I, too, would like to express my appreciation to Deputy Yates and I am sure his contribution will be all the more valuable when he has a little more time to consider it.
This budget reflects our basic philosophy in regard to the development of the economic and social potential of our country. That philosophy is that our country, in its people and its resources, has greater potential for growth and development than any other country in the European Community and that potential must be fully realised.
We have a young labour force which is equipped to master the most advanced technological industrial processes; an emerging corps of Irishmen and Irishwomen possessing the enterprise, energy and innovation required to develop a successful domestic economy and export trade; access to a free-trade European market of 270 million people; financial and tax incentives highly attractive to manufacturing and service industry investment; and an economic infrastructure in telecommunications, roads, urban services and facilities, ports and harbours which is being brought up to the highest modern standards.
The budget gives initial practical effect to our economic and social philosophy though we were unable in the time available to change as much as we would have liked in the budget we inherited. But we have, as we promised, made important fundamental changes which altered greatly its economic thrust and widened substantially its social dimensions.
A central feature of our budget is the targets we have set for a reduction in the budget deficit and in the level of borrowing as compared with 1981. We intend to adhere to these targets through rigid control of the public finances. Should any additional expenditure become necessary for essential purposes, this will have to be met by a corresponding reduction in expenditure elsewhere.
If these are not sufficient, additional taxation might be necessary but we must all now realise that we are reaching a situation where the possibilities of additional revenue are becoming increasingly limited and there is a definite reluctance among the general public to accept further tax measures.
It is mandatory, therefore, that we give greater attention to controlling the growth in public expenditure so as to avoid taxation increases. We have completed the Departmental staffing reviews initiated by the former Minister for Finance, Deputy Bruton, last December. The reports on these reviews have now been submitted and will be used as a basis for securing administrative efficiency and savings in all Departments. This must be done skilfully and sensibly. Essential services to the community, particularly to the underprivileged, must be maintained and the impetus to greater economic activity and employment must be continued. Within those guidelines, we intend to control rigidly the level of public expenditure, by ensuring the most economic deployment of staff and the highest levels of efficiency. This will be a continuing and unremitting exercise.
Equity in our system of taxation is something that should always be pursued but the need for action has now become a matter of urgency. We gave the Irish Congress of Trade Unions a commitment under the second national understanding and we have, in all our taxation decisions, acted to achieve a fairer and more equitable system.
Let me recall that in 1980 we introduced income-splitting for married couples, who now have double the personal allowance and rate bands applicable to single persons.
The special allowance for PAYE employees was introduced by us in 1980. This allowance recognises the need to alleviate in a special way the burden borne by the PAYE sector. Persons and families on low incomes have greatly benefited under our programme for greater equity in taxation. We introduced complete tax exemption limits for people on low incomes, including the ill and the unemployed. We also provided a system of marginal relief for taxpayers with incomes just above the exemption limit. This provided a worthwhile relief for the less well-off while at the same time ensured that the relief is directed to those most in need. As a result of this measure, 75,000 persons were removed from liability to income tax in 1980, 33,000 benefited in 1981 and the improvements in the exemption limits announced in this year's budget will remove about 24,000 low-income taxpayers from liability. Many more have benefited from marginal relief.
Age exemption limits for the elderly have also been raised progressively in recent years and further increases will be made this year. The tax allowances for one-parent families are again being increased this year and, as a result, widowed parents and single parents will have allowances equivalent to the married allowance.
The blind persons allowance, dependent relative allowance and the allowance for persons employed to take care of an incapacitated taxpayer or spouse are all being increased this year in a further move towards tax equity. The tax changes made in the budget, together with our recent decision to make a special increase of £312 in the PAYE allowance for those on the higher PRSI rates, taken in conjunction with the increased taxation on financial institutions and on capital profits are all designed to continue this steady progress towards greater equity in taxation.
Because we recognise taxation equity as a central issue in our society today, we established the Commission on Taxation to review the entire structure and system of taxation with greater equity as a priority objective. The main report of the commission dealing with taxation principles and all forms of direct taxation, including PRSI, will be available shortly.
The recommendations of the commission which is representative of all sectors of the community will provide an opportunity to review and consider what the next measures should be to improve the distribution of taxation in order to redistribute the burden of taxation more fairly throughout the community.
We must also recognise that PRSI contributions now represent direct taxation and must be taken into account in any general reshaping of the taxation structure. We agreed with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions in our consultative discussions with them that greater equity required some adjustment in the taxation burden which the combined PRSI and PAYE demands place on employees.
In making the adjustment we have made of £45 million this year in further PAYE tax allowances, we have gone to the absolute limit that equity and the public finances can sustain at this time. I am glad that this view has been shared by the trade unions who have welcomed our action as a significant attempt this year to ease the situation.
I should like to stress the importance of the consultative process I initiated with congress and with the representatives of employers and farmers in examining together current economic and social issues. In our democratic society, such a process of consultation is essential to ensure greater understanding and co-operation between Government and the main economic and social interests in the face of the serious problems we face in the current recession.
The greater the degree of understanding and agreement between the Government and the main economic groups in the identifying of the extent and nature of our problems the greater are our prospects of success in overcoming those problems.
We are now well under way with the preparation of the Economic Plan which we intend to be the framework for the main economic decisions to be taken over the coming three to four years. The objectives of the plan are to generate the maximum increase in sustainable employment; to reduce the rate of inflation; to maintain living standards and make them more equitable while restoring the balance of payments to more acceptable levels.
In the preparation of this plan, we are enlisting the expert assistance of the Economic and Social Research Institute and other research bodies. In its preparation, also, we will consult with the representatives of trade unions, employers and farmers and with the National Economic and Social Council. We see the plan as one which will reflect the views of the community as a whole on what our objectives for economic expansion should be, what resources they will demand, how these resources can be mobilised and how they can best be used to the most productive purposes.
Through this plan we will chart the course of economic development over the next few years. We envisage it as the first step in establishing a permanent structure for long-term economic and social planning. We believe such a structure would be welcomed by all economic and social interests. It is our intention to develop an effective structure for such planning so as to ensure the widest possible consultation, the fullest possible access to expertise and the greatest possible consensus in our society about how to ensure our optimum economic and social development.
We are a small community whose financial resources are limited relative to the potential for growth which is inherent in our energies and skills, in our natural resources and in the ambitions of our young people. We intend to mobilise all available resources in a concerted action programme to expand output and increase productivity and competitiveness.
This action programme should be based on agreed and clearly defined measures and objectives. We cannot successfully combat unemployment if we have a divisive and disunited approach as a community to the major issue of economic and social policy.
We intend through our Economic Plan in the immediate short-term and subsequently through our longer-term economic and social planning to provide the means for uniting our energies, our skills and our resources in a concerted programme to defeat the present economic recession by expanding the economy and improving social equity.
The possibilities and potential are there. In the face of adverse trading conditions we have developed a growing manufacturing capacity based on advanced science and technology and well able to sell its products abroad. Proof of this is the fact that this year we expect the volume of manufacturing exports to increase by 11 per cent.
We have in the Industrial Development Authority one of the best industrial promotion organisations in the world. It has the task of developing our industrial and service sectors to provide the jobs we need. It has the energy, the enterprise and the expertise. We intend to provide the capital and other funds and facilities necessary for its success.
I availed of my recent visit to the United States to meet President Reagan on St. Patrick's Day, to launch a major new drive by the IDA to increase United States investment in industrial and service projects in this country. I addressed in New York a large and distinguished gathering of leaders in the business and financial community of the United States. In that address, I outlined the opportunities, facilities and incentives we offered for United States overseas investment and I am confident that many have learned, as a result, how unique and attractive these are.
While it is necessary to review our industrial policy and to refine our range of incentives and facilities, any such review must be based on the IDA continuing to perform its essential tasks.
We must be sure that the industrial policies we are pursuing are those which are best for our development in the years ahead. The international economic climate within which our industrial policy must be developed has changed and our policy must take account of these changes.
The energy crisis, the impact of the new industrialised countries on world markets and the increased competition for international investment funds, present unmistakable challenges. The increasing potential of science and technology for industrial innovation and the potential which we have in our indigenous resources can unlock many opportunities and should be developed by us. The review of industrial policy by the National Economic and Social Council, the final phase of which is now nearing completion, will provide the Government with a firm basis on which to plan our future strategies.
Our rapidly growing export earnings owe much to the energies and efficiency of Córas Tráchtála and we have made special additional provision to intensify their programmes. We must intensify further our export drive if we are to increase employment and raise our earnings.
Growth in our economy must come from exports. Apart from the large exporting enterprises established here, we must direct our own domestic industry, our workers and our management to the opportunities for export that exist or can be created. A recent survey showed that only two in five of Irish manufacturing companies export.
How to expand exports faster will be a central objective of our Economic Plan. We must take all possible measures and provide all the necessary resources to mount a major new effort to increase our export earnings. The present arrangements, resources and incentives are not sufficient to generate the rate of increase in exports which the recovering international markets will offer from now on. I attach the highest importance to developing new policies in this area in conjunction with employers, farmers, unions and State agencies.
In these policies, the contribution of our representative offices overseas must be fully utilised and developed. There are many parts of the world where, for historical reasons, and because of the presence of large communities of Irish descent, we should be able to trade to a greater extent than we have. A new combined and co-ordinated effort in the United States, for example, between our State agencies and our representative offices promises worthwhile returns in greater sales of Irish products and wider promotion of Irish economic interests.
The serious financial and trading problems of many of our State-sponsored commercial companies is a cause of grave concern. We are examining urgently the additional investment needed to alleviate or eliminate these problems. We have to decide what additional capital provision is justified structure and trading outlook of each company and the effect of their combined requirements on our overall situation.
We must also ensure for the future that the operations of these companies will be closely monitored by modern management accountancy techniques against specific performance criteria and targets. This will have to be done by a central unit without interfering with the day-to-day decisions and management of these companies.
Probably the most alarming aspect of the current economic recession is the high rate of job losses. This requires us to improve our capacity to anticipate trouble in particular firms or groups of firms and our ability to respond quickly and effectively to difficulties. The rescue services of Fóir Teoranta, the Industrial Development Authority and the Industrial Credit Company must be combined into a flexible, highly-refined co-ordinated service which can both anticipate trading difficulties and provide all practicable and justifiable aid so that job losses and redundancies can be avoided or reduced to the minimum.
I attach special importance to the greater application of scientific and technological innovation to Irish domestic industry both from the viewpoint of import substitution and export growth. We must work steadily towards an arrangement whereby every manufacturing company and every potential entrepreneur has access at local and regional levels to a combination of expert scientific, technological, financial, marketing and management advice. This advice will be directed to ensuring efficiency of operation, greater output, increased employment and better product development in a comprehensive enterprise development programme.
The regional network of third level technological and educational institutes and the State industrial, export and scientific agencies must combine in a concerted regional programme to lift the technological and employment capacity of Irish domestic industry.
The National Enterprise Agency is a new alliance of trade unions, employers and Government directed towards identifying employment opportunities based on technological innovation. This agency has now been re-activated and given an initial funding to set about mobilising the resources of modern science and technology in new employment-creating projects.
I have stressed the regional approach to technological innovation because it is central to the economic and social policy of the Government to mobilise and release the resources of all our regions. Under our concept of economic policy, national output is the sum of the regional outputs.
We are intent, therefore, on diversifying the economic and social life of the regions. A great deficiency in many regions is the lack of public service employment. One of our first acts on resuming office has been to revive the programme for decentralisation of Government posts from Dublin to provincial centres.
Under this programme we will now start advertising for tender those offices for which sites, plans and contract documents are ready. Of course, a necessary part of the implementation of this programme is full consultation with the representatives of the staffs concerned so that difficulties and problems can be satisfactorily resolved.
We will advertise not only for tenders to construct these offices but also for tenders to provide these offices on rental, purchase or other similar terms. We think that investors in property, particularly those funds which are raised in pension contributions or insurance premiums throughout the country, should now look to provincial centres for investment, particularly where the client is the State.
The economy cannot develop satisfactorily if the flow of investment funds is channeled to only a few centres. Other countries have long since ensured that such investment funds participate widely in the economic life of the nation and we are now providing an opportunity for this in our economy.
To match our commitment to regional development, we are at the same time undertaking a comprehensive new programme of urban renewal. It has become increasingly clear in the last decade that the regulatory powers of the planning Acts are not sufficient to bring about the balanced economic and social development needed to create living neighbourhoods in our inner urban areas
We have decided, therefore, to intervene in a positive and energetic way to regenerate those inner urban areas which have suffered economic, social and environmental decline and decay through a combination of unbalanced investment and neglect. Our approach is threefold. We will set up by legislation, which will be introduced almost immediately development commissions for areas of particular neglect in any of our towns and cities. There will also be an inner city authority for Dublin in the first instance to implement economic, social and educational measures for the whole inner city area. Also local authorities are being provided with funds for programmes of special relevance to inner city areas.
We are initiating this programme in the Dublin city area but our intention is to extend it to other similar areas in other towns and cities. Already some elements of our programme have been extended to areas outside Dublin like our £1 million fund for the rehabilitation of dwellings in the inner city areas.
Our commitment to intervening by a combination of administrative, financial and taxation measures to bring back stable neighbourhood life to our inner cities is one that has widespread support throughout the community. We will bring to this programme the same enlightened resolve which in the past cleared the slums and built the great housing estates of the suburbs.
We also intend to improve the quality of life in the suburbs. Too often in the new large housing estates there are instances of social, cultural and economic deprivation even amidst greatly improved housing and neighbourhood conditions. The National Community Development Agency, which will have a fund of £2 million this year, is a new effort to improve the quality and content of community life by combining State aid and the resources in self-help and voluntary effort of communities faced with economic and social deprivation.
Our concern to correct the economic and social inequality between inner city areas and other areas which have benefited from the economic and social progress of recent decades is part of our general concern to reduce economic and social inequality in our society.
We still have significant inequalities of income and opportunity due to social class, family cycle and the fact that we are at a relatively early stage of our full economic and social development. We, as a Government, are fully committed to reducing progressively these inequalities.
Our budget measures were based on our fundamental principle of protecting the living standards of the less-well off and increasing as far as possible the transfer of national income to them. The increase of 25 per cent in social welfare benefits was part of that policy.
In addition to the general improvement for all beneficiaries, we made a number of special improvements for particularly vulnerable categories of the population. These include the double week's payment in September and December for the child dependents of weekly social welfare dependents.
We are providing greater equity for women in the social welfare code by removing the anomaly whereby married women who are separated from their husbands cannot qualify for unemployment assistance unless they have dependent children.
In the field of income tax, we are taking special steps to improve the position of one-parent families, many of whom are women. As a result of the changes proposed, both widowed parents and single parents will be in receipt of allowances equivalent to the married allowances. This is a progressive development and one which has been pressed for over the years by various concerned groups. We know from those writing on the subject of family welfare that the costs of maintaining a family are particularly high when there is only one parent and it is right that their vulnerable position should be ameliorated as much as possible.
Participation in second and third-level education is not adequately spread among all socio-economic classes and we will give special attention to this problem. The increased provision of £200,000 for education services in the educational priority areas of urban centres is a first measure to offset as quickly and as effectively as we can the special educational disadvantages of children in those areas.
The setting up of a task force and the provision of a fund to improve the housing of the elderly living alone is a new measure reflecting our concern with this acute social problem. This country has a high proportion of elderly persons living in poor economic circumstances.
A recent social commentator has said that, because of the structure of modern society, the problems of the elderly rank low, if at all, on most political agendas because they generally have no interest group to represent them. Let me say firmly that we have always kept the elderly high on our political agenda and I am determined that they will remain there.
Our special task force has already commenced work with a fund of £1 million this year to repair and rehabilitate the unsanitary and delapidated accommodation occupied by many elderly persons living alone.
This is part of a consistent series of special measures we have taken over the years to improve the economic and social conditions of the elderly.
We introduced home help and meals on wheels, the system of welfare homes of which there are now 35, the provision of free travel, free electricity and free television licences, the retirement pension scheme, the allowance to look after an elderly relative and the free telephone rental scheme. We have now made provision for a rent subsidy for people in controlled rent dwellings, many of whom are elderly.
A very special reform in this year's budget was the provision that medical cards will be made available to all old age pensioners as of right, a measure which has been warmly welcomed by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and pensioners' organisations.
We have more than doubled old age pensions in our three budgets in 1980, 1981 and 1982, which has meant a very real increase in the standard of living for elderly persons.
These actions are the practical evidence of our commitment to building progressively a society of greater equality and opportunity for all, including those who have retired from direct economic activity.
We have taken the first step to deal with the problem of speculative gains on the sale of development land by increasing severely the taxation of such gains. We are now considering other measures to ensure the supply of development land to major urban authorities at costs which will be devoid of speculative gains.
Many of the elements in our economic and social policies which I have outlined have been strikingly endorsed by the European Commission in its proposals to the meeting of the Standing Committee on Employment which met last week.
The Commission put forward proposals for a Community action programme to combat unemployment. This arose from the recent European Council, which singled out the need to combat unemployment as the first priority of the Community.
The Commission considers that 1982 is the year in which positive decisions could turn the economic tide towards a more self-sustaining improvement from 1983 onwards. The Commission considers that action should be concentrated on public investment to create public and private jobs, on restructuring of sectors in difficulties, on new enterprises and employment creation and on local employment initiatives and co-operatives.
Our policies reflect these recommendations. We have increased the public investment programmes which are now at levels which are probably the highest in the Community. It is noteworthy that the Commission has singled out, among the objectives of public investment, inner city housing and amenity renewal, expansion of the telecommunications systems, urban sanitary services and new energy sources, all of which figure prominently in our investment policies.
One of the most important measures in our budget was to provide an additional £50 million for investment in the construction industry. This additional investment is directly intended to provide an immediate increase in employment. The bulk of these funds will be expended by local authorities and it is urgently necessary that each individual authority should get schemes and projects off the ground as quickly as possible so that this extra capital can be translated immediately into jobs. The quicker they get these projects and schemes under way the quicker will unemployment in the industry be reduced.
Our programme for expanded technological innovation, ranging from the small industry programme of the IDA and SFADCo to the new National Enterprise Agency, is also clearly within the ambit of the Commission's proposals.
We expect that the Commission will bring forward, arising from the examination of these proposals, specific Community measures to complement and accelerate national programmes. The programmes we are already initiating will we hope be assisted in due course by these Community measures.
I have referred earlier to the need to control the growth in public expenditure. Equally important is the need to ensure that the public administration is fully productive and efficient in the tasks the community assigns to it. The structure of Government Departments has evolved over a long period of time. I am not satisfied that they are necessarily organised in a way that takes account of changing circumstances and the relative importance of different sectors of administration.
It should be possible to make certain changes in organisation and the allocation of functions which would have the effect of a better concentration of effort on major national areas of development. The administrative machinery of Government must be continually reviewed to take account of the changing problems and needs of society and I intend to give effect to that principle.
We have made a determined effort in the budget to reduce the rate of inflation. We maintained food subsidies, subsidised CIE fares and reversed the decision to impose VAT of 18 per cent on clothing and footwear.
With the moderating trend in international prices, particularly in oil prices, we have the opportunity over the coming 12 months to reduce significantly the rate of inflation. This is an economic prize which we must not let elude us by decisions which would generate domestic price increases. Lower rates of inflation will help our exports, increase employment, reduce taxation arising from public service costs and will lessen the erosion of family budgets.
Agriculture is still our most important basic industry. In this respect we differ significantly from most EEC countries where it accounts for only a small proportion of national output and employment. It accounts directly for nearly one-fifth of our total employment and clearly its well-being also greatly affects the development of other sectors of the economy.
We are determined to reverse the downturn which has affected agriculture since 1978, brought about by a combination of adverse influences in prices, input costs and weather. Some progress in halting the recession in agriculture was made in 1981 with the aid of measures which we introduced in 1980 and early 1981. We have finalised the reduced interest rate scheme for farmers in severe financial difficulties. This has come into operation from April 1 and should ease the difficulties of farmers who borrowed for productive purposes but were adversely affected by the recession in their industry and the high rates of interest on borrowed money. We have also brought grants under the Farm Modernisation Scheme back up to the level at which they were before September 1981 and we are using every avenue open to us at EEC level for an early and favourable decision on farm price increases for Irish farmers in 1982. It is in our vital interest that Irish farmers and thereby our whole economy are protected in the review of community policies currently being undertaken. The future well-being of Irish agriculture will also be positively helped by the measures we are adopting to bring down inflation which has been a primary cause of the difficulties experienced by Irish farmers in recent years.
Work is now under way, in consultation with farmer organisations and research and advisory bodies, on a development plan for agriculture. This plan will contain the essential measures to unlock the vast potential for growth which exists in the skill of Irish farmers and in the rich resources of our soil and livestock.
The serious under-utilisation of the capacity of our meat factories and the attendant high unemployment among meat factory workers are matters for grave concern. Currently the through-put in the factories is only about one-quarter of capacity.
We are carrying out, through the sectoral development committee, a fundamental study of the practical ways the output of the beef industry can be increased. This study is being carried out under an expert group representative of trade unions, farmers, meat factories and Government Departments and agencies.
In the meantime, we are taking immediate positive measures to improve the outlook for this industry. Expansion of the breeding herd is a first priority. The calved heifer national-interest subsidy of £70 this year, which we hope to have supplemented by a £22 calf premium from the European Community, is designed to stimulate that expansion. We are pressing for an even more generous calved heifer scheme from the European Community. We have succeeded in obtaining the same export refunds from the EEC for carcase beef as for live cattle. We are concerned to tilt the balance in favour of meat exports as against live cattle exports. Veterinary inspection fees will now be the same for live exports and for meat factories.
The Minister for Agriculture will visit Libya shortly to press that more of their requirements of beef be met from cattle slaughtered in Ireland. We are also developing beef exports to other new markets, including Iraq, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
We have also been concerned that raw material for the factories was being lost as a result of smuggling into Northern Ireland. As a result of trilateral meetings between the Department of Agriculture, the Northern Ireland authorities and the EEC Commission, improved control measures were brought into force at Northern Ireland factories. These have had the result during recent months of eliminating or substantially reducing the level of cattle smugggling. We will closely watch this situation to ensure that the progress made is maintained.
Oil is an essential strategic resource for the expansion of our economy. The recent abundant supply of oil on the world market and the stabilisation in oil prices have in no way weakened the Government's resolve to explore our own seas to the full and find and bring ashore our own oil. Our own oil supplies would remove an important constraint on our balance of payments in which oil imports account for about one half of the deficit.
Negotiations for the second licensing round will soon be completed. This licensing round will give rise to a very high level of seismic exploration activity in addition to the continuation of the drilling programme. There will be a resultant high level of drilling exploration over the next few years in the areas now to be licensed.
The Porcupine has been the main focus of attention and its possibilities are still being explored. In addition, improved technology now indicates a very considerable potential in the Celtic Sea. This year, the Goban Spur will be drilled for the first time. This will open up a new exploration area and the results could be significant. The drilling here is being carried out in the deepest water so far explored in our exploration programme. There is steadily increasing evidence to justify an expectation that we will locate and bring oil ashore. We will spare no effort in that exciting enterprise.
A major element in our battle to overcome our economic difficulties and pull ourselves out of this recession is the generation of hope and the restoration of confidence. There has been too much destructive comment and exaggerated criticism. I appeal now to the Opposition and other sideline commentators to stop running down our economy. They may see some narrow party political advantage in so doing but they should also understand the damage which they can do to our national morale at home and our standing abroad.
We welcome both constructive advice and practical criticism. But generalised negative and destructive statements about or economy and our currency can be very damaging to the prospects for our economy and for the confidence of overseas investors in it.
What Ireland needs today is a wave of positive thinking. There are opportunities on every side. We must identify them and start planning their development. There has been a surfeit of pessimism and protest, defeatism and denigration. The time has come to list our assets and plan for progress. The IDA, for instance, have put us into the top league in the world of electronics. The possibilities in this field and the related area of satellite communication are enormous and exciting. The sea bed is another new prospect for future development. We will succeed if we believe we can succeed. I am not asking for any starry-eyed foolishness or decrying realistic and sensible criticism and analysis. But I am asking for increased concentration on what can be achieved with the very great resources at our disposal if we organise ourselves efficiently and put in a real effort.
Our income per head in 1981 was £2,327. To double that figure over the coming decades is a task well within our ability as it involves raising industrial output and agricultural output by a combined 6 per cent which is clearly realisable. Our newly developed capacity in technological and entrepreneurial skill should, given favourable international economic conditions, enable us to achieve even faster growth and hence double our income per capita in a shorter period. That is the task and goal which we should face with confidence and faith in our abilities.
I have given the House an outline of the practical and prudent measures the Government have been taking to reverse the undesirable economic and social trends with which we are faced.
These measures are designed to put the economy back on course so as to achieve greater output, increase efficiency, improve social equity and, above all, increase employment.
Through these measures and in our humane approach to our budget proposals, we have clearly demonstrated our commitment to economic progress and our firm resolve to bring about greater social justice. We are pledged to the constant improvement in the quality of Irish society as a whole.
In doing so we will harness the ability, the energy, the idealism and enthusiasm of every section of the community and will utilise to the full our greatest resource of all, the talents, the skill and the genuine patriotism of our young people.
