Deputy Kenny is in possession and of the time allotted to him he has 34 minutes left.
Financial Resolutions, 1987. - Financial Resolution No. 3: 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 Finance.)
In resuming discussion on the 1987 budget I want to express a few thoughts that are on my mind. When one is given a spokesmanship in a particular area one does not always have the opportunity to cross the boundaries of that spokesmanship, but the budget debate is very wide ranging and gives Deputies on all sides an opportunity to express their opinions on various matters.
This is a sad day for Ireland, a day on which great calamity could befall us in terms of the consequences of the present industrial dispute which is causing great uncertainty and confusion in the public mind. It demands a firm but fair response on all sides and I trust that will be the eventual outcome, that wisdom will prevail and that those who are in positions to influence those events will do so in the most beneficial and speedy manner possible.
Today I attended on behalf of my party at the last farewell to a true servant of this House, the late Deputy Eugene Gilhawley of Sligo who gave his people long, dedicated service. They remembered him in great numbers today. Travelling to Dublin from Sligo afterwards one could sense the degree of uncertainty when passing through the towns and villages which look very well on the outside but which have at heart great problems.
The late Deputy James Dillon once said that politics is a vocation that draws one into stormy waters and that while it is OK to dream dreams and have visions, it is always well to remember that pragmatism is an essential part of any true vocation. We are now beginning the fifth month of 1987 discussing the budget that is to get us through the remaining seven months. We have a newly installed, convened Government who are forced by reality, probably for the first time ever in the history of their party, to contend with severe economic difficulties which require tough but fair decisions. The smiles the Government displayed on their acquisition of power have been replaced in some cases already by the lines of worry and the stooping of shoulders as they bend under the relentless pressure from outside. The Government are under seige already in many respects. As this is the first time a Fianna Fáil Government have faced problems of this nature, problems accumulated over the years, they are finding it difficult to cope in the initial stages of their administration. They are already a Government of clarification and modification.
I suppose there are politicians in this House who do not want to be in Government at present. There are politicians in power who do not want to be in power because they see what faces them now. Regarding the approach to the solution of the economic difficulties which have emerged in the course of some years, does anybody really have the answer to our problems? Is the approach being adopted by this Government too radical in the short term or are they playing the political card in an attempt to get the rough stuff over before the summer recess in the hope that the population may have gone away or forgotten about it by the end of summer so that the Government can attempt in their deliberations next October or November to frame a budget for 1988? There are politicians in this House who are exhausted and fatigued after the crushing burden of office of the past five years. They have had their difficulties, too. Possibly many of them in their personal ways understand intimately the difficulties that their successors face in attempting to sort out the problems of the nation. The signs of the burning desire for power and the thirst for responsibility have diminished in the faces, eyes and minds of some of the members of the Fianna Fáil Party. I get the impression that already around the Cabinet table there are those who would like to see their Taoiseach cast in the benevolent mould of a master who might be able to give out financial assistance to his beleaguered minions who, like Oliver, continually ask for more, be they in Education, Health, Social Welfare or whatever Department might be under discussion at any time. Of course, the master has nothing else to give them this time and those who took up the various Departments now find that it is not as easy as it sounded when they were in Opposition and when they could legitimately call for the sun, moon and stars without having to deliver on them.
Employment, taxation and the various budget targets have been discussed here during the last few weeks by speakers more eminent than me. I want to address myself to a few matters that are reasonably relevant. In budget contributions most Deputies in this House after some time tend to drift into the solution of peripheral problems which they see as important, sometimes problems with relevance only to their own areas. In relation to employment, business and industry many people have lived on the fringe of company law in the past few decades. Because of the payment to the Government of various taxes, business people who might find it difficult to make ends meet are under some pressure to stash away any profits they might make in areas where these moneys might not be found by the various agencies of Government. Business people with motivation and flair and who have money to invest will invest only if there is a reward for the risk involved and if they know they will not be savaged by the bureaucracy of the Revenue Commissioners and the Government of the day in terms of the filling of forms and of the payment of various taxes. Otherwise, those who have the ideas and the ability to implement them may well decide to take them elsewhere. I referred the other day to companies who are making ends meet and even more in these very difficult times. Those who do not match world and international standards in that regard fall by the wayside very quickly.
Father McVerry referred in an article recently to politicians putting away their files in filing cabinets after they hold their various political clinics and he asked whether they really understand what goes on in the minds and hearts of the people who come before them — the sick, the old, the lonely and the poor. That is a valid question. I find it increasingly difficult as a public representative to have answers particularly for young people who are highly educated, with degrees in their back pockets, when they say to me that I am a public representative, a legislator, and ask what can be done either about finding a position for them or pointing out to them where they can find a position on their own merit. They ask if I can give any indication of where they might find employment. It is exceedingly frustrating for all politicians and agencies to have to cope with such questions. I feel genuinely sorry for young people who do their various examinations, qualify in various categories and then find themselves competing with an enormous number of applicants, an increased standard, higher pressures and various other ancillary difficulties. For instance, health boards have interviewed several hundred applicants for jobs that do not even exist but because the interviews are passages into the incremental salaries scales the interviewers must go through the motion of interviewing every applicant to see whether he or she is suitable? That creates pressures for parents who have to fork out money for new dresses and new suits for attendance at interviews and so on in the forlorn hope that their son or daughter might be the chosen one and without the knowledge in many cases that the jobs are being put on panel only and might not come into existence at all.
I referred the other day to the standard of our education system and the difficulties our young people face in attempting to find jobs. I was amused today to listen to the Minister for Social Welfare on a phone-in programme on the national airwaves speaking of the Jobsearch initiative of the Government where it is hoped to interview 150,000 unemployed people by the end of the year. In six months 25,000 people have to be interviewed, that is an average of 6,000 people to be interviewed each week. I do not know what the officials in the manpower offices will say to these 6,000 unemployed people each week. Will they ask them for further details to add to what they already have on file, or will they point out that it would be easier to find a job elsewhere? Will the officials just make lists to comply with the requirements under this scheme? Where are the 40,000 Manpower scheme opportunities that are to be created by the Department? I listened to Fianna Fáil spokespersons when they were on this side of the House decry anything to do with temporary work schemes. They said they were of no value and that in very few instances was permanent employment created. The Fianna Fáil Government reduced the rate of pay under the social employment scheme from £70 to £60. This scheme was of value to the people but the most Fianna Fáil can offer them is the prospect of interviews for 150,000 before the end of the year. It will be interesting to see at the end of October-November what has actually resulted from the Minister's initiative. It would be far better if the Minister decided to implement some of the options on his desk at the present time with regard to social welfare, which were being implemented despite great difficulty by the previous Minister.
People should not say our young people have not the motivation or ability to fend for themselves. They have reached a high educational standard and their caring attitude towards their peers and their elders in society leaves nothing to be desired. Those young people who have become involved in social work are a credit to their parents and to the educational system.
With the destruction of the local youth service boards the delicate balance between voluntary and statutory involvement in the affairs of young people was terminated by this Government. I regret to say it has retarded youth work by at least 20 years. Over the past two decades voluntary organisations have been screaming for a national youth policy and all Governments worked diligently to create such a policy. A youth policy with a budget of £2 million which was subsequently reduced was implemented last year to the satisfaction of all concerned. It was a very progesssive move involving a great number of representatives of young people. I regret it has been done away with and I would ask the Minister for Education to look at that seriously and not set up a series of talking shops which will disintegrate into bickering and confusion. The diplomatic onslaught referred to by the Government when in Opposition has only been initiated. It will be interesting to see what will result from the Governments impact on Capitol Hill in terms of permanent visas for illegal immigrants who have left here on holiday visas.
Tourism is one of the fastest growing markets in the world. We must all work together in marketing Ireland abroad. The efforts of any Government in this regard must be followed through. The recent announcement by the Minister has some valuable points. Of value is the reduction in the cost of access to this country. This was a difficulty for Europeans and for visitors from the US. Depending on currency fluctuations, our tourism season could be good or bad irrespective of the weather. The Minister for Tourism and Transport should contact Irish-based organisations in every country in Europe and in the States urging them to contact their home organisations in an effort to build up a new generation of tourists who will want to come back. The office of the Minister for Tourism and Transport demands flair, imagination, motivation and a high degree of energy and ability. I hope the Minister, Deputy Wilson, will do his best to encourage more people to come to Ireland.
The "clean up Ireland" campaign introduced by the Minister for the Environment is in full swing and is to be complimented. Local authorities should do their utmost in this campaign, although it will never work until the attitude of the people is changed, until they have pride in their environment and in what they own so that they will look after it. It is a desecration of what has developed over 25 million years in a natural state to find broken bottles and rubbish of all descriptions defiling the countryside. The rubbish is thrown about in the beauty spots around our coastlines by Irish people. It is sickening and despicable. Many beautiful areas have been destroyed by mindless people who drive out from the towns to dump refuse. I cannot understand why it is done. It brings one back to the responsibility of parents, teachers and individuals for the environment. When people leave Ireland they obey hygiene and refuse regulations everywhere else, because if they do not they are tapped on the shoulder by ordinary citizens and told to obey the common law. That is not done here. When we arrive at the stage of a public perception of what ought to be done, there will be no need for a "clean up Ireland" campaign. We will have enough civic pride to look after our environment so that this will be a place to which people like to come.
In terms of marketing, Irish firms who measure up on the international front do so very well. We maintain embassies in many countries. However, we do not have an embassy between Washington and Buenos Aires and for marketing we rely solely on the efforts of CTT. It would be statistically interesting to compare the relevancy and the cost of some of our embassies in smaller countries with the economic advantage of sending out teams who could sell quality Irish goods wherever there is a market capable of absorbing hundreds of millions of pounds of craft goods from Ireland. I know that is something in which the Minister of State at the Department of Industry is interested. The Government should carry out an economic, marketing and industrial onslaught in such areas where there is a ready market. We have quality goods for sale at competitive prices and there is no reason for us not having teams out there representing our commercial interests.
The national lottery was referred to by other speakers. It appeared to be almost a craze for the first few weeks. It appears that proceeds to date amount to much more than has been awarded in prizes. The sporting area is deserving of proper consideration by the Department of Education, something I know the Minister and Minister of State seriously examine. There have been various schemes in operation over the years for sponsorship of sports centres, community centres and so on. Like other Deputies, I should like to see such schemes streamlined so that those who apply for funds under the various headings will know what is available to them and thus set targets for meeting their objectives.
As a person raised in the tradition of the Gaelic Athletic Association — it being part of what I am — last year was not a good year for my relations with the association. I regret that relations became politicised in terms of problems arising out of VAT on hurleys, the deposit interest retention tax and rates on buildings. It was not conducive to good relations to have to attend many provincial finals, see placards which were blatantly anti-Government and listen to speeches, even at the opening of various sports centres, strongly opposed to the then Coalition Government, culminating in the then Taoiseach not being invited to attend the all-Ireland final. I hold no particular brief for Ministers, Ministers of State, or indeed high officials being given tickets for sporting occasions or free access to the Ard Comhairle box in Croke Park. I am sure those who are interested are quite prepared to buy tickets themselves but it was an injustice to the office of the Taoiseach of the day that the policy adopted over some 50 or 60 years ago was not adhered to. It was a source of regret that that was so. Had the Taoiseach wanted to attend the match he could have gone himself, but in his position as Taoiseach it was not conducive to good relations. I hope that the authorities of the GAA will maintain logic and consistency in this regard. It will be interesting to see what will happen under the new presidency at the all-Ireland finals this year. One wonders whether we will witness the same spectacle. I did note that ex-Taoisigh were invited on the last occasion. The present Taoiseach could also be deemed to be an ex-Taoiseach and he might be invited on that basis.
In the past two years there has been much controversy about the availability of GAA pitches to members of other codes. I do not hold any brief for any other sporting organisation but there has been much confusion about this issue. One might well pose the question: for instance, are Kevin Moran or Liam Brady any less Irish than, say, Willie Joe Padden or Jack O'Shea? After all, they came from the same soil and one would have suppose, the same aspirations. Just because they are adept at playing a different code should not mean they be denied access to GAA pitches. I hope the sporting allocation in the budget will take cognisance of what we have to offer in the sporting arena.
The Minister in his budget contribution said that decentralisation was an initiative Fianna Fáil were anxious to pursue. The Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs has consistently promoted his home town for the decentralisation of offices, a worthy aspiration. I was interested in notices which appeared in the papers the other day which appeared to bait contractors or would-be promoters who might follow that initiative through. The budgetary allocation this year amounts to £1 million only. I do not really know what that means in terms of prospective applications to the Department on the part of those interested. My own home town has been the worthy recipient of decentralised offices which has been economically advantageous to the west. Such decentralisation has been socially advantageous in that certain civil servants wishing to be transferred to their home areas were given an opportunity of working there. It is economically and socially advantageous all around. I hope this initiative is followed through seriously by the Government and is not a token commitment only, putting notices in the papers making £1 million available in 1987 and doing nothing more about it. I assume the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs will be equally vociferous with his senior Ministers in ensuring that a decent allocation is made available for this purpose in the budget of 1988, ensuring that bricks, mortar and concrete are made available in the shortest possible time.
They would all be there now were it not for the former Government reneging on existing contracts.
I did notice placards and hoardings of various types around the country at election time. Probably the one that struck everybody most was the one that said "Health cuts hurt the old, the sick and the lonely". It has now reached the stage when members of the Fianna Fáil Party are keeping their heads as low as possible. I have attended several health board meetings. When one visits hospitals, clinics and the like one discovers that people are shell-shocked by the cuts now being proposed. There will be redundancy notices in the post this week for many hundreds of temporary employees in the health services around the country. The Government have gone too far on this occasion and will be remembered for what they are doing. Had the former Minister for Health or Government even attempted to talk about implementing one-tenth of these cuts there would have been riots in the streets with effigies of every Minister being burned outside every public office, with the public absolutely up in arms. Now they have become quiet and timid, the vociferous Fianna Fáil supporters we met at every meeting having gone into hiding. They cannot believe it themselves. Ministers are loath to receive deputations and protest groups. I cannot say I blame them. That conjures up a picture of Ministers around the Cabinet table asking for more funds which are just not there to be given out to the Olivers on this occasion. People are afraid that if they become ill they will not be able to afford hospitalisation and may well die in their homes. There are all sorts of fears being generated by everybody——
Including the Deputy.
We should all like to see the stage reached at which nobody would be denied necessary attention. I hope the Minister for Health will be able to so ensure.
The Deputy has approximately two minutes remaining.
Mar urlabhraí an Fhreas-úra i leith na Gaeltachta, is dócha nach bhfuil an t-am agam anois labhairt faoin Ghaeltacht. Ba mhaith liom comhghairdeas a dhéanamh leis an Aire Stáit as a phost nua. Is é Meastachán na Gaeltachta an t-aon Mheastachán amháin nár ísligh an Rialtas seo. Tá sé sin go maith agus tá súil agam go leanfaidh siad ar aghaidh leis an sórt oibre a bhí ar siúl ag an iar-Aire Gaeltachta, an Teachta O'Toole. Is trua nach bhfuil sé linn faoi láthair. Chruthaigh seisean go bhfuil níos mó daoine ag obair sna Gaeltachtaí le cúig nó sé bliana anuas agus tá súil agam go leanfar ar aghaidh leis sin.
Cuirfidh mé neart ceisteanna síos chuig an Taoiseach féin, mar is i Roinn an Taoisigh atá an tAire Stáit agus beidh seans agam labhairt faoi sin as seo amach.
A former Taoiseach, Seán Lemass, once said that in the years ahead it would be great to be alive, to be young and to be Irish. I hope that his political successors in office strive in a firm and fair way to achieve that aspiration. In so far as the limits endorsed by this side of the House are concerned we have offered our support to those limits and it will be forthcoming.
It may sound "corny" but I think this is the most important budget that was ever framed in the history of this country because the alternatives to it being successful are so horrendous that they do not bear thinking about. When we talk about this budget we must never lose sight of the daunting task that faced Deputy Ray MacSharry and the Fianna Fáil Cabinet when they met and had three short weeks to undo the damage of over four years; four years during which there was continuous deterioration in the public finances and stagnation in our economy. Our first major tasks are to evaluate the extent of the damage, to ensure that the disease will not prove terminal, to create the climate for industry to grow and to tackle the millstone that is around this nation's neck, that is, our increasing national debt.
The national debt is now a colossal £24 billion. It would have grown to £36 billion by 1990 if Coalition policies had been allowed to continue. So much for fiscal rectitude though that is possibly a term that has now been removed from the Coalition dictionary. We now owe £7,000 for every person in this State down to the youngest child. When the Coalition took office we paid £94 in capital interest to our creditors for every £100 we produced. That was bad for any debtor. In 1986 we paid £145 to our creditors for every £100 we produced. That gives some idea of the fire brigade measures we were faced with in preparing a budget and also in getting acceptance for it in the House.
The Coalition felt that this task was beyond them and Labour refused to accept the social welfare policy that was proposed in the January budget. They pulled out and an election was called. Every sensible person appreciated that there had to be spending cuts in this budget — current expenditure and capital expenditure had to be cut. The alternative would be to hand over the country to people outside the State. Everyone is being asked to make sacrifices. We have done our best to cushion the less well off from the swingeing cuts that are necessary.
There will be cries from many sectional interests but I think it is a case of, "save me Lord but not yet". These cuts have to be across the board. We now hear the dismayed baying of the various sectional interests but 1987 is D-day so far as this country is concerned. I am glad Fianna Fáil have faced up to their responsibilities in this decade. To have failed to do so would have meant that there would be no country for future generations. We are all prepared to make sacrifices for our children. The country is now being asked to do the same on a national scale. I believe people will respond positively. Practical patriotism is needed now in Ireland. It is high time that sectional interests stopped trying to squeeze the last drop of blood out of the economy. Many of these people have already got their pound of flesh and I advise them to leave it at that. In spite of all the threats I want the Government to stand firm. Every decent person in the land wants the same. The test that started today will be only the first round in this battle and we must win all the rounds.
I am amazed to hear Deputy Kenny say that this was the first time the Fianna Fáil Party faced an economic crisis. He is a young man but as a teacher I would have expected him to have been aware that Fianna Fáil came into power and faced a crisis in the economic war the minute they took office. Fianna Fáil took on the might of an Empire of which it was said at the time that the sun never set on and they won. They faced a bigger crisis in 1939 during the Second World War. The crisis we have today could only be classified as a storm in a teacup compared to the one in 1939. Fianna Fáil were in power at that time and they brought us through that crisis. I can understand Deputy Kenny saying that Fianna Fáil are never in power when there is a crisis. Any time his party have been in power there has always been a crisis — the Suez crisis, the oil crisis or the Korean crisis.
Or the arms crisis.
There were such crises that their services were dispensed with the minute the people got an opportunity of doing so. Deputy Kenny made his little joke about clarification and modification. Before we go out of power he will realise that we are a Government of determination.
To show our concern for the poorer sections of the community and to illustrate the concern of this Government for the less well off, no better example can be found than the social welfare elements in the budget. The increases in social welfare rates are probably in line with inflation and are as high as any reasonable person could expect. The fact that we brought these forward to July rather than November is a tribute to our party. We succeeded in making other modifications which can be appreciated. For instance, the family income supplement was supposed to increase from one third to a half from April. We increased the rate from one third to a half in the income bands from July when it was not supposed to come into operation until November. The extension of treatment benefits to dependent spouses is good.
It has been deferred.
You were going to do that as well. I will give you credit for that. There was a suggestion by the Coalition that unemployment benefit would reduce from the maximum duration of 15 to 12 months from July. We are not implementing that so we were in a position not to implement some of the changes we felt would not be helpful. Indeed there were things we did not introduce. The Coalition were proposing, for instance, to introduce a living alone allowance for long term unemployment assistance recipients who were over 45 years of age. That was to come into operation in April. It was a ridiculous proposal. I know one of the reasons for it was to placate Deputy Bermingham but this is not now being implemented.
Why was it ridiculous?
The number of waiting days for disability benefit was to be increased from three to six by the Coalition Government. That is not being implemented either nor are we adopting the proposal by the Coalition Government to introduce a waiting period of six days for claims for disability benefits following maternity. The Labour Party pulled out in relation to social welfare.
A very big challenge faced the new Government. When we look at what we have done so far as social welfare is concerned we must get ten out of ten. The main priority of this or any other Government must be the provision of jobs for the unemployed. There is national, party and countrywide agreement on this. We have identified our strengths and we must build on them.
First, we must build on our agriculture industry, on the food we produce and process and on the image we have, and which we must maintain, of clear unpolluted countryside where our food grows. Our climate must enable us to produce beef and lamb as good and as cheaply as anywhere else in the Community but we have fallen down on our marketing and presentation and in giving added value to our own good food, the added value which it deserves. There is a sad situation in relation to the stop-go policy in our meat factories with gluts for short periods and then long lay-offs. I have come to the belief that intervention has been very bad and has not done our beef industry any long term good. We should capture the year-round markets and should take the seasonality out of the meat industry. About 20 per cent of our meat goes to the United Kingdom supermarkets where it probably makes the best price. We must get a greater share of this for our meat and dairy industries. If we build up our markets abroad we must maintain them and give them continuity of supply if we are to hold on to those markets.
How do we keep up our cow numbers and our herd numbers in the face of the super-levies and the milk quotas that have been accepted as part of Irish life in the last few years? Parnell once said that no-one had a right to set a boundary to the onward march of a nation, but the meek acceptance of super-levies and quotas meant in reality that we were saying to the under-developed agri-industry "thus far shall you go and no further". I wonder where is the young farmer to look today if he wants a living or if he is to have long term prospects of development. Prospects in farming are very bleak. I am delighted that extra emphasis has been placed by the Government on horticulture. There is terrific scope in this area for import substitution. We should try to supply our home needs to the maximum and look for markets abroad for our surplus. The policies enunciated by our spokesperson in this regard are well thought out, realistic and attainable.
After agriculture the next greatest potential money spinner we have is tourism. I am glad that recent announcements have shared that view with me. Even hitherto unknown areas such as my own county of Kildare are waking up to that fact. Recently I attended a meeting on tourism in Kildare and we were told that Irish visitors to mainland Britain spent £300 million there last year. That is not the same as £300 million in cross-Border smuggling or buying duty free goods but it is money spent by Irish people across the Irish Sea. We need to be positive and to sell the advantages we have, the clear air, the good fishing, the wholesome food and a way of life that is different but we must not price ourselves out of business.
Restaurateurs expected us to introduce legislation which would give them licences to provide beer, wine and spirits. I know many people who spent much time and energy building up their guesthouses and selling Kildare abroad. Two of them are based in Prosperous and Kilcullen and are now planning to emigrate unless something is done about the matter. They asked me to impress upon the Minister to reactivate the Bill to give restaurants licences to provide beer, wine and spirits. It is unusual that in an Irish restaurant one is in a position to sell French wine but not to sell an Irish whiskey.
In County Kildare great emphasis is placed on sport, particularly horse racing which is an indigenous industry with a worldwide reputation and with a modern aggressive marketing system that is an example to others. We can produce and train good race horses. Sometimes we sell them to owners who have them trained abroad and then they win the big prizes which we would like to win but, that does not matter because those people will come back to buy more horses. This industry deserves every support.
I give the new Leader of the Fine Gael Party, Deputy Alan Dukes, credit for reducing the tax on betting from 20 per cent to 10 per cent. It was very welcome and produced good results. It kept our betting money at home. There was less inclination for people to phone their bets to England. More recently British-based high-powered companies established themselves here inthe bookmaking business and bought into chains of offices here. They are marketing themselves to the extent that they are cutting out local bookies. They now have a new gimmick; they say "do not worry, we will pay the tax for you". That is very dangerous ground because it leads to monopolies and stifles competition. This is a matter that needs close attention. At one stage legislation was introduced to deal with below cost selling in supermarkets.
It was pleasant to think that the Government gave an injection to national hunt racing last year. It is appropriate that we talk about that because there has been a great upsurge recently in private sponsorship which means that there have been highly prestigious races at home. We have had some of the richest national hunt races in the course of this year. While many people might be foolish enough to consider it merely the sport of kings, we need wealthy owners to keep horses. It means jobs and wages to many people. The bloodstock industry is well worth nurturing. Any help given to racing in the bloodstock industry will be repaid a hundredfold in our economy. It is the one big employer in Kildare that stood the test of time. In spite of the recession and the cutbacks — unfortunately foreign industrialists have come and gone — horse racing still exists.
I am worried, as I think we all are, about energy. Gradually we seem to have placed a disproportionate emphasis on Moneypoint and the import of foreign cheap coal to produce electricity. Perhaps it will help to reduce energy costs and restore competitiveness to our industry and if so it will be very welcome. It increasingly makes us less masters of our own destiny and does not leave us in control of our supplies. Those of us old enough to remember the last world war will understand the implications of that. I am glad the extension of our natural gas grid is getting under way again. It was brought to Dublin under the Minister, Deputy Albert Reynolds, but a limbo-like situation has come about since then.
Look at what happened.
It is now being extended along the coast. It will help industry in particular. It is better that we should use it now when belts are being tightened rather than to leave it lying under the seabed. The same can be said about our oil. We must have a more imaginative programme to bring oil ashore. Many promises have been made from time to time but there is still no sign of oil.
In the midlands Bord na Móna and the ESB have combined successfully for the last 40 years to provide energy from peat. This century will see the closure of some of our bogs. There must be co-ordination and co-operation between the two bodies. We want to see them running in tandem until the bogs have reached the end of their natural lives. The ESB should not be allowed to break relations with Bord na Móna if they still have supplies to keep their turf-fired stations operational. A study should be carried out to pinpoint the true potential of these bogs and the latest possible date for closure without encroaching on the long term use of the bogs for horticulture, agriculture, forestry or leisure amenities.
Allenwood bog and others like it will have to close some time in the nineties but now is the time to find alternative employment for those areas. We cannot tell these people, as somebody said years ago, to "go to hell or to Connacht". Most of the families came from Connacht over 200 years ago to help build the canals. They settled down, built houses and reared families in villages that have depended on the bogs. I welcome the new programme for the peat stations which produce machine turf, milled peat and briquettes. It will have a very marginal impact in Kildare because only Ballyfermot on the Offaly border and Rathangan will benefit. It would be wrong for anyone to imagine that we are well off in Kildare. We have huge tracts of bogs nearing the end of their useful lives. We are now entering the post-peat era and we need jobs to replace the ones that will be lost.
We have a social commitment to see that the next generation will have work in these areas. I believe the IDA should pinpoint the midlands as an area for special promotion. That area would be suitable for tourism with its canals and lakelands, and there is also potential for heavy industry. We have the expertise, well trained technicians and an excellent workforce, but time is running out. I have been mentioning this for many years but I cannot see any great activity which would lead me to believe there will be a transition from the time these jobs disappear until other jobs are found.
I have seen many industries close down in this area but I have not seen any new ones. We have our black spots in Kildare. Polaroid never officially opened, Black and Decker closed, Irish Meat Packers in Leixlip closed recently, factories in Sallins and Kildare are on short time and the French factory, CECA, in Allenwood closed. The subsidiary industries which serviced those companies have also lost workers and that has led to emigration. Thankfully, a Japanese company is coming to the Polaroid factory in Newbridge. We have the highest young population outside Dublin and we must provide jobs for them.
I am disappointed finances did not allow us to do something for the building industry. The demand for local authority houses has dried up in most areas. We have a huge expenditure in respect of land for arterial roads and by-passes. I do not fault this because it is money well spent. It has been said that the Naas by-pass which was opened some years ago has paid for itself because there is a 20 per cent return on the outlay every year in time saving for industry, transport costs, accessibility to ports and so on. This bypass has proved its worth. Any bypass or arterial road will pay for itself in the long run.
I must refer to the crisis in local authority funding. We are very heavily in debt and there is no possibility of raising the money we need in County Kildare. Our county roads have deteriorated to the extent that they are full of potholes and are dangerous. We have made a huge investment in these roads which is being eroded. The local improvement schemes, which were once a feature of most counties, have been discontinued in our area and people who paid considerable sums of money 20 years ago to bring the roads up to standard now find the roads which are under the aegis of the county councils, have been allowed to deteriorate again.
It is vital that we channel a percentage of the money for arterial roads into county roads. The comparisons that can be made in my county are odious. Money is being spent on the by-pass, kerbing and landscaping the centre median, while our other roads are in a frightful condition. With the best will in the world it is hard to explain to the average motorist driving on the bad roads that we cannot change this state of affairs. I realise the EC provide grants for arterial roads but we need £2 million to £3 million over the next five years to bring our county roads up to the required standard. The Minister is aware of this and the question of local authority funding will have to be thought out.
Twenty years ago when I first became a member of Kildare County Council it was a pleasure to be a member because you could get things done but now it is a nightmare. It is soul destroying, especially for public representatives, and even more so for the workers. It must be admitted that the removal of rates and car tax was a mistake. It looked good at the time but it has proved very costly. I asked the Minister to give this matter his full attention and he promised us he will. I hope he will come up with a solution to the problem in the lifetime of the present Dáil, as well as a system to allow us to monitor if we are getting value for the money we give local authorities.
Recently a deputation from my county visited the Minister and found he was very much on the ball. He decided to double the allocation for county roads. As I said, I hope he will find a solution to the problem of providing funds for local authorities after next year.
I have some experience in regard to forests because I was Minister with responsibility for them for a while. At that time it was looked on as a bit of a backwater, but it is very different today. Everybody wants to get in on the act. Deputy Noonan, when he spoke on budget day, mentioned the teddybears' picnic. If you go down to the woods today you will find that every politician is trying to get in on the act. I will not get into the argument but I should like to talk about privatisation and State involvement. It is vital for us to get the thousands of acres which are at present unproductive and uneconomic, particularly in the West, planted with trees. I do not care who plants them as long as they are planted. The country and the national wealth will grow and this, in turn, will provide jobs in the future. If private investors or pension funds have spare cash and want to buy and plant trees, they should be helped in every way. That has not been the case up to now. There appears always to have been a tug of war between the private investors and the Department.
Private foresters, particularly in Clare, have shown what can be done. Trees have been planted further up the mountain slopes and nearer the sea than the experts ever thought possible. We need to raise money to spend on our forests. Well and good if it means selling some of our immature forests, so long as the proceeds are ploughed back into providing the infrastructure and roads to help us extract our timber. It was easy to carry in a tree and plant it in 1952, but to bring out the mature tree now is a different matter. We need roads and machinery for extraction and we need more money for proper forestry work in pruning and thinning. Any extension in our State forests can have a big tourist spin-off. Anyone who wants confirmation of that need only take a trip to the Slieve Blooms. This will convince any Doubting Thomas of the beauty of our State forests.
In my contribution on the Social Welfare Bill I referred to the Jobsearch programme. I commend this idea. I noted Deputy Kenny was scornful about its results but I hope this programme will be pursued vigorously. I got a document from the Minister's office today which convinced me that he, too, is serious about this.
It is vital we show our 150,000 unemployed that they are not being consigned to the rubbish heap, but that we are anxious to restore to them the dignity of a wage earner and bring back the work ethos. The vast majority would be delighted to get back to work. There may be some black sheep among them who do not want to work but want to remain as parasites in the community but I trust we will identify them. I hope this Jobsearch programme will help to defeat the bigger offenders in the black economy who are drawing social welfare and working. We must succeed in this objective and I wish it every success.
We have heard for many years of the plight of traders in Border towns because of cross-Border shopping expeditions. Even the former Taoiseach, Deputy FitzGerald, was alerted to the position during the election campaign. I do not know whether it was a moment of distraction, academic reverie or if he was carried away on a bout of North-South co-operation, but he advised shoppers to go North to shop. Minister MacSharry felt that this was carrying the friendly neighbour act a bit too far and he introduced the 48-hour stipulation. The amount at stake is £300 million and the effort is well worth while. Some people said that it would not succeed but it is already having its effect. We can review the position when next year's budget is framed.
I detect a welcome change of policy in the Government's anxiety to make full use of our EC membership and to explore new avenues for the betterment of the country. The regional imbalance in the Community has grown and I am sure that the standard of living in Bonn was greater than in Ballina when we joined the EC. We will work for an extension of the disadvantaged areas and assistance for development schemes and environmental projects.
I remember attending a meeting some years ago of the Council of Europe where a mountain in Sicily was recognised as a natural habitat for flora and fauna and particularly migratory birds. It was grantaided by the EC to the tune of £1 million because the Sicilians assured the EC that the cost of maintaining it would be £2 million. I will not pursue that but I asked why a similar application had not been received from Ireland. It was felt that we could not make such an application because we could not match the EC subvention pound for pound. That is the wrong attitude because we have bog land, varieties of peat and rare fenlands such as Pollardstown, which are internationally recognised as the last remaining examples still intact in Europe, and there should be international fundings available for such projects. Why does it take so long to get results? Have we ever presented a proper case abroad in this regard? Whether it is in relation to County Wexford sloblands, a lake in County Donegal or the Bog of Allen we should be on the ball in looking for international funding and assistance.
As a teacher, it would be wrong of me not to mention education. I welcome the retention of the career guidance teachers above the quota. It was a big issue before the election when educational cutbacks were mentioned. Labour politicians were quick to announce that they were against these cutbacks and they were very anxious to cut themselves adrift from the policies they pursued when in Government. I am sure the Labour Party have now re-assumed their traditional role in opposition and that they will now tell the electorate that they are not in favour of cuts. They will give everything——
Just as Fianna Fáil did.
The Deputy's party did the same and, indeed, his leader even advised people to vote for the Progressive Democrats although that did not pay any great dividends. The Labour Party use the policy of giving everything and cutting out nothing as a protective cloak. It fits much more easily than the mantle of responsibility.
School buildings were neglected during the term of office of the Coalition. I am sure that every parish has difficulties in this regard. Our Minister inherited a legacy of neglect. I visited my own school in Caragh today. Fourteen years ago Clongorey, a local school in the parish, was closed and the pupils were sent to Caragh. Four prefabs were erected there and they are still in existence although the floor has collapsed in one and sanitary services are diabolical. Children have to use the facilities in a shop across the road. They also had to spend some time in a community hall and the position is dreadful. We must all take the blame for it and maybe the natural politeness and quietness of the people in Kildare is a contributory factor. However, we cannot rely on those qualities any longer because the position is now so bad that there will be a big blow-up.
We also need a new second level school in Confey. On the eve of the election, the Minister said that a site had been bought for this purpose; it was blatant political opportunism. The policies pursued have succeeded in setting people at one another's throats over places. The site is still a green field although we need buildings by next September. It is the same all over the country. The Convent of Mercy in Naas built a new school but, because of the increase in population, they had no room for pupils outside the area. The Department pleaded with them to stretch a point by taking in 30 pupils this year and said that they would help them to facilitate more pupils in the future. They acceded to the Department's request but nothing has been done since in regard to extra room. Schools have been abandoned and a construction programme is badly needed.
The Taoiseach in his budget speech said that he intended to recommence the decentralisation programme. He mentioned the development of the Custom House docks site and said it would create several thousand jobs in the construction industry. I am sure that will help the people of Dublin and indeed people will commute daily from Kildare to work. However, the real decentralisation programme will have to move away from the capital. Even Dublin people will agree with that because the city is top heavy; one third of the population live in the 01 telephone directory area. That is not good for Dublin or the rest of the country. Kildare now has a population of 120,000 people. We use the third level colleges and universities in Dublin although we are glad to have Maynooth. We need another third level college to fill the vacuum between Carlow and Athlone. I cannot accept the suggestion by the Department of Education that the third level college in Tallaght will fill our needs. I am sure that there will be plenty of pupils in Tallaght to fill the vacancies without taking them from County Kildare.
I know that the health cuts pose problems but we must face them. In the present climate, we cannot afford escalating health charges. The proposals of Fianna Fáil — although they will be criticised — are better than those made by the previous Government in January. If we want to make progress, we must act responsibly. TDs set a headline by foregoing an increase but not many gave us credit for doing so. It does not seem to merit the same number of printed lines in the newspapers as an acceptance of such an increase would secure. I remember a great wave of criticism when we were awarded our last increase. The public were told that they should be outraged but I remember as a member of the Cabinet that we did not accept an increase in ministerial salaries. No one ever clapped me on the back for doing that. The begrudgers' guide to politics is predictable when it comes to pay rises for TDs or Ministers.
Our attitude to pay increases is correct and responsible and should meet with the same degree of responsibiliy from the trade unions and others. To illustrate what I am talking about let me give an example from the recent radiographers' dispute and the consequent disruption of hospital services. Radiographers on call were told by their unions to look for a taxi to bring them to and from the hospital no matter how short the journey might be. I am sure this only helped to increase the patient's blood pressure especially when he realised that it was his tax which was paying for the radiographer's salary and taxi and it hardly hastened his recovery. We all need to be more responsible and realistic in these difficult times and not accept a situation such as that.
This is a budget which is not very palatable. It contains items which are bitter pills for me to swallow but, I can accept and defend them as short term interim measures to restore confidence in this country, to get the basic foundations of our economy in order, to control our borrowing requirements and our national debt, and to bring interest rates down to a level which will restore our competitiveness, encourage investment and hopefully get people back to work. I expect that we will have gone some of the way down the road in that regard during the coming year. I hope that before the end of this year we will see the growth and expansion which we forecast.
We need to pull this country up by its boot laces out of the minor depression which engulfs it today. Once we have pointed it towards the goals we have set for it the Fianna Fáil budget of March 1987 will in years to come be viewed as the date on which we turned the corner and which gave hope back to a depressed land. I remind the hurlers on the ditch now on the opposite benches who have had the audacity to give us the benefit of their advice and collective thinking that a few short months ago they were over here and had no policies or cure to offer. They criticised the Fianna Fáil budget as not having a sense of direction. When the country is down as low as the Coalition plunged it there is only one direction in which it can go and that is upwards. We are now on the way up and when we surface we will be on the way forward.
Deputy Power's contribution was a tour de force of the economy of County Kildare and had next to no relevance to the economy of the country. He ended his contribution by saying that the Fianna Fáil budget of March 1987 would mark the turning of the corner for this country. Yet, in the weeks which have passed since their return to office unemployment has again gone over the 250,000 mark at a time when always in the past unemployment fell. We speak at a time when there are 250,000 people unemployed and during a power strike. It was evident from the exchanges which took place on Question Time today that the Government simply have no clue about how to tackle the immediate problem of the power strike or the overwhelming problem of unemployment. The fact is the economy is becalmed just like this debate. Here we are with the country in an economic crisis using this budget debate as a filler-in of parliamentary time and there is not one member of the Progressive Democratic Party, The Labour Party or The Workers' Party present. Fianna Fáil are sending in speakers who go through, as their budget contributions, a list of problems in every parish in their own constituencies and nothing else.
This economy is becalmed. However, it is not sinking. We need to remind ourselves that there are very substantial strengths in the economy. Inflation is almost at an all-time low which in turn led us to have a balance of trade surplus, reached in 1985, for the first time in 40 years. We maintained that position in 1986 and I hope we will do so again in 1987. That is substantial progress compared to the position five years ago when we had a huge balance of trade deficit, when money borrowed by Fianna Fáil poured out of the country on imports and when inflation was over 20 per cent. Because of those basic strengths in the economy, because of our balance of trade surplus and because of our low inflation we are still able, notwithstanding the Exchequer's financial position, to attract substantial foreign loans at favourable rates as we did in the past few days in Japan.
It is clear, as it is only a few minutes to Private Members' time, that it will not be possible for me today to give the substance of my contribution but I do want to say that it is evident that the Government and this parliament have not got the answers to restoring economic growth and thereby reducing and eliminating the budget deficit and its concomitant child, our very serious unemployment. The prevailing wisdom of the three main parties in this House is that we must cut, cut, cut public expenditure. I am not saying that is wrong. As Minister for Communications for four and a half years I cut my Department by more than any other Department in the State. The only difference is that the cuts in the Department of Communications did not lead to massive unemployment. They were achieved by genuine reorganisation and greater efficiency so that the State companies for which I was responsible were turned around with the exception of one from being loss making to profit making in those four and a half years.
The conventional wisdom of all economists and all sides of this House is that we must cut, cut, cut public expenditure. We must not, and this is obvious from the way the Government are going about their business, have any regard to the effects of those cuts. Briefly, let us talk about the cuts in the health service. There is no doubt that the health services are over-used. For instance, we go to hospital more frequently than most other countries in Europe, we stay in hospital longer than most other countries in Europe, we go to the doctor more frequently than most other countries in Europe and we draw more prescriptions than most other countries in Europe. For people on medical cards there are even more prescriptions again. In the last 10 years the percentage of GNP spent on health has doubled in real terms. It is obvious there is over use of the health services. However, that does not justify a totally pernicious attack on the health services where they are delivered to the public without any regard——
An order on the Order of Business this morning requires that I interrupt business at 7 p.m.
Debate adjourned.