Before the rudeness that we have been subjected to for the last few minutes and before Question Time I referred to the Fianna Fáil philosophy in this budget as one of confidence in ourselves and in our ability to improve conditions by our own achievements. This is in total contrast to the performance of the last few minutes by the Leader of the Opposition who claimed that responsible professional people were deliberately destroying an historic site in this city when he referred to the action of bulldozers going in under supervision.
Financial Resolutions, 1979. - Financial Resolution No. 8: General (Resumed).
Debate resumed on the following motion:
That it is expedient to amend the law relating to customs and inland revenue (including excise) and to make further provision in connection with finance.
—(Minister for Economic Planning and Development.)
(Interruptions.)
Deputy Fox is in possession and if Deputies do not wish to listen to him there is no need for them to do so.
The Ceann Comhairle overruled any discussion on this subject a few moments ago.
An Leas-Ceann Comhairle
The Chair has already ruled against Deputy Fox. Before I left the Chair I told Deputy Fox that there was no way in which we will discuss Wood Quay on a budget debate. It does not arise and it is not relevant. I have not heard Deputy Fox discuss it but I have already told him that. The Deputy will go on to the budget debate.
I am confining myself to your ruling, Sir, and my remarks were strictly in accordance with the rudeness displayed to this House by the Leader of the Opposition and his total ignorance of the matter that he was attempting to drag through the mire. We are very fortunate in the progressive elements that the budget we are discussing is giving to the whole country for the first time in a long time——
This whole country?
——and for the second time in the term of this Government. I would like to refer briefly to social welfare and we in this little free portion of our island are fortunate in having in the person of the Minister for Health a man who is imaginative, courageous and progressive. Those three words sum up the concept of the budget that we are——
Fianna Fáil policy.
Deputy Fox please, without interruption. If Deputy Harte does not wish to listen he has a remedy. He can leave the house. There is nothing keeping him here.
What is keeping me here is a quorum. We should have a quorum.
Notice taken that 20 Members were not present; House counted, and 20 Members being present,
We have been able to provide a quorum on this side of the House in a very short space of time. The other side are showing contempt for the House by only having three Deputies present. This shows their lack of concern for the progress being made in this important budget.
On a point of order, I would like to have it established that it is not the job of the Opposition to provide a quorum.
That is not a point of order. Let us have order in the House. The Deputy is addressing the House. I am sure every Deputy knows by now who has to keep a quorum. It is not a point of order. Deputy Fox is in possession. Will Deputy Fox continue without interruption?
Could we have a quorum?
We have a Minister who is imaginative, courageous and progressive in his thinking and in his actions. This is in accordance with the budget we are discussing because we could also say it is imaginative, courageous and progressive.
Could we have a quorum?
Notice taken that 20 Members were not present; House counted and 20 Members being present,
The imaginative courage of the Minister for Health in his forward thinking in persuading our people to give up smoking on the one hand and to be moderate in drinking on the other will have an effect on future budgets. The courageous anticipation of the possible loss of revenue from those traditional sources must be admired. It is possible that, should our habits in those directions change radically, the saving to the health services will be quite substantial. It has been estimated to be in excess of the revenue collected from tobacco and drink.
This is a very important consideration. It is in conformity with the progressive attitudes of this and other Fianna Fáil budgets. It provides avenues for progress by all our people. It provides an avenue for increasing the enjoyment of life. The Minister for Health's vast programme for the expansion of hospitals and the health services in general is unprecedented. A simple figure is the allocation for the Mater Hospital. A sum of £9 million is being provided for ongoing expenditure. This is the largest and most expensive hospital in the country.
(Interruptions.)
Deputy Fox, without interruption.
The interruptions are merely indicative of people grasping at straws because they have nothing else to do but provide budgets which did not take account of the forward-thinking which is necessary for the progress of the people. The moderation in drinking and no smoking will undoubtedly have a beneficial affect on the population at large and will enable future Ministers to be a little less demanding on the resources for hospitalisation and capital expenditure of this type. There is no doubt that the Minister concerned is very courageous in his programme of hospital rationalisation and building.
He took a courageous decision in sanctioning the building of the huge new complex at Beaumont, which will be of great benefit to the people of that area and to the country. He is to be congratulated on the success of his negotiations with the medical profession and the people concerned for the very rapid start to that major investment. This is in line with the various other attitudes in the budget. Earlier today I gave some comparisons with budgets of previous administrations. As far as social welfare is concerned some comparisons are worth giving. In a budget introduced by Deputy Richie Ryan at a comparable period during the Coalition Government a widow with three children got £15.45p. In this budget a widow with three children will get £34.10p. Can anybody say that that is not imaginative, courageous, sympathetic and in line with the forward thinking of this side of the House as far as social welfare is concerned? We have consistently looked after the poorer sections.
It costs £1 to buy one pound of butter and a loaf of bread.
I presume that Deputy Harte is waiting to speak. He will have an opportunity to speak. The Deputy is only trying to interrupt for interruption's sake. He should not continue with that.
A widow with three children is not a member of any strong trade union. She is not a self-employed person and is not a person earning a very large salary. She is an unfortunate person dependent on the State. Fianna Fáil are now giving her £34.10 compared with £15.45 and we will make it more next year. With regard to children's allowances, in 1974 the first child got £2.30. That did not change at all during the whole period of office of the Coalition Government. For that whole period successive budgets told us that sources outside our control were bringing in high inflation. The effrontery of the Minister concerned saying "he was responsible for 50 per cent of this inflation". Not once was the first child's allowance improved. We have now improved it to £3.50. We are taking courageous, progressive steps and we are looking after the poorer sections. Looking at the needs of the people in the developing areas we are constructing health centres in abundance and the health centres are constructing smaller ancillary health centres so that mothers with prams and small children will not have to walk too far to get the necessary advice and help mothers with young families must have and which they are getting under our social conscience budgets. That is in total contrast to what happened under the previous administration. The lack of concern and planning has been reversed in a short period. The Minister for Health is to be congratulated on so many fronts that he is an example of the budgetary thinking of Fianna Fáil in getting the country moving forward.
Over the years we listened to the rant that Fine Gael were the party of law and order. What happened under their administration? We had the tragedy on the north side of the city that youngsters who unfortunately were neglected were termed "Bugsy Malone Gangs" because of their gangster-like activities. We have now successfully channeled their energies in other directions and have given them an opportunity to become decent citizens. Our attitude towards law and order is to help people and this budget allows for an increase of 500 extra members to the Garda. Under Fianna Fáil guidance the Garda are a force to help people rather than a force that uses the heavy arm and the baton to put down unfortunates who under a different administration may not have had the opportunity to be anything better. These 500 extra Garda members with their better training and better job prospects within their profession will help relieve rather than merely contain criminality. There is no doubt that the situation which obtained in some of our inner city areas will improve when these young men come on duty.
Under the previous administration, the so-called law and order Government, it was impossible in certain areas to walk the street at night and there were few places where one could park a car. There were "no parking" signs everywhere. Fianna Fáil have not even two budgets under their belt and one can walk the streets again and can park a car wherever one finds a parking space. Admittedly, because of the increased prosperity the traffic has increased and it is almost impossible to find a parking space. However there are no "no parking" signs where they were three years ago. This must be a great satisfaction to the Minister for Justice in his clearing up after four years of the so-called law and order people.
The Opposition have been clutching at straws in this debate. This was illustrated by the hysteria shown during the debate on the EMS before the presentation of this budget. When the budgetary proposals were eventually brought before the House we heard nothing. The EMS is now on the cards and we can move forward into Europe with confidence because of the successful negotiations within the context of this budget by the Taoiseach, the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Economic Planning and Development. The relationship between Europe and our national budget has been very ably demonstrated to be in the interests of the people, in total contrast to the hysteria which was indulged in by the people on the far side of the House. They had not one progressive or constructive suggestion as to how to get over the so-called difficulties they claimed existed. The only constructive suggestions carried out and being carried out in relation to the budget, the EMS and our relations with the European Parliament have come from this side of the House. The people elected us to do what we are doing and what we will continue to do.
The Deputy has five minutes to conclude.
What we are doing is in line with the forward thinking of Fianna Fáil. Our negotiations in regard to the EMS having come to a successful conclusion, I am surprised that we have heard so little from the far side of the House on the recent developments in that area. We heard enough from them when it looked as if they might not come to a successful conclusion. This is typical of the regressive attitudes that come from the far side of the House time and again. What is the point in claiming to be progressive Irishmen here to further the progress of our nation, if they cannot come up with something constructive? When we were in opposition we made constructive suggestions culminating in our manifesto and in the budget which is being discussed. The Fianna Fáil philosophy of the ability of our people to improve themselves with proper incentives and proper guidelines laid down by progressive politics is typified in this budget which was constructed by a forward-thinking team working in unison for the betterment of the people. We have a Cabinet that is not a coalition, a Cabinet of committed Fianna Fáil activists who do not have one hand pulling against the other, or one foot not knowing in which direction the other foot is going. We were told we would never get into the EMS. We are in the EMS. We are in Europe. We are progressing in Europe and, with Fianna Fáil policies as outlined in this budget, we will continue to progress for the betterment of our people and there will be no limit to that progress.
Have they nothing to say on the other side of the House?
The fact that the Opposition are unable to offer a speaker in this budget debate is a clear indication of their weakness and their lack of alternative policies.
I wonder will this speech be as enlightening as the one we have just heard.
They have not got a constructive approach to the enormous problems facing the country from day to day. In the past few moments we have heard nothing but interruptions from the Opposition. It is a poor day for society and for the electorate if they can get nothing more constructive from members of the Opposition parties.
If the debate is to be brilliant we should have a quorum.
Notice taken that 20 Members were not present; House counted and 20 Members being present,
It is poor reflection on the Opposition parties that they could not put forward a speaker to criticise or provide alternatives to the proposals in the budget. I am not surprised that the Deputy who is so insistent on having a quorum had to withdraw from the European election campaign because of lack of support in his constituency. That is a reflection on himself and on the Fine Gael Party.
I do not think there are enough people here to hear Deputy Keegan talk, so could we have a quorum please.
Is Deputy Harte calling for a quorum?
Yes.
Notice taken that 20 Members were not present: House counted and 20 Members being present,
This seems to be one of the favourite exercises of Deputy Harte. He has done this on previous Thursdays. He is a lone Member on the Opposition benches and he seems to indulge in this hobby of his on a Thursday.
Deputy Keegan on the budget.
Would the Chair remind Deputy Keegan that he is to speak on the budget?
The Chair will do its own job, Deputy Harte.
This budget is a bold and imaginative attempt by this Government and the Fianna Fáil Party to achieve something for our people. The House will recall the chaotic state of this country before the Fianna Fáil Government took up office in July 1977. We all remember the frustrated and anxious faces of our young people. We remember that they regarded themselves as a people without a future, without hope, as people with no possibility of being provided with an opportunity of making a contribution to Irish society. All of that has changed in the past 18 or 19 months. It has changed because we have a Government that is part and parcel of the plain people of Ireland. We have a Government prepared to introduce budgets which are realistic, bearing in mind the demands, needs and aspirations of our people. Indeed, this Government have made a bold and daring attempt to create the thousands upon thousands of jobs needed for our young people. That is something our opponents did not even attempt to do because they had no policy and could not agree among themselves on the ways and means of tackling the problem. This Government have tackled that problem. But they have been hampered in every way possible by the Fine Gael and Labour Parties and by organisations closely associated with and allied to the Labour Party. They seem to be endeavouring to wreck the economy of this country at every available opportunity. The Irish people must be on their guard; they must decide once and for all not to heed those people. They must realise that somebody has got to get on with the job, that this country has got to be governed.
What does the Deputy mean by this country?
Deputy Harte claims to know more about the country than anybody else. He claims to be the spokesman for the 32 counties.
(Interruptions.)
Deputy Harte should not interrupt. I gave him an opportunity to speak and he would not take it, so he should not interrupt. Deputy Keegan.
The Deputy has just arrived and he wants to get his name in the paper.
(Interruptions.)
Deputy Murphy on a point of order.
Surely it is totally disorderly of Deputy Harte to lounge there without rising if he wishes to address himself to the House.
Did somebody tell Deputy Murphy he was a school teacher?
(Interruptions.)
Would Deputy Harte please let the business of the House continue?
On a point of order——
What does Deputy Harte know about order?
We are discussing the budget affecting the people of the Republic of Ireland. Government Deputies keep referring to "this country" and I am asking, on a point of order, what do they mean?
Deputy Harte, that is not a point of order.
(Interruptions.)
Deputy Harte will have to stop interrupting or, if not, we will have to adjourn the House. Deputy Keegan.
I would not like that to be attributed to anybody on the Opposition benches.
The Deputy is making a good effort at it.
I did say that Deputy Harte was suffering from frustration. He had demonstrated that very clearly here today.
Before I was interrupted I was endeavouring to deal with the enormous problems confronting the country after four-and-a-half years of Coalition misrule.
The Deputy is at it again.
Would Deputy Harte please shut up.
I take exception to Deputy Keegan talking about this country.
If Deputy Harte continues to interrupt I will ask him to leave the House. Deputy Keegan is entitled to be heard.
(Interruptions.)
Deputy Keegan without interruption, please.
(Interruptions.)
We would like to be clear what we are talking about. Are we talking about the country or the State?
The Deputy's contribution has been nil anyway.
Would Deputy Harte stop interrupting? I will have to ask him to leave the House if he does not, and that is that.
He has only just arrived. He has not been here for the whole week.
No interruptions from any side, please. Deputy Keegan is in possession. One of the oldest rules of this House—and Deputies should know it—is that only one Deputy speaks at a time and the Chair is responsible for order. Deputy Keegan without interruption, please.
I was endeavouring to deal—again before the continued interruptions of Deputy Harte—with the problem of creating more and more jobs for the young and growing population of this country. This Government have done something bold and imaginative in their budgetary proposals in an effort to tackle that enormous task, which was aggravated by four-and-a-half years of continued neglect, despite the fact that we were told we had the men with all the superior intelligence, the men of all the talents, who had all the answers and solutions to the problems. We saw what happened. Now the least we could expect of those people is a certain amount of goodwill and co-operation in this Government's efforts, through their budgetary proposals, to tackle this enormous task. That spirit of co-operation is sadly lacking because of the frustrated thinking and attitudes of the people on the Opposition benches. However, the public will take note of their behaviour and will have something to say in regard to the record of those people, as opposition groups for the past 18 or 19 months, when they cast their votes next June.
This Government are committed to a programme of job creation. In that programme they are entitled to expect the support of all sections of the community. Unfortunately, that support is lacking. Efforts are being made to try to aggravate every situation in an effort to dampen the Government's job-creation programmes. The Government want to continue with that work and it will take the most determined efforts of the Fianna Fáil to carry out that programme. We have got an endorsement from the people and as a party and a Government we are expected to deliver in the field of job creation and to provide the necessary jobs.
More money has been made available to local authorities by way of additional moneys for the environmental grant scheme, for road works, housing, water and sewerage. It must be borne in mind that many local authorities are now in a better position to give more employment than they have been for many years. All that has been made possible despite the fact that rates on private houses and tax on cars were abolished. The Irish people in general have made a beneficial saving as a result of the implementation of the promises outlined in the 1977 manifesto.
The young people still look to us as the only party that can give them any hope for the future. We are pleased that all those incentives are, one way or another, helping to give the additional jobs which were promised. It may be said—and Deputy Harte will say it, I suppose—that we fell short of our targets in 1978. That is quite true. We fell short of our targets because every effort was made to ensure that our targets would not be met. The culprits were not the Fianna Fáil Party but the Fine Gael Party and Labour Party and their close allies who did everything in their power to try to wreck and hamper the Government's job-creation programme. But the work of the Government must be continued. The Irish people must get everything that was promised in the manifesto of 1977.
Deputy Joseph Fox spoke about the liberal social welfare increases that were granted in the previous budget. This is the first time we have had any real or significant increase in social welfare benefits and all this happened through the imaginative thinking of the Government. Indeed it has happened because Fianna Fáil promised, and have always adhered to the principle, that they would look after the weaker sections of the community, the people who are unable to look after themselves—the widows, orphans, old age pensioners, the disabled and the infirm. That has been Fianna Fáil policy over the years and it is still Fianna Fáil's priority to look after those in greatest need. That has been achieved in this budget and these benefits will be paid shortly and the people will have some idea of the determination of the Government to look after the most needy sections of the community.
We had a very low rate of inflation in 1978 but organised groups are endeavouring to ensure that that situation will not obtain in 1979 by deliberately creating inflation. They are endeavouring to create as much havoc as possible to ensure that the inflation rate will continue to rise and to ensure that the Government's social welfare benefits will seem insignificant because of inflation. We must bear in mind that excessive wage demands can only result in continued inflation which will in turn result in more and more unemployment. We are committed to the elimination of unemployment. The people who have the interests of the country at heart should ensure that the wreckers are not given the opportunity they want, that the climate they want to create is not created because, they want to wreck the economy of this country. They have no interest in job creation. They have no interest in the economy. When I speak of a country I speak of our island.
What is the Deputy talking about?
At present we may only have jurisdiction over 26 of our counties but we all have aspirations to a 32-county republic.
Get that on the record.
One way that can be achieved is by expanding our economy, by creating job opportunities and by demonstrating beyond all doubt to the people in the North that we are a nation on the move, that we are a people determined to play our full role in European society.
What does the Deputy mean by a nation?
The Deputy is best equipped to answer that question himself. If he does not know then he should not be here.
Deputy Keegan should not be interrupted.
We are proud of our ancient and historical nation whether Deputy Harte likes it or not: I would like to know what he would be like if he were making some form of constructive criticism but his efforts here seem to be destructive in every respect.
(Interruptions.)
The Chair will deal with these matters. I want to warn Deputy Harte before we call the quorum that, if there are any more interruptions, everybody will go home in a hurry. Perhaps that is what Deputy Harte wants. We will have a quorum.
Notice taken that 20 Members were not present; House counted and 20 Members being present,
Deputy Keegan to continue without interruptions.
I was trying to deal with the social welfare measures outlined in the budget. As I stated, these are the most liberal increases that have been granted for many years. Indeed, it can be said without fear of contradiction that Fianna Fáil were always the party of realism, the party that understood the needs of the sections of our community that were in greatest need. That has been seen to in the budget and those people will enjoy real benefits in the coming year if the efforts of the wreckers are subdued. We have in our society at present elements determined to wreck the entire economy of this country and to dismantle our democratic institutions as we know them.
Unfortunately, those wreckers seem to have complete access to the media, something Fianna Fáil do not have and never had. However, we always get by and get an endorsement from the people, despite the fact that we do not enjoy our fair share of fair comment from the media, whether it be the newspapers or RTE. The Irish people have noticed this during the years. They noticed it in June 1977. Our party have not suffered despite the campaign of victimisation that has been going on for years. Fianna Fáil will be a force in Irish political society for many generations to come and that is something that is causing further frustration to the Opposition. There is no doubt about that and there will be no doubt about it next June when the people go to the polls again.
Apart from granting liberal social welfare increases, the budget has ensured that every local authority has a liberal supply of money to embark on a programme of road and house construction, on the installation of water and sewerage facilities and the improvement of waterways. All those things are necessary and they must be pursued with the enthusiasm that only a Fianna Fáil Government can generate. That enthusiasm will be obvious throughout this year when we see each local authority embark on an ambitious road development programme, something that was lacking in the four years of Coalition Government. Despite the fact that they collected car tax and that on one occasion the then Minister for Finance hiked the price of petrol by 15p per gallon, they did little for road development. The Minister for Finance in the Coalition Government was short of money and he had to beg, borrow and steal to get it. That is not the situation today. We have more formal and planned budgeting than during the years of Coalition misrule.
That kind of planned programming and budgeting will help to develop the economy in the way the Irish people expect. It will create the many thousands of jobs that are needed and it will make this nation the envy of our European allies. In 1978 we had the highest growth rate in the EEC. That was achieved because of the ambitious programmes outlined by the Fianna Fáil in budgets, because of the determination of the Government and the Irish people to produce more, because of their efforts to create more jobs and to export more of our manufactured and agricultural goods. It is that kind of activity that has made us the envy of Europe. It is worth nothing that the Rev. Mr. Paisley when he went to Brussels recently was amazed at the figures produced for him because they outlined clearly the progress made here. That progress was made because Fianna Fáil are determined to carry out their programmes.
The business incentives in the budget have been accepted widely by the majority of the business community. We all realise the important role they are playing in their efforts to stimulate greater growth and to expand our economy. They realise that the Government have embarked on the right policies. They know they have the incentives necessary to make their full contribution to the promotion of job-creation enterprises, to expand our economy and to generate more and more wealth.
The agricultural sector has played an enormous role in recent years due to our accession to the EEC in 1973. I suppose it is reasonable to say that other sections of the community here have been envious of the rate of progress that the agricultural industry has made. The farming community realise they have been the chief beneficiaries of our EEC participation and they know they can be expected to pay their fair share of tax in order to provide the necessary services. In 1974 a former Minister for Finance introduced taxation of farmers for the first time. That year was a disastrous one for the agricultural sector. Livestock could not be disposed of due to marketing difficulties and because the then Government could not agree on the line to be adopted with regard to determining a green £ for Irish agriculture. The result was that millions of pounds were lost to the economy and to the farming sector and it took that sector two years to recover.
Farmers have fully recovered now and they are anxious to play their role in creating a better and more forward-looking Irish society. They are determined to avail of all the new outlets that the opening of the enlarged Community has created for them. They want to pay their fair share of taxation and I am sure all of us are pleased that for the first time they have admitted they are willing to pay their fair share. That could not be said in 1974 or 1975 because they did not have the means to pay anybody. They had no income. It was extraordinary that the then farm leaders did not create the same scenes as they have created recently. Is it that the leaders did not want to rock the boat on that occasion? Was it a political manoeuvre on their part that they would not have any large-scale demonstrations or protests? Probably they felt they should not rock the boat on that occasion. Yet a Minister for Finance on that occasion stated that he expected to get £35 million from the farmers. He got less than £1 million.
Coupled with income tax, we had also wealth tax which created burdens for thousands of farmers. That tax was abolished in 1977, but it is no harm to remind farmers that many of them have enjoyed benefits as a result. If the wealth tax were now in force thousands of our wealthier farmers would be obliged to pay the contributions laid down in that tax. They were relieved by the Fianna Fáil Government and some of the more wealthy farmers should be doubly reminded of that. They have enjoyed the benefits of the abolition of that tax and should therefore be prepared to pay their fair share of tax so as to create a more equitable system of taxation for all our people. There was a time when they were not in a position to pay but they are now able to make that contribution to the national economy. We are encouraged by the fact that the vast majority of farmers now feel they can meet their obligations. I hope that before May an equitable system of taxation will be agreed on and accepted by the Government and the farming community, bearing in mind that it is the responsibility of the Government to introduce that equitable system. I have no doubt they will do so. The farmers have admitted that they are prepared to pay their fair share.
It has been said that the farmers are tax dodgers but there is no way in which they can dodge their obligation because of the method of disposing of farm goods and output. All farm produce must be sold at the creamery, the factory, the mart or exported. There is no way in which they can fiddle accounts. There may be other sections of the community not paying their fair share. It has been alleged that some professionals and self-employed persons have devised ways of fiddling the books in making tax returns. I have no evidence of that and I am sure that if there is such evidence the Revenue Commissioners are equipped to chase those people and extract from them a fair share of taxation.
The PAYE sector have made an enormous contribution to revenue in recent years. I am not surprised that there is such unrest in that sector at present, but we must remember that they only pay tax on money they earn, when they have their pay packets in their pockets. They are in a better position to pay tax than the underprivileged or those with no incomes at all. I hope that as our jobs programme succeeds more and more people will be contributing tax and in that way that the amount of PAYE tax can be gradually reduced. When we have fewer contributing we have more unemployed, more call on other benefits and the drain on the Exchequer and on those in full-time employment is greater.
The introduction of the EMS will create a new dimension for Ireland. We shall see the Irish nation play its full role as a member of the strongest currency in the world at present. That is why I welcomed our decision to join the EMS. All sections must realise that, if we are to participate fully as members of the new monetary system, there must be moderation in wage demands by every section of the community. It is extraordinary that in 1979, after the year of lowest inflation for many years, people are making excessive wage and pay demands, people in sheltered positions not concerned with market fluctuations or problems in other countries. Yet those people are making demands in excess of 50 per cent. Are they serious in their demands? Do they realise that they are going to wreck our economy? Are they part of an organised scheme to bring about the down-fall of this economy? I say to such people "It is time for you to play your full role in Irish society and accept your fair share of the national cake."
If a few people succeed in getting a larger slice of the national cake less will be left for other sections. That would be a disastrous situation and that type of situation will come about if excessive wage demands are conceded. Public service workers should realise that they have something that thousands of other workers have not; they have a guarantee of continuous employment. They have not the same anxieties or worries as people in the private sector, because whether they are working in agriculture, industry or in any type of service they are affected by developments or trends or crises in other countries and their jobs can be in jeopardy. If a manufacturer here discovers that he cannot sell his products in competition with other countries, that factory has no option but to close down. Redundancies are created and more people join the list of unemployed.
To all who are making excessive wage demands at present I say "In the name of Ireland and the Irish people moderate your wage claims. In doing so you are doing a service to yourself and every other member of the community because nothing can do more damage to the Irish economy than to have a few people getting more than their fair share of the national cake". Let us hope that all the unrest that is with us at present will disappear and that we will have moderation in pay claims.
Debate adjourned.