the Treasury Management Building, and whose slogan was "It's showtime". In fact, Deputy McCreevy gave the highest possible profile to a definitive undertaking to the then Fine Gael leader that "no cutbacks whatsoever are being planned secretly or otherwise". It was the most deliberate, calculated untruth on a fundamentally important matter of policy ever uttered by an Irish Government Minister. It is unbelievable that Deputy McCreevy could have committed such a statement to writing without at least his Taoiseach agreeing to it and without the Tánaiste knowing about it.
The Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Deputy Cullen, has just told us that growth came to "a virtual standstill in 2001", making the deceit even more unconscionable on the part of both Government parties.
This week, the Book of Estimates revealed the full horror of the extent of the lie: jobs gone and more to go; young people to lose their homes; 200,000 low-paid citizens to be deprived of medical cards; 5,000 people sacked from CE schemes; the capital programme slowed further; and future employment strangled by further savaging the roll out of broadband. The list goes on.
The approach to self-inflicted fiscal crisis is to abandon or suspend vital public investment projects rather than tackle the problem of inflation in construction, an industry which is, of course, dominated by the friends of Fianna Fáil. Dublin is choking and the Luas project is deferred for another year. The Minister for Transport watches over the disappearance of precious public resources into the pockets of contractors, as projects go over budget and behind schedule. His response is to adopt as his anthem the Johnny Logan song, "What's another year". Bus and train fares are also to be hiked, despite Fianna Fáil's assurance during the election that it "supports the idea of lower pricing for public transport during peak travel times", another untruth.
The national road network needs continued investment. The response of the Government to its fiscal crisis is to suspend vital national road projects, while funding for non-national roads, including those in Sligo, is to be slashed by 27%. Soon we will again be negotiating lunar crater-style pot-holes.
The Taoiseach's advisesr Senator Martin Mansergh muses on television that "it would be wrong to do long-term damage [to the economy] for short-term political reasons". If and when the Seanad comes to debate the Estimates, however, we know that Senator Mansergh will vote for this Book of Estimates and will probably speak in favour of them as well.
In the field of education we need more investment. The decision of this Government is to cut investment in primary education by 4%, investment in secondary schools by 10%, and investment in colleges and universities by 29%. During the election campaign Fianna Fáil promised it would invest in schools "to ensure that every school attains modern standards within the next five years". In the field of education we need to improve and enhance access and second chance education. What has the Minister for Education and Science done since the election? He has cut the school retention initiative by €2 million, the back to education initiative by €3.8 million, and teacher recruitment and training by €6.7 million.
During the election Fianna Fáil promised to introduce a socially enlightened and progressive measure, an increase in medical card eligibility to bring an additional 200,000 people on low incomes into the scheme. Now this promise also is gone by the board. In addition, there has been a steady stream of cutbacks announced in the health area since the Government's re-election. Even before the publication of these Estimates, the national treatment purchase scheme had been cut and the creation of frontline health jobs had been frozen. The drugs refund threshold had been raised and VHI premiums had been increased. This onslaught on public services, cutbacks in public initiatives and reneging on promises has one major overarching effect: it reduces the quality of life for the ordinary citizens of the State and, in particular, the quality of life and public services to the weakest sections of the population.
What are we supposed to do? It seems we are supposed, like the children of Israel after the Babylonian sack of Jerusalem, to seek solace in readings from the Book of Lamentations. Or, as Deputy Fleming told "Morning Ireland", we can always go to the community welfare officer. The Government says nothing in this dreadful, inequitable and unethical behaviour is to do with it. It is all the fault of others – the world economy, September 11 and foot and mouth disease. The list is endless but it does not include the Government itself – its actions, mismanagement and stupidity. Of course it does not include lying and misrepresentation either. The Government claimed paternity of the economic boom that was in full bloom before it came to office but it now disclaims any responsibility for the reversal of engines.
Deputy Ned O'Keeffe said people tell him that this is the most right-wing Government since 1921. There is no doubt about that. It is true. However, what will Deputy O'Keeffe and the other so-called rebels from Cork and elsewhere do in relation to the first-time buyer's grant tonight? The Government points to the economic argument that the grant ultimately benefits the builder, who pockets the grant through higher house prices. However, if this is what the Government believes, why did it not abolish the grant five years ago? Why does the Government not claw back an element of the tax breaks showered on investors in the housing market? Why does the Government not claw back a proportion of the capital gains tax relief given to speculators? The Government contends that the cash value of the grant, at €3,800, is minimal relative to the level that home prices have reached. Again, if this is so, why is the grant only now being abolished? The Taoiseach says the purpose of the grant was to boost housing construction and that the grant has served this purpose. Again, why abolish the grant now? Why not last year or the year before or the year before that? The truth is that investors are earning more in rental income thanks to tax breaks from multiple properties than they are repaying on mortgages. The answer to these questions is that the Government does not really believe the arguments it is now adducing.
The grant is also something else. In the context of soaring house prices, about which the Government has done nothing, people seeking to achieve the dream of a home of their own have to scrape together from various quarters the wherewithal for a deposit. They have to work hard and save diligently, chasing ever-rising prices. They have to turn to their parents and relations for help. They are forced to do almost anything to get in as they literally watch house prices rise daily. From the point of view of the personal finances of ordinary people in this desperate situation the grant is the small thing at the margin that can make the deposit possible and secure the down payment on the home of your own. That is what the Government has abolished in the name of necessity, in the cause of prudence and on the ground of sound finances.
The Government is in the most awful financial mess of its own doing and as a result of its own mismanagement. It has decided to deal with the disaster it created by slashing public services and initiatives such as the first-time buyer's grant. Where are the measures to deal with house prices? Where are the policies to tackle the bottlenecks in the availability of development land and the release at reasonable, as opposed to speculative, prices of development land? They are nowhere to be seen and we know why. To go down that route would be to hurt the speculator friends of Fianna Fáil. To go down that route would be inconsistent with being the most right-wing Government since 1921. However, we know how Deputy Ned O'Keeffe will vote this evening. There is no doubt about how he and others on the Government backbenches who oppose this measure will vote. They know their place. It is not to represent ordinary people or to resist the attack of the Government on the quality of life of ordinary people. It is to act as dutiful lobby fodder for the Government and to parrot the scripts handed to them by the Fianna Fáil press office machine.
In our schools and hospitals, in our towns and cities, in public utilities, State companies, in forestry and industry and at home, the citizens of the State are now enduring something entirely unnecessary. The Government has a problem but in reality there is no threat to the State. Current spending is still showing a surplus. Ireland is not on the edge of ruin and the World Bank is not in the wings; we are not about to default. The Government created a mess, mismanaged its finances and got its sums and policies badly wrong. Now, like the Babylonians, its answer to its own mess is to attack the people.
The Estimate for my Department for 2003 is €1,069,473,000, which represents a reduction of 5.3% on the 2002 Estimate. The Estimate has been structured specifically to encourage continued growth in the economy while at the same time recognising the overall imperative of reducing the growth in public spending. The fact is that we must acknowledge the changed economic circumstances in which we are currently operating but it is equally vital that we protect our economic competitiveness and retain the capacity to generate employment in key sectors. We have achieved that balance.
I will deal with the Estimates for the enterprise development agencies under my remit, namely IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and Shannon Development. As the House can see from the figures in the Abridged Book of Estimates, the Estimates for these three agencies is substantial and totals some €280.591 million, accounting for some 26% of the overall voted amount. In line with the need to reduce public spending, the voted amounts for these agencies has been cut by an aggregate total of some 8.5%, or €25,993 million from the voted amount for this year.
I will deal with the reduced administrative budgets later but now I wish to concentrate on the capital budget allocations. These reductions will impact on the capacity of each agency to provide support for industry with a consequent reduction in new approvals for grant-aid and equity investment as well as some prioritisation of other measures. Choices will have to be made in this tighter monetary environment.
Confidence in the public finances is an essential prerequisite for sustained investment by indigenous and foreign investors. In the early to mid 1980s we had grants for everything, we had low business taxes – but high personal taxes – and we had bright educated people: unfortunately most of them were heading for the US, the UK or Australia because investors did not have confidence in our ability to manage our own economic affairs. The measured and prudent response to the downturn in the world economy in these Estimates and in the budget on 4 December is the surest way of sustaining a high level of employment and the level of investment that will create high quality jobs in the future.
The challenge facing all the enterprise development agencies will be to find alternative ways to pure grant-aid to ensure that Ireland remains attractive for investment and to continue to encourage job creation in key sectors of the economy. When one considers the tightening rules relating to grant-aiding under the EU state aids regime and the changing world in which we operate, the emphasis for our development agencies has to be on providing the stimulus for innovation and generating new ideas. These ideas have then to be developed into commercial products that will create and maintain jobs in the longer term. Encouraging research and development activity is the key to meeting the challenge facing the Irish economy and ensuring that we maintain and expand the high employment levels of recent years. Consequently there will be a greater concentration on funding for research and development activity both in indigenous firms through Enterprise Ireland and through Science Foundation Ireland. Both organisations' voted amounts for this activity have been increased for next year over the 2002 figure. Commercialisation of such research and development is the basis for future sustainable job creation in Ireland in the changing global economy.
Dealing with some specific subheads, I turn to subhead C2 which covers the IDA Ireland grants-to-industry Vote.
What about the FÁS workers? Will the Minister come to that matter?
I will. The figures in the AEV show a small notional increase on the 2002 figure to cater primarily for the fact that grant approvals for a small number of largescale projects fall due to be paid in 2003. When these amounts are excluded IDA Ireland will incur a reduction in the amount of funding available for support to industry.
Likewise, when one turns to consider subhead C3, it is worth bearing in mind that the 2002 voted amount included non-recurring expenditure in respect of development of broadband infrastructure. When this is excluded, the Estimate for 2003 shows a smaller reduction but will still allow IDA Ireland to continue in its property management work to help attract foreign direct investment to Ireland.
When one considers the voted amount for Enterprise Ireland, under subhead D2, it is worth recalling that the agency also receives an allocation of funding from subhead F1. When added to the amount voted under subhead D2, Enterprise Ireland's funding shows a very small increase in 2003. However, within that amount, as I stated earlier, there is a noticeable shift towards research and development and away from supports to industry in the form of grant aid and equity.
As Deputies are aware, in some cases the agencies pay out grants in arrears, based on approvals made in previous years. I assure the House that such claims for grants will continue to be paid on foot of fully checked and approved submissions. The main area to be affected will be new approvals.
Despite the reductions being imposed on the agencies, close examination of individual elements shows that the agencies can continue to fulfil their mandate successfully in 2003, albeit with a need for reprioritisation of tasks and measures.
Science, technology, research and innovation are vital for the future. We must build the structures that support research excellence, enhance our ability to compete at the pinnacle of knowledge and produce the people, through our educational system, who will take on the new challenges. A cornerstone of this is building our research capability in our universities, institutes and enterprises – in essence, the research infrastructure that will make it possible.
Central to this vision of Ireland as a country driving technological change is Science Foundation Ireland, SFI, which was established to implement the technology foresight fund of over €635 million. It will support projects in key technologies strategic to long-term national development and is a vital element in the Government's strategy to move Irish industry higher up the value chain. Since its establishment Science Foundation Ireland has funded 61 research projects across a range of research programmes with an overall financial commitment of €120 million over the next five years. SFI investments are targeted at research leaders as well as research teams to broaden and deepen national capability in scientific research in the areas underpinning biotechnology and information and communication technologies.
The Government's commitment to research technological development and innovation is reflected in the Estimates. The subhead through which research and development supports are delivered, mainly through Enterprise Ireland on the indigenous side, has been increased substantially from €58 million in 2002 to €78 million in 2003. Science Foundation Ireland is still ramping its activity. Its budget has been increased from €35 million in 2002 to €70 million in 2003. It has been decided in the context of rationalising subheads to combine the research subheads of F1 and F2 into a new subhead F in 2003. This subhead will have a total of €148 million.
In deciding on the 2003 allocation for labour force development and related areas, difficult choices had to be made. However, the Government was conscious of the need to maximise, within the current constraints on public spending, investment in measures that have a primary focus on employability. These include the provision of training and employment supports for the disabled and those experiencing difficulty in entering the labour market.
I want to correct a common misunderstanding that has arisen about the level of funding available for FÁS training programmes. Some commentators have reported that these programmes are to suffer a 41% reduction – Deputies have referred to this during the debate – but this is not true. Overall investment in FÁS training schemes in 2003 is being maintained very close to 2002 levels.
That is not true.
It is. The 41% reduction in the Abridged Book of Estimates relates only to the level of direct Exchequer support. The Exchequer contribution of €73.518 million is complemented this year by a €222.055 million contribution from the national training fund, bringing the overall investment in 2003 for FÁS training initiatives to €295.573 million compared to €301.018 million in 2002. The reduction is €5 million, not 41%.
I am not surprised the Minister is getting her figures confused. What about the 5,000 who will be removed from CE schemes?
What about the thousands who are in employment. FÁS will prioritise, so far as possible, the training and employment supports for the disabled within the overall allocations.
The Government's commitment to the central training role played by FÁS in underpinning competitiveness is further demonstrated by the recently launched in-company training scheme, which will provide €45 million before the end of 2006 in training and up-skilling the labour force. The ESF-funded initiative will be co-financed by the private sector.
Will the Minister accept a question?
I will.
What about the people who are over 50 and who have been taken off employment schemes? Does the Minister have a scheme for those people?
Acting Chairman (Mr. Kirk)
There are constraints on the Minister's time.
There are 20,000 people who do not have much time either.
Five thousand people are coming off the schemes while 20,000 are staying on. Besides, there are several other schemes, as Deputy Durkan knows.
May I raise a point of order?
Acting Chairman
We should hear the Minister, without interruption. Her time has expired.
More money is being spent on training now than ever before and we have issued more than 36,000 work payments this year.
(Interruptions).
On a point of order, I asked the Minister a question and I did not receive an answer.
I did answer.
(Interruptions).
Acting Chairman
It is the Minister's choice whether she replies.
I did answer. I will also tell the Deputies about the extra 370,000 people at work. Deputies from all sides of the House constantly come to me looking for work permits for foreign workers because companies cannot get local employees.
What about older people? People over 50 are being thrown on the scrap heap.
I see I was foolish to give way because I am only encouraging the Deputies.
Acting Chairman
The Minister's time has expired.
The Minister has expired. She has run out of steam.
I am sorry my time has expired. Overall, €30 million has been made available for the social economy programme. This will enable the 220 enterprises approved to date under the programme to operate. In addition, about €46 million is being provided for the job initiative programme. With community employment, the social economy and the job initiative, over €350 million will be expended next year. This is a significant investment in support for long-term unemployed. As my time has expired I will give way to the Opposition.
What about the community employment schemes?
As Deputy Allen knows, there are more people in work in Cork than ever. Unemployment is at an all-time low.
What about the IFI workers? The Minister has let them down badly. She has left them high and dry.
Are copies of the Minister's speech available for all Deputies or only for a select number?
I assure Deputy McHugh they are not a collector's item.
I noted that copies of the Minister's speech were distributed to certain Deputies but not to others.
That is a good point.
Another cutback.
I will make sure the Deputy receives a copy.
Acting Chairman
It is normal procedure to distribute copies to all Deputies.
Why was normal procedure not observed?
Acting Chairman
I will have the matter checked for you, Deputy. I am sure it will be possible to get a copy.
It would be nice to see a copy at the same time as everyone else.
Acting Chairman
Deputy McHugh, I ask you to resume your seat. There are time constraints and three speakers occupy the next speaking slot. You are eating into their time.
I am entitled to the same respect as every other Deputy in the House.
Acting Chairman
I have told you, Deputy, that we are looking into the matter and a copy will be provided for you.
Tá an t-Aire Airgeadais ag tuair go mbeidh €10.5 milliún ag teacht isteach sa chiste chomhshaoil ón gcáin ar málaí plaisteacha agus go mbeidh €28 milliún ag teacht ón gcáin ar líon na talún. Impím ar an Aire an t-airgead seo a chaitheamh ar ath-oscailt mhonarcan déanta buidéal. Bhí an monarchan seo i measc na scéimeanna is fearr athchúrsála sa tír agus tá sé seafóideach gur lig an Rialtas dó dúnadh agus daoine a dhéanamh dífhostaithe.
Tá sé scanrúil go bhfuil gearradh siar 11% á dhéanamh do bhuiséad Fhoras na Gaeilge. Ní raibh ach €26 milliún ar lorg aige chun scéimeamma poiblí a chur ar bun, maoiniú a dhéanamh ar na grúpaí Gaelacha deonacha agus an obair a bhí os a chomhair a chur i bhfeidhm. Níl sé ag fáil ach €12 milliún. Níl a fhios agam conas is féidir leis an Aire Ó Cuív a rá go bhfuil sé muiníneach go mbeidh an foras in ann a chlár oibre a chur i gcrích leis an ísliú airgid seo.
Tá impleachtaí ann fosta maidir le Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta. Is foras tras-Teorann é seo agus má íslítear an t-airgead anseo, íslítear é sna Sé Chondae fosta. Tá ísliú i bhfad níos mó ag an fhoras ná a shíleann daoine.
Ní amháin go bhfuil an Teachta McCreevy tar éis buille a thabhairt do lucht na Gaeilge sa chás atá luaite agam, tá sé i gceist aige chomh maith go mbeidh ísliú 12% sa deontas do TG4. Is trua sin mar seo ceann de na staisiún teilifíse is fearr san Eorap agus caiteachas airgid an-mhaith atá ann. Is trua go bhfuil gearradh siar ag tarlú.
Má chuirimid an t-airgead ag an fhoras agus TG4 le chéile, níl ach €34 milliún i gceist. Cuir seo i gcomparáid leis an €64 milliún atá an tAire Airgeadais ag bronnadh ar an pheata atá aige – an tionscal rasaíocht capall agus con.
I refer to increases in some areas of expenditure, one of which raises questions. Why was the Secret Service Vote only half spent last year and yet the new figure represents an increase of 85% on that of last year? That has happened regularly in the past ten years.
It is secret.
It is secret, exactly. It does not exist. Nobody is paid a pension in respect of it. We do not know who is in it.
Has the Deputy any advice?
The money should be spent elsewhere. Then, at least, there would be public accountability and we would know why there is a Vote. Why is there an increase of 121% in the budget for consultancy services to the Department of Foreign Affairs? Is that symptomatic of a move towards the privatisation of the Civil Service? Sin na ceisteanna atá agam.
I welcome the debate on the Estimates. This discussion is about how a Cabinet and Government ruined our national finances, and the Book of Estimates proved this. Let the Cabinet and the backbenchers not hide behind Deputy McCreevy. They too have to take responsibility for the mess we are in.
I am particularly interested in the health figures in the Estimates. It is a complete con-job to say that we will have an increase of 6% in the health services while the Minister and Cabinet know that health inflation is running at 10%. To the ordinary person, this means bed closures and cuts in services. If people do not believe me, they should listen to the recent critical remarks of the likes of Dr. David Hickey, the director of the kidney and pancreas transplant department in Beaumont hospital. People can say what they want, but the health strategy is in tatters.
Capital spending has been cut by 7% and this is not an adjustment but an old-fashioned cut. We also saw the terrible plans to cut back on education and now we want our children to attend schools which are in terribly bad condition. Are we going back to the days of the hedge school? With this Government, it seems so.
I urge the Government strongly to stop this drift to the right and not make ordinary people suffer. I challenge the people with the tunnel vision and the narrow economic view. There are other ways of raising funds without damaging the overall economy. One should ask the Revenue staff about the amount of money outstanding in uncollected taxes. Its figure is €987 million and we all know that it errs on the side of caution.
The Government has shown clearly the direction in which it is going. It saddens me to see and hear politicians rather arrogantly dismiss elected representatives when they allude to the cuts in health, education and the dumping of the €3,610 first-time buyer's grant at a time of a massive housing crisis. There is something sick about this Government and we need to make it better.
Has the leadership of ICTU lost all its senses in even considering going into partnership with the most right-wing Government since the foundation of this State? Does it want to do a deal with a Government that has a policy of implementing cuts against the old, sick, disabled and homeless? I urge the leadership of ICTU to think again.
I welcome the opportunity to speak on this debate.
It is true that billions of euro were spent but not in the west of Ireland which has suffered very heavily. The problems in respect of unbalanced regional development will be compounded totally. The south and east of the country are 45% over target, and yet we are wallowing 39% behind in the west. We will have to put up with our second class roads for the next decade at least.
What about the 25% cutback in the CLÁR fund, already spread over too many counties, which has gone down to €9 million? What about the forestry cuts and the 68% reduction in the western infrastructural fund, and how about the cuts in the REPS and the farmyard approved fund? What about the crisis in north-west Mayo, which Séamus Caulfield has highlighted? The 2002 census figures show that Mayo is the area of Ireland in most serious decline, crying out for proper infrastructure. We need urgent action. Shannon Area Development would certainly fit the picture here because otherwise there will be nobody left.
What about the abolition of the first-time buyer's grant? I welcome the call to reverse this in the interests of equity. What about the defined revenue funding scheme that will allow people to stay in their own communities, such as older people who would otherwise go to nursing homes? They could very easily be supported in their own communities by this scheme. I hope the scheme will be dealt with adequately in the budget.
I notice the comments of the Minister for Health and Children on BreastCheck, but where is the definite commitment towards it? I hope this will come. What about the situation in Mayo General Hospital in Castlebar, where we have an X-ray machine that has been broken since last March? People have to go to Galway for basic X-rays and barium meals, which any hospital worth its salt should be able to provide. Mayo General Hospital is the only general hospital in Mayo, but people have to travel many miles beyond for this basic investigation.
What about the 700 hospital beds? They did not come to Mayo although we were promised 45. We lack 60 beds in total in our hospital. We have thousands of people in Mayo waiting for years for services and they have to travel a distance the equivalent of a journey from Dublin to Galway to avail of them – parts of Mayo are this distant from Galway. Older people have to travel this distance when they break a hip and this puts their lives in jeopardy.
What about the other consultants we need – rheumatologists and ear, nose and throat specialists? People are waiting for years in terrible pain and that is not fair. People in Dublin would not put up with it so we should not have to? We hope our three orthopaedic surgeons will come, but we do not know when the posts will be advertised. We do not know when the ICU services needed to support them will be provided. We have great worries in this regard.
When will the capital infrastructure be provided which we need to make Mayo competitive and keep people within their own area? While we need consultants in Mayo, 30,000 extra people are employed in the health services, of which doctors make up only a tiny percentage. What about the 200,000 medical cards? People really needed those cards and I am sure that some over-70s who got them – retired bank managers and so on – would have been quite delighted if people who really deserved them got them instead. That was very unfortunate.
We have a great need for development in Mayo. Today I read the comments of the Taoiseach in the paper about broadband and I am worried about this because of the commitment made to place Mayo on an equal IT footing with the rest of the country. I would welcome the Tánaiste's comments on that. The severe cutback in the Estimates for broadband sends out a very wrong message. The Taoiseach has attempted to shift responsibility to the private sector to provide this service. It is wrong and it indicates that, as usual, County Mayo will have to wait until all other parts of the country have been serviced. County Mayo needs help now. So much for balanced regional development.
It is a high price to pay for voting for Fianna Fáil.
The abridged Estimates volume, published last Thursday, must be set within two realms of reality – the changed economic circumstances at home and the ongoing slowdown and uncertainty abroad. We may live on an island but our economy is one of the most globally connected in the world. For economic growth, job creation, building competitiveness and improving social justice, we must manage our economy prudently. That is what these Estimates do.
The Estimates for 2003 take all relevant realities into account while, at the same time, ensuring that the economy will be shepherded safely through a period of global uncertainty. I do not know whether to be saddened or amused by the positions adopted by the Opposition in this debate. It is not what they articulated in the general election campaign. It is not grounded on the open nature of our economy, nor do they give any recognition to the fact that the international economic context continues to be bleak. Ireland is not Tír na nÓg. We cannot carry on as if nothing has changed.
The Government created the mess.
The very open nature of our economy combined with stability-oriented domestic policies drove the exceptional economic growth of 1997 to 2001. With the global economic downturn the Government must take stock of the new economic reality.
In formulating the Estimates for 2003, the Government was guided by the need to ensure that the levels of public spending were appropriate to our new situation. Spending increases for next year will be brought into line with changes in tax revenue.
By excluding 200,000 people from the medical card scheme.
That is what is being done through the Estimates. It is the right thing to do and it is what this Government will do.
Those who talk about social inclusion must acknowledge that corrective action now will consolidate the enormous economic and social gains of recent years. Without such action now, we would risk rapidly eroding all that has been achieved. How would this promote social justice? Rather than face the reality of what is required to achieve lasting social and infrastructural progress, the Opposition choose instead to pretend that we can spend our way out of this downturn. We cannot and we will not.
In formulating the Estimates, the recommendations of an independent review committee assisted the decision-making process. Government, however, is about listening to advice and then making decisions. It is beyond doubt that the spending increases of recent years could not be sustained indefinitely. Over the last two years alone, growth in spending was 40%. Taking into account the very high expenditure bases of all Departments and the consequent increase in services provision, the Government has made decisions around national priorities, both economic and social.
In line with our overall objective to improve the general quality of life and to deepen national competitiveness, priority is being given to health, education, social welfare and transport infrastructure. With regard to health, the gross allocation for next year will be €8.9 billion, an increase of €520 million on 2002. That rise needs to be set within the context of a massive 147% cumulative increase over the last five years. Of itself, it represents a clear demonstration of the Government's consistent commitment and determination to bring about substantive improvements in health care provision. However, the health delivery agencies also have a vital role to play, especially in the effective management of resources on behalf of patients and those on waiting lists, as well as on behalf of taxpayers generally.
In education, the gross allocation for 2003 of €5.6 billion represents a €190 million increase on 2002 and brings the cumulative rise over the period 1997 to 2003 to 77%. The gross allocation for the Department of Social and Family Affairs is €9.7 billion, which on a pre-budget basis represents an increase of €300 million. Overall spending on social welfare has increased by €4 billion since 1997. It is self-evident therefore that the Government is according special priority to those sections in our society who are most marginalised or most vulnerable – those in need of health care those depending on social welfare payments for their incomes and those in education who will drive economic and social performance in the years ahead.
To enable continued improvements to be made in building social fairness, special attention has to be paid as well to deepening national competitiveness. A key element of that is infrastructure investment.
Having regard to the restraining effects on economic activity of accumulated under-investment, €5.3 billion will be invested next year in capital projects. By any objective reckoning, that is major expenditure. It is almost twice the equivalent rate for the European Union generally. Next year, €1.5 billion will be spent on capital investment in public transport, €1.02 billion on housing, a further €1.02 billion on health and education capital projects and over €470 million on environmental services.
A significant easing in construction price inflation presents good opportunities now to achieve better value for money outcomes. In the round, the allocation for capital expenditure sets a correct balance for this economy and society. We will continue to invest in improving the competitiveness base of the economy while, at the same time, sustaining the gains achieved in promoting greater inclusion and greater equality in our society. As one would expect, the allocations to the higher priority areas have implications for those areas of lower priority.
For my own Department, the 2003 Estimates provide a total of €23.641 million, representing a substantial reduction of 34% on the 2002 provision of €35.9 million. Nevertheless, I welcome the provision of a level of funding which I am satisfied will allow my Department to continue with the range of activities that it undertakes, reflecting the central role that it plays in advancing the priorities of Government. I strongly believe that these activities and services can continue to be provided, even with a tighter budget, through the achievement of better value for money in the administration of the Department and the services it provides. This is something that my Department will be working very hard to achieve throughout the coming year.
I am especially pleased that my Department will be in a position to give continued support to the very important work undertaken by the bodies mentioned below. The provision of funding for the National Economic and Social Council, the National Economic and Social Forum and the National Centre for Partnership and Performance will ensure that the very important roles fulfilled by them will continue. The National Forum on Europe made a valuable contribution to the Nice treaty debate and I welcome the provision of funding to enable it complete the work programme set out by the Chairman to further inform the debate on the future of Europe. The provision will also enable the Independent Commission of Inquiry into the Dublin and Monaghan Bombings to continue its work within the timeframe which it has indicated is required to complete its work. It will also enable the work of the Moriarty tribunal to continue.
The Estimates provision will also enable continued support for the Information Society Commission, which has an important role to play in the continued development of the potential of the information society in Ireland. I welcome the increased provisions for the offices of the Attorney General, the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Chief State Solicitor. These provisions will enable the legal offices to cope with a heavy workload by providing additional resources to prosecute a backlog of cases.
What about the extra 2,000 gardaí, promised during the general election campaign? There is no mention of it in the Estimates.
The provision for the Central Statistics Office for 2003 represents, on the face of it, a 40% decrease in the Estimate for 2002. However, much of this relates to the exceptional expenditure associated with the census of population for this year.
In preparing the Estimates for next year, the Government gave careful consideration to our economic competitiveness and to social justice. We evaluated the choices, prioritised the options and have made decisions accordingly.
There is no social justice, only money for the Government's friends, the fat cats.
I hope we find more than a £1.50 per week increase for the old age pensioners, which is the amount the Deputy's party provided when in Government. The process undertaken by the Government was set within a wider consideration of fiscal developments in the wider world, where we rely heavily for trade and investment. In tailoring public expenditure levels to GNP economic estimates for 2003, we have given greatest priority to the most vulnerable while, at the same time, protecting the competitiveness base of the economy. Fiscal prudence will guide this economy safely through ongoing global uncertainty.
The policies of the Government will enable us to consolidate the huge economic and social gains of recent years. We will not abandon the low tax regime that has been the engine of our economic and social progress. Any short-term gain would cost us dearly in the long-term. We will husband our resources to support our priorities. Other issues, will for now, have to wait. This prudent approach will protect the jobs we have created and the progress we have made. I hope we will be able to assist the poor far better than the Labour Party when one of its Deputies held the Finance portfolio. For the future it will ensure that we are well placed to move ahead rapidly when conditions in the wider world permit.
This year, after 22 months where public expenditure grew by 47%, the Book of Estimates should serve two purposes. First, they should indicate how the Government proposes to deal with the overall spending component of the public finances for 2003. Second, given the resources available, the estimates should indicate the Government's priorities within its overall policy framework. In fact, they are utterly meaningless – a miserable failure on both counts. Let us be clear: we do not have an economic problem but abject failure to manage the public finances and specifically to manage the current spending component of them.
These estimates fail to give any indication of how the Government intends to manage overall spending for 2003. They fail because the Minister has not given any indication of what will be his approach in 2003 to public sector pay. He states that he will tell us on budget day, but what use is a Book of Estimates when we do not know what increase will apply to public sector pay, considering that it is the single biggest item in it, accounting for 50% of all current spending? He says that spending will increase by 3% next year but what he actually means is that spending excluding pay will increase by 3%. The stark reality is that we have no idea if the Government is doing anything meaningful to control the runaway train that public spending has become.
The estimates also fail as an overall indicator of the Government's position on spending because there is no evidence that the Minister or the Government can restrict public spending to the levels declared in the Estimates. It could not do it in 2000, 2001 and 2002, so why should we believe that it can rein it back in 2003? The only way to give confidence that spending control will re-emerge is to see real evidence of reform that will deliver value for money. In this volume of Estimates there is not a single shred of evidence either in the Minister's statements or any other statement written by the Government's press officers.
The Estimates' second function is to show where the Government's priorities lie and to inform people why these choices were made in times of scarce resources. The Estimates volume should be transparent so that, flawed as it is, it spells out clearly the impact on public services. Since last Thursday, all the commentators have talked about a 3% increase in spending next year. What 3%? It is based on the estimated outturn for 2003 notified by the various Departments to the Department of Finance, which is clearly washing its hands of them and I can see why. For ten months of this year the Minister let expenditure grow by 20% and miraculously the estimated outturn is back on target again to 14.8%. To achieve this, departmental spending in November and December will have to fall from 20% growth on last year to a 6% fall on 2001 levels.
Deputy Parlon appears to understand this but I have trouble understanding it—
One has to cut spending.
—because almost 75% of spending is on pay and social welfare and teachers, nurses, gardaí and old age pensioners are still being paid, while parents still pick up child benefit. If I have trouble in understanding that forecast of outturn figures, in consequence I have a problem understanding that spending is to grow by 3% next year, but if the 2002 spending in November and December continues as it has for the previous months, then these Estimates actually reflect a 1% cut, not a 3% rise, and that is before inflation. In effect, we have a real cut of more than 5% in public services.
This party proposed a fiscal accountability Act which would do three things – impose transparency on public finances, force Departments to justify spending, and set out strong value for money conditions on all spending. We also favour the establishment of a team dedicated to reviewing value for money in the public service, whose reports would be published. We do not have such legislation but the Government should deliver on some of its objectives. For transparency on the capital side, it could publish a list of projects being funded next year – the roads, hospitals, and schools which underpin it. Let us stop this nonsense of telling boards of management in schools that they are suddenly on the list.
Deputies
Hear, hear.
This is a list that goes on for years. The Government could establish a small trained inspectorate to prioritise a schools' buildings programme however cut back it was. It should publish the priorities and do the work. Likewise, the lists of hospital projects should be published with the tender, start and completion dates, as well as if they are over or under budge. Year after year we hear of capital projects costing in excess of the original budget.
No one believes anymore that the budgeted cost of a project will be met by this Government. There are many reasons for this but one is raw politics. In an effort to placate local communities, angry about substandard, rat infested schools or long promised hospital or road improvements, announcements are made on local radio and in the local press. The planning stage is announced with great fanfare, followed by the announcement that a project has been approved for tender. Costs are incurred and tenders received but Ministers know in their hearts and souls that funding will not be available for years to complete the project. They go to meetings to discuss these matters but no one explains the value of a tender prepared in 2002 for a project that will not go ahead until 2005 or 2006. It is of no value at all and undermines democratic politics and the integrity and trust placed in Government Deputies by the electorate which they deceived last May.
While on the subject of transparency, the Minister for the Environment and Local Government could publish a summary of the state of local authority finances including local authority budgets for 2002, their expenditure to September and the amount they borrowed. If he did that, we could understand the implications of the decision in the Estimates not to increase the contribution in 2003 to the local government fund. We know that local authorities are expected to cut spending by more than €105 million next year or else to increase charges, or more directly, local taxes, and that will impact on every single household. If the backbenchers on the other side, who were so vocal in the past two weeks on local radio, think they have trouble with the abolition of the new house grant, although they will vote for the Estimates tonight, they will find that there is even more trouble when it comes to deciding the estimates for local authorities, especially 15 months later when they knock on doors at election time after increasing refuse charges to €500 or some such amount. We will see what tune Deputies O'Flynn, McGuinness and others – who have said that their constituency has done well since they were elected – will sing when they go to the parliamentary party meeting then.
They will blame the refugees.
Nor do we know what grants are outstanding to local authorities at this stage.
Well done, leader.
They were told they are due grants but we do not know what they are, nor do the estimates make any provision for better local government. This is a major programme for Government. Offices have been built across the country and people appointed to high level managerial permanent posts but there is not a red cent to pay for all this. One county council, close to my own heart, is already €25 million overdrawn. If the Taoiseach, Tánaiste, and the backbenchers, who were newly confirmed in Fianna Fáil at today's party meeting, think they were exposed to public savagery because of the cynical cut of the house grant, they may wait until they reap the whirlwind next February or March when this starts.
Will they have to be electrified?
They are plugged in and when the current starts to flow, the Deputy will know all about it.
Health spending is the largest component of public spending and the Department is the least transparent and least accountable publicly. The Minister disavows responsibility because he gives the money to the health boards. He went outside the House today to meet the people from Monaghan, who are there for the third week in a row, and told them that he had no function, authority or responsibility for the closure of Monaghan General Hospital. If it was transferred to Midleton, Ballincollig or some such place, there would certainly be a change in ministerial responsibilities and ethos.
Acting Chairman
The Deputy has run out of time.
The focus has been on the soft targets, the sick, children and disadvantaged areas. We have had increases in VHI charges and public transport costs, and I presume an increase in the cost of TV licences is on the way. The sick will bear the further cost of drugs, and third level education is becoming a luxury.
Reform of public spending is vital. New thinking is required and systems that are 35 and 40 years old are no longer appropriate. Ministers need to show moral leadership in this regard but they have not done so. Such a change might be anathema to the Government but we must have it.
Those vocal Fianna Fáil backbenchers have been telling their constituents for the past fortnight that they disavow what the Government has done and that they will change it in the Dáil. Their hour has come, the first of many.
On a point of order, the Minister for Finance is due in the Chamber at ten minutes to the hour. Would it be possible to share some of that time with the next speaker on the Opposition side, Deputy Hogan?
Christmas is not for another month.
Acting Chairman
The Minister of State, Deputy Hanafin, and the Minister of State, Deputy Parlon, have less than ten minutes available to them. The Minister for Finance will come in at 6.50 p.m.
That is some duo. If that does not frighten the Opposition, nothing will.
It is my intention to share my time with Deputy Power. In the event of there being time remaining in that ten minute slot, we will facilitate the Deputy but I doubt if that will be the case because we have so much to say on this Book of Estimates.
Acting Chairman
The Minister of State, Deputy Parlon, will conclude the debate.
I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Book of Estimates which is an indication of the direction the Government will take over the coming years and bears out our commitment as set out in our election manifesto prior to the election.
Over the past few days, various Members opposite have waved the Fianna Fáil manifesto around the House. They were right to do so because we are proud of it. We were elected in June for a five year term. That five year term will see the implementation of the vast bulk of that manifesto in the same way we implemented our manifesto in the previous five years despite the fact that we spent hours in this House listening to the Opposition telling us that we would not be able to implement any of it. In the end, about 97% of it was implemented—
What about the reference to Partnership for Peace?
—to the extent that there are an extra 300,000 people back at work, child benefit has been trebled, old age pensioners have benefited and we have seen investment in capital infrastructure, schools and hospitals throughout the country.
And tax breaks for the rich.
We have seen how the country has benefited from our policies over the past five years—
Nothing for house purchasers.
Acting Chairman
The Deputy should desist.
—which is why, despite the current economic situation and the fact that the global economy has taken a downturn, the economy is now well placed to move forward in the future. We have built it up to such an extent that with this Book of Estimates, despite the fact that difficult decisions have been made, we are working from a high base in relation to education and infrastructure.
Does the Minister of State really believe that?
The Minister of State is not in the classroom now.
It is important to note that the very people who talk about economic prudence and tough financial decisions are the ones who will tell us tonight that we have to make cuts, but not in certain areas. Yet nobody is saying that we should cut in any other direction.
The Government caused the problem.
It made a mess of it.
Good government is about making good decisions in respect of tough areas. Those decisions had to be made.
During the election campaign I sat beside the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance at various party conferences etc. when the Minister for Finance was asked about his priorities in the event that, as every party in this House predicted, there is a budget deficit. He stated clearly that his priorities would be health, education and social welfare—
And that there would be no cuts, secret or otherwise.
—and if there was only one to choose, it would be health. That is what he said. Fine Gael and Labour set out in their party documents what they thought would be the deficit this year.
The same as the Minister of State's party, scrutinised by the Department.
Their prediction was even higher than ours. They went on to make promises they could not keep whereas we have kept to An Agreed Programme for Government which will be met.
I am surprised at the Minister of State. I thought she would look at this differently.
It will be met because we are looking at it differently. We are looking at the bigger picture and the decisions that we make now will ensure that our economy can grow and that it never returns to the position it was in during the 1980s. That is why our priorities will be health, education and social welfare. That is why 1,000 schools next year will proceed with building projects of various sizes. That is why an extra 709 beds in the health service will be coming on-stream early next year.
What about the ones we were promised?
That is why the Minister has prioritised the cancer and cardiovascular strategies.
What about the radiotherapy unit in Waterford which was promised?
Scrapped.
That is why in the area of education the disadvantaged are being targeted and the money put into that area.
A Minister of State with no money.
Acting Chairman
Please, Deputy Hogan.
That is why Luas will be ready to come on-stream at the beginning of 2004.
Bring on Deputy Power.
Deputy Power will tell it like it is.
Acting Chairman
Deputy Durkan, please desist.
That is why the M50 and our broadband strategy will be completed.
It is easy for Opposition Members to tell us not to cut here and there, but not one of them will make a tough decision. The Government was elected to make those tough decisions. We were elected on our prudent economic policies. We were elected to build on the progress of five years and to keep people in their jobs. At the end of this five year term, we will have implemented our programme for Government. People will realise that by taking the tough decisions this year, we will meet our commitment over a five year term, look after the socially disadvantaged and prove that we are a left of centre party.
(Interruptions.)
Before I came into this House I played an amount of sport, with mixed success. I trained hard and played hard, but the one lesson I learned was that when the final whistle blew, one accepted the result. My advice to the Opposition is to accept the result the electorate provided us with last May. Are we supposed to apologise for being returned to office? That is a little bit like the groom apologising to his wife's admirers for the prize he has won.
Say that again.
We were re-elected by the people because we looked after them. The facts speak for themselves—
That is for sure.
—whether it is children's allowance or old age pensions. We have heard a lot of nonsense from the left in particular about the Minister, Deputy McCreevy, looking after the rich in the changes he made in capital gains tax, but nothing could be further from the truth.
The race courses in the Deputy's constituency of Kildare are well looked after.
The facts tell a different story, and I will outline them now for the Members opposite. In 1994, capital gains tax returns amounted to £59 million and the following year the return was £57. In 1997, when the change was made, it returned £168 million. Last year, despite the reduction from 40% to 20%, the yield to the Government was €876 million. If that was not a pragmatic decision to make and a correct one, I do not know what is. The talk about increasing taxation to bring in greater revenue is nonsense.
Did the 33 backbenchers say that?
Have the Members opposite never heard of the law of diminishing returns? It was decisions like that which allowed the Minister—
What did the 33 backbenchers say?
Acting Chairman
Deputy Breen, please desist.
—make the generous increases in children's allowance and old age pensions as he had promised. Are we now to apologise to the people for delivering on the promises we made?
What about the lies?
A Deputy
What about community employment schemes?
What about community employment schemes? The main Opposition party has lost all credibility with the electorate, and it is easy to understand why.
The Deputy should be careful. The electorate has not gone away.
It was going to refund the people who invested in Eircom. If someone's horse fell in the Grand National he or she might get the money back as well.
We have four potential leaders in the Chamber, but the Labour Party is even better, not alone has it four potential leaders, it has four potential deputy leaders also. One would think we had a wonderful Opposition in this House, although we are anxious to have a good Opposition. To have a good Government it is important to have a good Opposition, but if the past few months are anything to go by, we are in for a rude awakening. There is nothing positive in the Fine Gael policies. They are anti-everything and for nothing. I appeal to Fine Gael to take its time and not to rush into a decision about picking a new leader.
Acting Chairman
Deputy Power, your time has expired.
Just like the Electoral Act.
In conclusion, I wish the new leader well. The old Labour brigade should accept Deputy Rabbitte as the new leader.
The Deputy made good money on it.
It is not that long since he was in Democratic Left but if they are going to be successful they will have to soldier together. Comrades in distress make misery all the less.
I have listened with—
What has the Minister of State to say about the 30% cut in agriculture? He has not answered that yet.
And headage for Laois and Offaly.
Acting Chairman
The Minister of State without interruption, please.
I have listened with interest and disbelief at times to the contributions from Government and Opposition speakers over the last couple days and particularly over the last few minutes.
Deputy Seán Power was not that bad a speaker.
Ireland is a small open economy affected by the slowdown in worldwide economic growth this year.
This is the script factory again.
The facts, ladies and gentlemen, might be difficult to take on board but the snide comments are very easy to throw out. The fiscal position in the euro area and in the UK and the US has deteriorated and the same factors are at work in Ireland.
Blame the Japanese.
The first priority has to be to get back to a sustainable level of spending growth. To do otherwise would be irresponsible. This does not mean a reduction in absolute levels of spending nor does it mean low levels of public spending given the levels of increases over recent years. It requires tough choices. It is easy to identify areas where additional money could be spent. The Deputies across the House have an exhaustive list but I have not heard one word about spending programmes or schemes which they would recommend for closure.
It is the Government's job to take responsibility.
(Interruptions).
That is why we are in Government because we take responsibility.
Acting Chairman
Deputy Hogan, please allow the Minister of State to continue without interruption.
It is always very difficult to take a view on lower priority programmes which could be curtailed. The trite and very hollow criticisms of the Estimates by the Opposition are in stark contrast with their calls for control in public spending. Now that the measures are in place to control public spending it is not to their liking. Bellicose musings and cheerleading to the gallery by some of the Deputies on the other side might sound nice—
It was Deputy Rabbitte.
—but it would never run the country.
(Interruptions).
The Minister of State has changed his tune since he was in the IFA.
The public know that difficult times require leadership and difficult choices and they want to protect the economic gains which have been made over the last five years. They want a strong Government which is prepared to make clear choices. Our willingness to cut back on the increase in public spending will help steer this economy through these uncertain times. This approach is critical if we are to avoid increasing personal and business tax rates.
The Minister for Finance has reminded the House how our economic success in recent years has been built by putting sound taxation policies in place. Neither the Government nor the ordinary working person want to see these abandoned.
The Minister of State should not worry because they will have no jobs.
Many figures are quoted at Estimates time and the scale of overall spending can be lost in the detail. I repeat that on a pre-budget basis the Government will invest €36.7 billion in our public services this year. The impression is given that we have closed down totally. This is nearly double the amount spent in 1997.
The Minister of State should tell the House what he is going to do for farmers.
Current spending will be over €31 billion compared with €17 billion in 1997 with 75% of available resources devoted to health, social and family affairs and education. On the current side health spending is up by €520 million, 7% on 2002, and is up €4.9 billion, or 141%, on 1997.
(Interruptions).
I am pointing out the facts.
On a point of order, Chairman, what has 1997 to do with 2002?
Acting Chairman
That is not a point of order, Deputy.
It is difficult to stomach the facts.
This is all mirrors and shadows. What does the Minister for State say about agriculture?
Social and family affairs is up nearly €300 million which is 3% on 2002 and is up nearly €4 billion on 1997.
(Interruptions).
Education is up nearly €300 million or 6% on 2002—
The Minister of State did not deal with agriculture yet.
—and it is up €2.1 billion on 1997. Overall capital investment next year will be over €5 billion compared with only €2 billion in 1997.
What about the farmers?
Almost €1.5 billion is being provided for infrastructural investment in roads and public transport and in excess of €1 billion will be available for housing. Health infrastructure investment will exceed €500 million. The educational sector will also receive about €500 million—
I want to know about agriculture and the farmers.
—and over €470 million is being made available for water and sewerage schemes. There is a massive spend in the Estimates for next year.
What about agriculture?
Acting Chairman
Deputy Stagg, please allow the Minister of State to continue without interruption.
I am looking for information.
The Minister for Finance spoke of the need to focus more attention on the control and management of expenditure. I agree that more needs to be done on this front.
(Interruptions).
I am particularly keen to promote greater accountability and use of resources.
Will the Minister of State permit me to ask a question?
Acting Chairman
The Minister of State may do so or may refuse as he wishes.
Why is the Minister of State, the former president of the IFA, reading out a script with not one mention of agriculture or farming?
I am coming to that.
(Interruptions).
Acting Chairman
Please allow the Minister of State to continue.
I have limited time and I wish to comment about some of the main points raised by the Deputies. The three themes which recurred in the debate were infrastructural investment, health spending and the new house grants.
He should ask Deputy Grealish about the new house grants.
There has been a lot of loose talk about abandoning the national development plan. Investment in the NDP economic and social infrastructures will exceed €12 billion over the period 2000 to 2003.
It has been savagely reduced.
It will exceed €12 billion.
Acting Chairman
Please allow the Minister of State without interruption.
I am disappointed that the Deputies have not read the Book of Estimates and seem to be totally at a loss—
The public have read it.
The NDP investment is over €700 million more than what was promised in the plan. That is after taking into account inflation in the construction industry over the period.
Where are the farmers?
The Government will invest €3.4 billion in the NDP economic and social infrastructural programme.
What about the farmers?
Of course the Government would like to invest more but even investment has to be subject to the overall budgetary policy.
Another misconception bring peddled is that the 6% increase in health spending next year will not match an alleged 10% health services inflation rate. This is a fundamentally flawed view and the conclusion drawn is incorrect.
What does the Minister of State mean?
He should explain it.
I will explain it to the Deputy. The 10% rate of inflation refers to the trends in prices of those health related items which form part of the basket of goods and services which make up the consumer price index.
(Interruptions).
Acting Chairman
Please allow the Minister of State to continue without interruption.
These cover pharmaceutical and other medical products, therapeutic appliances and equipment bought by household consumers as well as the fees to doctors, dentists and hospital charges paid by the consumer. The simplistic comparison of CPI based data with the rate of increase in the Health and Children Vote presented in the Abridged Estimates is therefore both misleading and inappropriate.
Health inflation is higher.
What about the farmers?
Some 70% of health spending is pay or pay-related and it is thus not driven by the CPI. In relation to underlying inflation, the 2003 Estimates include adequate provision for the carry-over costs from 2002—
(Interruptions).
and the PFP. The Minister for Finance has indicated that the pay implications of any further increases will be dealt with on budget day. The 30% or so of health spending which is not related to pay covers a myriad of different elements such as food, light and heat and high technology drugs and equipment. The increased provision is intended to ensure that the existing level of health service is broadly maintained in 2003 and allows for more limited expansion of high-priority areas such as cancer treatment.
The new house grants scheme was introduced in its present form in 1997.
What has 1997 to do with it?
The main purpose of the grant was to encourage new house building and for that reason first-time purchasers who bought an existing house could not qualify for the grant. In 1997, only 17,000 new houses were built. Last year private housing amounted to over—
(Interruptions).
—47,000. The level of home ownership is over 80% and is far and away the highest in Europe.
(Interruptions).
The new house grant has, according to many commentators, outlived any usefulness as an economic incentive. For example, the National Economic and Social Council has expressed the view that the general cash subsidies—
(Interruptions).
—for owner-occupiers are an inefficient and inequitable instrument.
The Minister of State's time is up.
Dr. Peter Bacon concluded that little benefit accrues to the buyers from the grants and that the grant is being capitalised into the price.
(Interruptions).
The abolition of the grant is not intended simply to generate savings for the Exchequer—
Order of the House. Time is up, it is past seven o'clock.
There is still time for the Minister of State to apologise to the people.
(Interruptions).
The intention is that the funding which was earmarked for the grant will be diverted to local authority social housing programmes. Over the lifetime of the Government this could involve up to €200 million—
Not a mention of agriculture.
I could go on defending this situation—
(Interruptions).
Not a mention of the farmers.
The Government did not take these Estimates lightly, and it is not an accounting exercise. I commend this motion to the House.
Question put: "That the words proposed to be deleted stand."
Tá
|
Ahern, Bertie.Ahern, Michael.Andrews, Barry.Ardagh, Seán.Aylward, Liam.Brady, Johnny.Brady, Martin.Brennan, Séamus.Browne, John.Callanan, Joe.Carey, Pat.Carty, John.Collins, Michael.Cowen, Brian.Cregan, John.Cullen, Martin.Curran, John.Davern, Noel.de Valera, Síle.Dempsey, Noel.Dempsey, Tony.Dennehy, John.Devins, Jimmy. |
Ellis, John.Finneran, Michael.Fitzpatrick, Dermot.Fleming, Seán.Glennon, Jim.Grealish, Noel.Hanafin, Mary.Harney, Mary.Haughey, Seán.Hoctor, Máire.Jacob, Joe.Keaveney, Cecilia.Kelleher, Billy.Kelly, Peter.Killeen, Tony.Kirk, Seamus.Kitt, Tom.Lenihan, Brian.Lenihan, Conor.McCreevy, Charlie.McDowell, Michael.McEllistrim, Thomas. McGuinness, John. |
Tá–continued
|
Martin, Micheál.Moloney, John.Moynihan, Donal.Moynihan, Michael.Mulcahy, Michael.Nolan, M.J.O'Connor, Charlie.Ó Cuív, Éamon.O'Dea, Willie.O'Donnell, Liz.O'Donoghue, John.O'Donovan, Denis.Ó Fearghaíl, Seán.O'Flynn, Noel.O'Keeffe, Batt.O'Keeffe, Ned.O'Malley, Fiona. |
O'Malley, Tim.Parlon, Tom.Power, Peter.Power, Seán.Roche, Dick.Ryan, Eoin.Sexton, Mae.Smith, Brendan.Smith, Michael.Treacy, Noel.Wallace, Dan.Wallace, Mary.Walsh, Joe.Wilkinson, Ollie.Woods, Michael.Wright, G.V. |
Níl
|
Allen, Bernard.Blaney, Niall.Boyle, Dan.Breen, James.Breen, Pat.Broughan, Thomas P.Burton, Joan.Connaughton, Paul.Connolly, Paudge.Costello, Joe.Coveney, Simon.Cowley, Jerry.Crawford, Seymour.Crowe, Seán.Deasy, John.Deenihan, Jimmy.Durkan, Bernard J.Enright, Olwyn.Ferris, Martin.Gilmore, Eamon.Gormley, John.Gregory, Tony.Harkin, Marian.Hayes, Tom.Healy-Rae, Jackie.Higgins, Joe.Higgins, Michael D.Hogan, Phil.Howlin, Brendan.Kehoe, Paul. |
Kenny, Enda.Lynch, Kathleen.McGinley, Dinny.McGrath, Finian.McGrath, Paul.McHugh, Paddy.McManus, Liz.Mitchell, Olivia.Moynihan-Cronin, Breeda.Murphy, Gerard.Neville, Dan.Noonan, Michael.Ó Caoláin, Caoimhghín.O'Dowd, Fergus.O'Shea, Brian.Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.O'Sullivan, Jan.Pattison, Seamus.Penrose, Willie.Rabbitte, Pat.Ring, Michael.Ryan, Seán.Sargent, Trevor.Sherlock, Joe.Shortall, Róisín.Stagg, Emmet.Timmins, Billy.Twomey, Liam.Upton, Mary.Wall, Jack. |
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Hanafin and Kelleher; Níl, Deputies Durkan and Stagg.
Question declared carried.
Amendment declared lost.
Question put: "That the motion be agreed to."
Tá
|
Ahern, Bertie.Ahern, Michael.Andrews, Barry.Ardagh, Seán.Aylward, Liam.Brady, Johnny. |
Brady, Martin.Brennan, Séamus.Browne, John.Callanan, Joe.Carey, Pat. Carty, John. |
Tá–continued
|
Collins, Michael.Cowen, Brian.Cregan, John.Cullen, Martin.Curran, John.Davern, Noel.de Valera, Síle.Dempsey, Noel.Dempsey, Tony.Dennehy, John.Devins, Jimmy.Ellis, John.Finneran, Michael.Fitzpatrick, Dermot.Fleming, Seán.Glennon, Jim.Grealish, Noel.Hanafin, Mary.Harney, Mary.Haughey, Seán.Hoctor, Máire.Jacob, Joe.Keaveney, Cecilia.Kelleher, Billy.Kelly, Peter.Killeen, Tony.Kirk, Seamus.Kitt, Tom.Lenihan, Brian.Lenihan, Conor.McCreevy, Charlie.McDowell, Michael.McEllistrim, Thomas.McGuinness, John. |
Martin, Micheál.Moloney, John.Moynihan, Donal.Moynihan, Michael.Mulcahy, Michael.Nolan, M.J.O'Connor, Charlie.Ó Cuív, Éamon.O'Dea, Willie.O'Donnell, Liz.O'Donoghue, John.O'Donovan, Denis.Ó Fearghaíl, Seán.O'Flynn, Noel.O'Keeffe, Batt.O'Keeffe, Ned.O'Malley, Fiona.O'Malley, Tim.Parlon, Tom.Power, Peter.Power, Seán.Roche, Dick.Ryan, Eoin.Sexton, Mae.Smith, Brendan.Smith, Michael.Treacy, Noel.Wallace, Dan.Wallace, Mary.Walsh, Joe.Wilkinson, Ollie.Woods, Michael.Wright, G.V. |
Níl
|
Allen, Bernard.Blaney, Niall.Boyle, Dan.Breen, James.Breen, Pat.Broughan, Thomas P.Burton, Joan.Connaughton, Paul.Connolly, Paudge.Costello, Joe.Coveney, Simon.Cowley, Jerry.Crawford, Seymour.Crowe, Seán.Deasy, John.Deenihan, Jimmy.Durkan, Bernard J.Enright, Olwyn.Ferris, Martin.Gilmore, Eamon.Gogarty, Paul.Gormley, John.Gregory, Tony.Harkin, Marian.Hayes, Tom.Healy-Rae, Jackie.Higgins, Joe.Higgins, Michael D.Hogan, Phil.Howlin, Brendan.Kehoe, Paul. |
Kenny, Enda.Lynch, Kathleen.McGinley, Dinny.McGrath, Finian.McGrath, Paul.McHugh, Paddy.McManus, Liz.Mitchell, Olivia.Moynihan-Cronin, Breeda.Murphy, Gerard.Neville, Dan.Noonan, Michael.Ó Caoláin, Caoimhghín.Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.O'Dowd, Fergus.O'Shea, Brian.O'Sullivan, Jan.Pattison, Seamus.Penrose, Willie.Rabbitte, Pat.Ring, Michael.Ryan, Seán.Sargent, Trevor.Sherlock, Joe.Shortall, Róisín.Stagg, Emmet.Timmins, Billy.Twomey, Liam.Upton, Mary.Wall, Jack. |
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Hanafin and Kelleher; Níl, Deputies Durkan and Stagg.
Question declared carried.
A Cheann Comhairle, could I apologise to comrade Joe Higgins? I do not want to be any way familiar with him.