Seanad Éireann debate -
Thursday, 20 Feb 1992

Vol. 131 No. 9

Appropriation Act, 1991: Motion.

Mr. Hussey

I move:

That Seanad Éireann notes the supply services and purposes to which sums have been appropriated in the Appropriation Act, 1991.

I appreciate that in a debate like this a speaker can range over a very wide area but I intend to confine my remarks to a few items in which I am interested.

At present, our society is facing great challenges. The huge numbers out of work demand an exceptional employment performance and the Government must therefore, make every effort to safeguard existing jobs and encourage the creation of new jobs. At the same time on the European scene great changes have taken place in recent times and are still taking place. The Iron Curtain and the Cold War no longer exist. The Berlin Wall has disappeared and Germany is reunited. The last bastions of the Communist states has disappeared and Communism, as we knew it, has disappeared. The European Community is embarking on historic ventures — the creation of a Single Market from January 1993 and the establishment of political, economic and monetary union. All this will present us with tremendous opportunity but it will equally test our policies and attitudes to European affairs. If we make the right decisions now we can share in the economic prosperity that a Single Market will create and make progress in regard to employment which is the single and greatest social problem facing the Government at present.

The overall package contained in the budget which was introduced recently will give a considerable stimulus to employment. In consultation with the social partners the Government have undertaken a series of special initiatives to confront the problem of rising unemployment and to accelerate the provision of new employment. Substantial funds will be provided by the European Commission from 1 February for a new employment subsidy scheme and a new in-company training scheme. Under the employment subsidy scheme, a subsidy of £54 per week for 12 months will be provided for 15,000 additional employees who have been on the unemployment register for at least two months. The incompany job training scheme will also provide training on the employers' premises for up to 10,000 people who have been on the unemployment register for at least two months. This is a very important development and will perhaps become a permanent feature of the Irish training system in the future.

Overall expenditure on those two schemes is estimated to come to £70 million in the years 1992 and 1993. Of this, the European Social Fund will contribute up to some £60 million with the remainder coming from Irish employers and the Exchequer. The schemes will undoubtedly help us to improve our unemployment situation and there will be other schemes also put in place by public agencies and, hopefully, some impact will be made on the unemployment figures during the years 1992 and 1993.

We have the problem in rural areas of farmers leaving the land because of the appalling fall in their incomes in recent years. Those farmers are forced to seek employment and compete with others in the labour market. We saw in the recent census of population the serious imbalance between one part of the country and another. The population in the west has declined drastically while the population in the east has increased. That trend will continue unless the Government and the people in the west take drastic action to stop it. This was highlighted recently by the bishops at meetings which have been held all over the west and which have been very well attended by people striving to find a solution to this problem.

We in the west are disadvantaged in many ways. We are far from ports and airports and it costs more to transport goods across the country. We do not have the infrastructure or the road system they have in other parts of the country nor do we have an industrial base. Is it any wonder that we are worried about the GATT and Common Agricultural Policy negotiations taking place in Europe? The outcome of those negotiations will have very far reaching effects on our farmers. If the United States proposals were implemented, Irish farmers would stand to lose £900 million per year. It would drive thousands of farmers on to the dole and create all kinds of social problems for them.

The family farm, as we know, is part and parcel of our social structure and must be preserved at all costs. We have 70,000 low income farm families. Some of them are struggling to survive on an income of £2,400 per annum and less. What is to happen to those farmers if the Americans get their way and all subsidies are phased out by 1996? Europe must defend its family farm structure against the current onslaught by the factory farms and the agri-food conglomerates of the United States of America.

The Common Agricultural Policy has served the European Community well over the past 20 years. We have a continuous supply of the best food in the world at a price that is at an ever decreasing percentage of the household budget. Ten million people are employed on the land of Europe. The removal of subsidies as demanded by the United States, would drive millions of farmers off the land and create social problems. In spite of what the Americans say, their agriculture is highly subsidised. According to the OECD report, the United States spent, $21,000 per farmer in 1988. This compares with $10,000 for the European Community. To add to this, the United States Secretary for Agriculture announced a $10 billion write off for some United States farmers recently; the farmers affected each get $50,000. Why then are the United States complaining about subsidies paid to European farmers? If Irish farmers are to survive they will have to be subsidised.

I hope that in the near future we will see the export markets to the Middle East opened up for our cattle and beef trade again. This would ease the current situation in the cattle trade. I compliment the Government, the farming organisations and all the agencies who are trying hard to have this market reopened.

In the Estimates for Public Services, 1992, Vote 32 — Agriculture and Food — I am pleased to see that this Estimate has increased from £452.3 million to £472.8 million, an increase of 5 per cent on 1991. I sincerely hope that all outstanding grants due to farmers will be paid shortly. We know that some of those grants are due for quite a while and that farmers are anxiously waiting for the cheque to arrive. I hope the Minister will take advantage of the increased Vote for Agriculture and Food in the Estimate and that those grants will be paid in the very near future.

During this year also, many farmers will benefit from extension and reclassification of their lands. For the first time 13,000 farmers will benefit from the extension of the less favoured areas and a further 16,000 farmers will benefit from the reclassification of their areas. This, when one considers the higher rates of grant paid should be an attractive bonus for those farmers.

Agriculture, as we all know, is our main industry and it is important that every effort be made to prime the engine and ensure that our farmers are given the standard of living to which they are entitled, like every other section of the community.

I was very pleased that the former Minister for Agriculture and Food, Deputy Woods, gave a commitment that the research centre at Belclare and the agricultural college in Athenry will be maintained. It would be criminal if either of these were closed down when there is such need at this time for research. I am delighted he gave that commitment. He visited those two centres and was very impressed. He listened to the pleas from public representatives on all sides of the political divide not just from Galway but from Mayo and Roscommon because these counties use those two centres.

I hope Teagase will maintain their centres at Headford, Gort and Loughrea. It is very important they do so and provide a better service for the farmers of County Galway. I am very pleased that in the budget £1 million extra was allocated to Teagasc and this should help them overcome the serious financial problems they faced at present.

We all know that good technical and financial advice is of critical importance to small farmers to help them remain competitive. The provision of an extra £1 million for those services will help to do that. The Minister re-affirmed his commitment to protect and safeguard the advisory, training and research services. It is important that farmers have access to such services in these difficult times when prices are falling and there is a surplus of produce.

I said at the outset we were now facing great challenges. We have a new Government and I wish them every success. I believe they have the will and capacity to face the challenge that confronts them. Difficult decisions will have to be taken if we are to participate fully in economic and monetary union and reap the benefit that will flow from it. We will be faced with a referendum later this year. The Government will ask the people to endorse the decisions taken at Maastricht. It is very important for us and for Europe because it would affect the whole of Europe and the decisions taken at Maastricht could not go ahead.

The Government have an enormous task facing them and we have seen some unexpected problems arise in the last few days. I know they have the will and capacity to tackle those problems. I hope the year ahead will be successful and fruitful and that we will see a big dent made in the frightening unemployment figures that are the cancer in our society at present. I hope the Government will spare no effort in trying to resolve that serious social problem because it tears the heart out of families to see their young people emigrating. We know this recession is hitting not just Ireland but America and other great nations such as England where Irish boys and girls were almost guaranteed jobs. Now those countries are finding it just as difficult as we are to overcome the unemployment problem that faces them.

I wish the Government every success and hope, for all our sakes, that they will make every effort to tackle the serious problems facing us at present.

Mr. O'Reilly

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Treacy, to the House and wish him well in his new role. The set of financial proposals before the Oireachtas are unacceptable for a number of reasons including their failure to tackle or come to terms with the demographic problems here. We have a very serious population crisis. Over the past 60 years, the population of County Leitrim has fallen by 60 per cent. That frightening statistic must pose a shocking challenge to any legislation.

The second frightening statistic is that the population of Cavan, Mayo and other north western counties is down by 40 per cent. That is an average figure. In my own county, Cavan, the population in the western part of the county, which is that bit more remote from major urban centre, is particularly depleted. Over the past ten years 27,000 people left the western part of this country. During the period 1981 to 1986, 20,000 people left. Sixty per cent of the children who were in their early teens in 1981 in isolated regions of this country have now left. Over the period I am discussing, the population of Leitrim fell by 6.4 per cent; in Roscommon it fell by 5 per cent; in Mayo it fell by 3.9 per cent; in Sligo it fell by 2.3 per cent and in Galway, excluding the city of Galway, it fell by 1.5 per cent. As I pointed out, the population of Cavan radically declined over the 60 year period and the western section of that county has had a particular problem.

Obviously there is a case of rural decline and that poses a major problem. There are a number of contributing factors to his rural decline. The first is that in many parts of the west of Ireland — this is a frightening statistic and it is backed up by eminent professional people who have done research — the family farm net income can be as low as £50. That is a frightening figure. Small enterprises at the moment in the west of Ireland are finding it more difficult to get grant aid. Just as there has been a general centralistion towards urban centres, particularly towards the eastern part of the country and Dublin specifically, there has also been concentration and centralisation of the social services which has had an effect on population patterns. In recent times there has been amalgamation of schools, the end of some rural post offices, which is particularly dangerous, and the closure of local Garda stations. All of this is contributing to the depopulation of rural areas.

I had occasion to visit the area where I was reared at Christmas and I was looking at the structure of population in that area. There are some very frightening factors there. Many of the young people are now outside the country or they were visiting home from towns and cities in the country. Rural society in this country is under threat, it is in real danger of extinction. It is not being unduly alarmist to say that unless we reverse the trends and patterns much of the west and the north-west of Ireland will literally be a forest in the next 20 or 30 years. That is the pattern that is developing. If you drive through any of these regions at the moment you will notice a much greater concentration of forestry than at any time in the history of the State.

I said at the outset that it is because the Appropriation Act for this year, and indeed subsequent financial arrangements in the budget, have not come to terms with this problem that I am opposed to them. For example, one thing that I think was glaringly necessary in my home area of Cavan-Monaghan was the inclusion of that entire area in the severely handicapped areas. There was a compelling case on the basis of income, of population trends, of soil type, on every imaginable basis, for the complete inclusion of Counties Cavan and Monaghan in the severely handicapped areas. Large tracts of land in those areas have been left out of the severely handicapped areas. I am concerned about that and I ask the Minister, Deputy Treacy, who is from the west to take that question on board. I know there is a major national input into deciding what areas are classified or otherwise, because when our proposal regarding classification is sent to Brussels it tends to gain acceptance. It is completely unacceptable that over 40 per cent of County Cavan is left out of the severely handicapped areas.

The last thing I would want to do in this House, or any responsible Member of this House would want to do, would be to engage in any petty begrudgery or any attempt to introduce distinctions or differences between areas but one cannot avoid noticing that all of the Counties of Roscommon and Longford are in the severely handicapped areas. It cannot be argued that there is a more compelling case for these counties. I accept that Roscommon and Longford should be in the severely handicapped category and I am totally in favour of that but what I cannot accept is that there is a less compelling reason to include all of Cavan and Monaghan.

The reason I have focused on the question of the severely handicapped areas is that a large segment of the funding comes from Europe, that there is a low level of national input and a great proportion of the money put in by the Government will, in fact, return to State coffers through taxation because the money will go into circulation. I also view the severely handicapped area payments, the headage payments, as an effective device to maintain the fabric of rural Ireland and to fight the haemorrhage of population that those areas are suffering. I am anxious to hear the Minister's response in that matter and to hear that action will be taken on it. I am anxious to know if that will be included. There have been a number of appeals submitted from County Cavan, and indeed from County Monaghan, concerning their non-classification. I would urge that those appeals be taken very seriously and be acted upon.

To go back to my original point, I urge that it is time an emergency stategy and an emergency package of measures be put in place literally to save rural Ireland, to save the north-west, the west and the mid-west of Ireland. Obviously reclassification to severely handicapped status is one thing ut I also think it is necessary to support small enterprises. It is also necessary to take a second look at the over-concentration and centralisation of the social services. It is essential that, very vigorously and in a united fashion as a people, as a country, as a Legislature, and indeed with the co-operation of the social partners we go back to Brussels and Strasbourg and renegotiate the proposed alterations in the Common Agricultural Policy, because ultimately they threaten the very existence of rural Ireland.

I am not one of the people who is confident that the package of handouts associated with the Common Agricultural Policy reforms will necessarily last; they are not articles of law, they will depend on the largesse, on the goodwill of the European Parliament, of the European Commission, at a given time. To my mind — and this is a view supported by Professor McNulty of the Agricultural Science Department in UCD — it would be much more realistic, logical and wholesome at every level were the mandarins of Brussels, and indeed Commissioner MacSharry, to focus their attention on factory farmers on the mainland of Europe, on the huge farmers for whom farming is a mega-business, rather than focusing their attention on the subsistence of small farmers.

When you look on the question from an environmental and sociological point of view, from the viewpoint of the maintenance of a way of life, from every conceivable point of view, there is no logic in seeking to reduce European agricultural output by extinguishing the small farmers. I do not think that is the way to go about that nor do I think it is sensitive or sensible, and we have to vigorously oppose it. I am concerned that the trade union movement have not become sufficiently involved in opposition to that package. That package poses a major threat to at least 16,000 employees in the agri-food industry, in the food processing sector and in farm related employment. Their jobs must ultimately be threatened. It is absolutely necessary that everybody in this country would see the present proposals as a real threat to our way of life and do something about them.

If we have a crisis with rural depopulation — and I have clearly illustrated that that is the case — arising from that we obviously have a major emigration problem. I am one of those who accepts there can be some benefits when people emigrate voluntarily, they gain experience and their lives are enhanced by that experience and they will add considerably to society if they return. Unfortunately a great deal of emigration has not been voluntary, it has not been a creative experience, but rather people have emigrated from sheer necessity and face very adverse circumstances in their new country.

I was told the other day by a returned emigrant — and this is not being fanciful, this is not a fable, this is a true story — that at the moment young Irish lads in England are queueing up at Camden town and Kilburn High Road from 5 a.m. to wait for subcontractors to give them a day's work on building sites, and while they used get £30 or £40 a day they are now being offered £15 to £20 a day. That is a frightening scenario and is something we have to deal with as a matter of urgency.

Related to the question of the depopulation of the rural areas and the massive emigration must be the unemployment issue. Unemployment clearly is the biggest challenge facing us. I have to put it on the record that it was my party and my Party Leader who put the unemployment issue at the top of the political agenda over the last year. We questioned the efficacy of the original Programme for Economic and Social Progress not on its pay elements but on the fact that it did not come to terms with the unemployment issue, that it did not have a coherent strategy to deal with unemployment. We subsequently suggested that a national jobs forum be put in place as a matter of urgency. The objective of that jobs forum would be to draw together the entire genius of the nation to deal with this very extraordinary and difficult problem. Nobody is suggesting that deus ex machina a panacea to unemployment can be arrived at.

What we are suggesting, and what is consistently being suggested by Deputy John Bruton, is that we must immediately tackle the issue of unemployment and treat it as our primary national objective to deal with it. That is why we are so concerned that the nation's attention has been so wrongfully distracted from these issues over the last six months. We recognise that the solution to the unemployment problem is difficult. We believe that central to it must be a shift of taxation from the human resource within industry, within the services area, to plant, machinery and other areas. I would not say that there is not some merit from the point of view of equity in what has happened in the taxation system in the recent budget but it is not necessarily the case that the kind of adjustments made in the taxation system will lead to increased employment.

There are a couple of fundamental flaws in the argument put forward that one immediately creates jobs by adjusting the PAYE system. The obvious fundamental flaw in that argument is that most of the money the consumer has for discretionary spending as a result is spent on imported goods. If one is trying to make the option of going into employment a more attractive proposition than long term unemployment, the place to make those radical changes are at the lower end of the PAYE system. That is where one needs so that there will be a clear advantage to somebody in being involved in work.

I am not convinced that that issue was properly addressed in the recent budget. I have no evidence to date other than a set of aspirational remarks by the new Taoiseach which I hope will be translated into reality, that the Government have taken the question of unemployment on board as the most serious national priority. What is necessary is a rounded taxation strategy to deal with unemployment, a major shift of taxation, and a radical overhaul of our education system to deal with unemployment. That is clear from the Culliton report. That it is a welcome report containing many meritorious recommendations.

It is clear from the Culliton report that they were unhappy with an existing education system that is too concentrated in the academic area. The report bemoans the fact that even our vocational schools are shifting from the vocational to the academic. That is very wrong. I believe the vocational school system should not be diluted from its original objectives. I welcome what the Culliton report says on that. It is also interesting that the Culliton report makes the point that there is a lack of skills in our country generally compared to other areas. I believe our education system will have to put more emphasis on entrepreneurial skills, on teaching people how to create jobs. For too long we have assumed that our very bright students should automatically follow an academic career. It is unfortunate we have not concentrated sufficiently on building on the capacity, willingness and imagination to create jobs within that group. There should be an enterprise programme within our schools system that would have students visiting local factories and places of enterprise, doing project work on possible enterprises within their community and having a school co-op. There is no reason why a co-op in any secondary school could not buy the school books for that school and provide a service to students, thus giving the pupils an experience of managing a business. It is a simple device that could be used to create greater entrepreneurial consciousness in our pupils, side by side with project work and feasibility studies within their areas. If that kind of experience were given to our young people it would have a beneficial effect on the unemployment situation.

There is no doubt that we must tackle unemployment urgently. There are differing views among economists about this. Some go so far as to say that by the year 2,000 we could have as many as 500,000 people unemployed if present trends continue. Others are more cautious and suggest it will be something over 300,000. Either figure is unacceptable and frightening and will result in a shocking level of dependency by the year 2,000. If we have mass unemployment and an increase in the number of older people seeking State aid there will be a highly dependent population and a shrinking productive sector. That will have horrendous economic consequences. We should address that as a matter of urgency. If that is added to the level of cynicism, as reflected in MRBI polls, in politicians and the political system, they make a very dangerous mix for the future of democracy here.

This House is the place to address this question in a reasoned fashion now before it is too late. I do not think it is unduly alarmist to say that if we do not come to terms with our unemployment crisis and make an impression on it in a very short time we will have a dangerously cynical young population. Only the Lord knows what form that cynicism will take and the alienation those people will experience from Government. We must address that.

One of the obvious strategies to deal with unemployment is to boost our tourist industry. It is one sector that has potential for growth. There is no doubt that it experienced some growth in recent years and that it would have considerably more growth were it not for the horrendous events in the North.

People who travel abroad say there are parts of the world where Ireland is seen as another Beirut because of the atrocities shown on television screens from Northern Ireland. Those atrocities are a major threat to our tourist industry but notwithstanding that there is immense potential for tourism. I am not convinced that we have taken seriously the potential of the tourist industry or that we have tried to harness it properly.

I will be parochial for a moment and say that I am not happy with the marketing of my county of Cavan as a tourist location. I am not happy that in Bord Fáilte publications and marketing campaigns our county receives an adequate projection for the foreign visitors. I do not think those brochures, and the marketing campaigns, satisfactorily project the natural beauty, or the cultural and wealth of tradition of that county. I am concerned about that.

We should focus more on the potential of cultural holidays. I am convinced that as the years go by — it is already a developing phenomenon — there will be less interest in the sun holidays. There is already medical evidence that sun holidays are not necessarily good for people. As the interest in them diminishes and as Ireland opens up after the Single Market there will be great potential for cultural holidays here. What I mean by cultural holidays are holidays centred around local literary and musical figures and others within our artistic tradition. I had occasion to organise in my county of Cavan a Percy French festival a few years ago. That festival was attended by a large number of visitors. Percy French had a long association with County Cavan and he had associations with County Roscommon, Senator Finneran's homeland.

Mr. Finneran

He visited Cavan on a few occasions.

Mr. O'Reilly

Being a man of good taste he decided to spend the greater part of his life in County Cavan. Our festival commemorating his association with County Cavan was a great success. That experience clearly brought home to me that the notion of cultural and heritage holidays had great potential. I do not think they are being properly explored.

Help from central Government and a direction from the relevant Department are needed to get them off the ground. I would be interested to hear the Minister's response to that suggestion to deal with unemployment.

One of the greatest disincentives to tourist and industrial development in rural areas and the development of the agri-business was the complete breakdown over the past number of years of our county roads structure. Cavan — I am not pleased to say this in a House of Parliament — has to be the most glaring example of this. It is the county that has the worst road structure in Ireland, a completely broken down county roads structure. It is not unduly colourful to compare some of the roads in Cavan to the Tibetan passes. It is no more colourful, either, to regard some of the potholes and craters on the roads of Cavan as places that would offer potential for fishing expeditions. The sad reality is that we have a broken down network of county roads. The county engineer, who is a very distinguished professional, experienced in local Government, did a major analysis of the road structure of the county and of the investment that would be needed to deal with it. Using the most conservative of estimates, it is his professional opinion, in a published report, that it would take £8 million per year for the next five years to rectify the county road structure of Cavan. Also, a number of roads in the county need to be upgraded to primary and secondary road status.

I urge the Minister today to take this problem back to Government. It poses a tremendous threat to local agriculture, to the delivery of the social services in the area, to local industry and to tourism in one of the most beautiful parts of Ireland. This matter is important and must be dealt with as a matter of urgency and I ask for a very specific response from the Minister. I ask him to acknowledge to the House that a change in the road structure and a major programme of work is a priority for all the economic and social reasons I have outlined and I ask him to assure the House that there will be a real financial commitment to doing that. It must be one of the most urgent requirements at the moment.

I do not question the efficacy and importance of building ring roads around cities. I am well aware that, if we are to bring our economic and industrial performance into line with mainland Europe such roads are necessary. We must reduce the time it takes for goods to go from A to B. Flyovers and ring roads around our towns and cities are critically important, but, because of the condition of county roads in places such as Cavan, Connemara, parts of Kildare, Sligo and Roscommon we must consider, in the short term, suspending all other activity on primary roads, ring roads and so on until we address the question of our county road structure.

I know much of the money coming from Brussels for roads is targeted for specific works, but given the economic and social necessity to change the country roads structure, the Government could easily convince the mandarins of Brussels and Strasbourg that a change should be made. Regional and Social Funds are spent in this country to achieve what is known as cohesion, but I see no reason these funds cannot be spent at the discretion of our Government. We should go back to Brussels and tell them we will allocate the moneys coming for roads, as we see necessary, in the short term, to deal with an immediate and pressing county road problem.

No amount of colourful language, no description could convey to this House the dreadful position of the people who live in isolated roadways in County Cavan. Many new houses have been built there by enterprising young people but those houses are devalued because of the condition of the roads that lead to them. The pride those people have in their new homes is diminished because of the state of the roads. This is a further factor in the exodus of population. It is good that some remain behind and those who remain should be encouraged to stay.

People who are cushioned by living in urban centres near taxi ranks, bus stations and the DART train line may find this a little remote, a little abstract and may consider it an exaggeration. I can assure them that people living in isolated rural places, trying to go about their farming business, getting their milk out of a milk tanker, getting the public health nurse to call in to visit their old relatives, having the doctor call to see them, having their priest or minister of religion call, suffer because of cratered and potholed roads. I appeal to the Minister to take emergency steps to deal with the matter. I ask him to assure this House that he will convey their problem to Minister Smith and that he himself will take it up as a matter of extreme urgency.

As party spokesperson on Health I want to address the health aspect of the Appropriation Act and health policy in general. As yet, there has been no discernible acceptance on the part of Government that we have a major problem in the health services and there is no plan of action. I accept that some worthwhile committees, commissions of inquiry and study groups have been and are in existence but I am frustrated and anxious about the fact that we are not acting in the area of health in a sufficiently vigorous fashion. My party are unhappy with the performance of the Government in the health area and with what the Appropriation Act proposes in that regard. Hospital wards are still closing. Nurses are taking holidays to suit ward closures. My opposite number here today could, perhaps make a more educated observation on this because of his direct experience of the health services, what is happening is unacceptable.

There are still waiting lists, as I and as any other practising politician knows, from the number of representations we get at clinics and at home. We know there is still a waiting list for eye treatment, for cataract treatment. Only recently I came across the case of a single man living alone — he is also the victim of some of the other deprivations I mentioned earlier. His last appointment at the Eye and Ear Hospital was five or six months ago. He was told then he would be called for a cataract operation. His right eye is now virtually without sight and the cataracts have been ready for removal for months. That is not acceptable, and could not be acceptable. We also still have a queue for hip replacements and we have a major problem in the orthodontic area. I know it is difficult to get qualified orthodontists but we have a crisis in the orthodontic area. We have not dealt, either, with the question of mental and physical handicap.

In the eight health board areas last year there were significant cutbacks of investment. There is still a scarcity of funding. The North-Eastern Health Board area has an expenditure of £39 per head lower than the second lowest region in the country. We have a lower per capita expenditure on health than any other health board region. To me, as a representative from that part of the country that is obviously a cause for concern. However, that does not obviate the necessity to introduce adequate funding in other areas as well.

Last year there was a shortfall in the North-Eastern Health Board area of £1.4 million; in the Southern Health Board area there was a shortfall of £4 million; in the Mid-Western area it was £2.3 million; in the North-Western region, £1.5 million; the Western Health Board had a shortfall of £3.25 million, and the SouthEastern Health Board £1.38 million. What is depressing about those statistics is that they manifest themselves more in waiting lists than in any other way. In other words, the people who bear the brunt of those shortfalls are invariably the patients queueing for the various surgeries. That is a cause of concern.

A couple of years ago my party suggested a very simple strategy to the Government to make a fresh start on health care. We proposed that, on a temporary basis, a large proportion of national lottery funding should be frozen to eliminate the waiting lists. That simple device did not involve extra health expenditure overall. It would have eliminated the waiting lists and the incredible agony suffered by many people.

I am the first to acknowledge that many of the projects supported by the national lottery are worthy, I am the first to believe that it is worthwhile to build community centres, provide GAA pitches and to establish swimming areas, where possible, but I would argue that because of the extreme gravity in the health area, where so many people are suffering because they are waiting for a hip operation, a cataract operation, etc., health should take precedence over any social project, no matter how worthy, for a very short time. That was a positive form of opposition. In any democratic society seldom are Opposition parties so constructive as to state the problem and offer the solution at the same time. Out of a sense of concern for the well being of our people and the country we proposed that simple proposal. I once more propose that strategy. I urge the Government to take this opportunity, now, and to do something about using national lottery funding on a once-off basis to eliminate waiting lists.

I accept that there must be a major rationalisation of the health services, that all areas that deliver health services must be looked at. I would not argue that we necessarily need to increase the percentage of GNP we spend on health, but what I would argue is that we should focus the use of that money directly on patients in need. We have, at the moment, unquestionably, a two tier health system. There is the private health system, focused on the Blackrock Clinic and other institutions, and there is the health system for the people who must queue and wait for surgery. I know of an individual in County Mayo who has been waiting two years for orthopaedic treatment. He is in excruciating pain. On his last visit to his consultant at his clinic, he could not get a specific date when he would have the necessary surgery. I can supply the data to back up that case. There are many such cases throughout my own county of Cavan which I could cite if the Minister wishes.

There are waiting lists in a very critical area, that is, people waiting for heart by-pass surgery. You do not need to know much about medicine to realise that waiting for a by-pass operation would not be the most relaxing situation. It would not be very reassuring for the person providing life cover for that individual either.

There is no evidence to date that the Government have seriously tackled the health question. I repeat, they should eliminate the waiting lists by using national lottery funding on a once-off basis. Having done that they should look at rationalisation, at delivery of services and cost cutting exercises in the health service. This will, ultimately, mean that the shift of expenditure will be towards the patient, that the money will be spent at the coalface rather than anywhere else.

A frightening fact is that rural society is dying and family farms are being replaced by forestry. None of our legislation addresses that matter. Neither have we addressed the question of unemployment, of the huge and shocking spectacle of lengthening dole queues. We have not introduced proper taxation strategies to give an impetus to job creation, or even looked at the imaginative proposal of a national jobs forum, or at our educational system where investment might act as an incentive to job creation.

We have not coped adequately with the question of emigration or accepted that involuntary emigration, which we have at the moment, means people are destined to stand waiting for subcontractors on street corners in London from 5 a.m. We do not even give an adequate support service to our emigrant communities abroad or to the organisations caring for them. We have not dealt properly with the health question and the need for major change in the health area. I am not happy that the appropriations are adequate to effect any improvement in our county and national roads structure.

I am disappointed with the thrust of the Appropriations Act and with subsequent action in the budget. I urge the Minister to take on board the suggestions I have made to him and to give this House an assurance that something realistic will be done as a matter of urgency to deal with unemployment.

Debate adjourned.