This Finance Bill is imaginative, innovative, constructive and will lead to a greater sharing of the tax burden and increased economic activity. There are a number of imaginative features in it. For example, emigrants' remittances are to be free of tax. This is a very important development when there are so many emigrants, particularly in London and the South of England, who can benefit from this provision. I am sure they welcome it and will find it will be of considerable help to them.
Another imaginative scheme is the business expansion scheme being extended to encompass export tourism in addition to the general package on tourism contained in the budget. Another innovative provision is the introduction of the 10 per cent corporation tax rate applicable to export trading houses.
I also welcome the establishment of an international financial services centre at the Custom House Docks site which will create both short and long term employment in that sector and help the development of that whole area. Deputy Yates was very critical of the Minister and his Bill. He felt the Bill contained nothing new or innovative. I endeavour merely to highlight the imaginative approach of the Minister in the provisions of this Bill.
We must remember that the Minister for Finance had three short weeks only in which to prepare his budget, a budget following on from where the Coalition Government had failed, when the Labour Party had run away from the position facing them this year and when there was a very complex financial position, requiring decisive and urgent action. In a short three weeks the Minister for Finance and the Government put the country back on the rails, restored confidence, stopped the outflow of money and brought about a new climate for investment. This Finance Bill and its provisions constitute a continuance of that aim, introducing some of the technical details involved in the budgetary strategy of the Minister for Finance.
Much more work has to be done but you cannot expect to change such a difficult and depressed situation overnight Deputy Yates could only see widespread depression but I ask him and others on that side of the House to recognise the two-pronged strategy which is involved in the approach of the Minister for Finance. The first is to get our finances in order and, secondly, to get on with the job of new production, import substitution and increased exports. These are the two prongs in the Minister's approach and in the approach of the Government. The second element is the one that concerns me, that of new production, import substitution, increased exports and giving a boost to the tourist industry. That is the aspect which the Government are concentrating on at present. The Government and the Minister for Finance in particular have done a very worthwhile job in a very short time.
This year's budget provided for improvements in social welfare payments which, when viewed against the current economic climate, indicate our commitment to improving the welfare of the poorer sections of the community. An increasing amount of our resources is going to finance social welfare. Total expenditure in my area is now running at £2.5 billion per annum, of which the Exchequer contribution is over £1.5 billion. The magnitude of this expenditure has to be borne in mind when proposals for further improvements are considered. Further improvements can only be provided through additional taxation, increased PRSI or economies, or reductions in existing services.
Given the increasing proportion of our resources that is being allocated to social welfare one must address the question of what we can, or more appropriately what we cannot, afford. The financing of social security schemes is under pressure in many countries because of the increasing demand on services and the fall in revenue income. Ireland is no exception to this trend and for this reason we must ensure that all expenditure is used effectively. Programmes are being examined with the overall objective of providing the most efficient service possible at the lowest cost to the Exchequer.
I want to assure Deputies on both sides of the House that I am noting their comments and their views in relation to our programmes for social welfare. I will certainly do my utmost to make them more effective and efficient and better directed. I hope in doing so that I will get the support in the House for the measures which are necessary. All too often Deputies come in here and suggest how moneys should be better directed but when a Minister comes to the House and takes such action they change their tune and do not support it.
In the present financial climate the scope for increases in expenditure was very limited. In this context, the major provision in the budget was for a 3 per cent increase in all weekly payments brought forward to mid-July, at a cost of £30 million this year. This increase will maintain the real level of payments of over 700,000 social welfare recipients and is in line with the expected rate of inflation in the year ahead. It also maintains the significant increases in the level of payments which have been achieved over the last ten years. Over that period there has been an increase of over 44 per cent in real terms in payments to the long term unemployed. Other long term payments have increased by over 50 per cent and short term payments by about 34 per cent. All these are real increases and I might add that it was the increases given by previous Fianna Fáil administrations which contributed most significantly to the general level of real increase which has been achieved over the last decade.
The Family Income Supplement provides support for workers with families who have low incomes and who are only marginally better off working than if they were claiming social welfare benefits. As stated in our Programme for National Recovery, we are committed to this scheme and are reviewing its operation. The budget provided for an increase in the rate of supplement from a third to 50 per cent from July, and also for an increase in the prescribed limits for qualifying for Family Income Supplement.
It is expected that these improvements will achieve an increase in the take-up on the scheme. Some 5,000 families are currently participating in the scheme and it is hoped that this will increase significantly. This is a major improvement in this scheme and will come into effect on 1 July. I hope the scheme will be well advertised and broadcast before that date so that the maximum number of those who are eligible will participate in it. That has been a feature and a problem in recent years.
As announced in the budget, the Government have decided to extend from October 1987 the social insurance treatment benefits scheme to the dependent spouses of qualified insured persons. The scheme includes dental and optical benefits and the provision of hearing aids. This extension is primarily aimed at providing these benefits for wives working in the home. About 300,000 spouses will be covered by the extension.
The extension is estimated to cost £1.5 million in the current year. These costs will be borne by the social insurance fund. Those who will benefit will include dependent spouses of PAYE workers and dependent spouses of insured unemployed persons and of invalidity and old age contributory pensioners. I would like to emphasise that many people on low incomes will benefit from this measure through the extension of the eligibility to the spouse in the home. As we all know, there is a very large number of unemployed persons at present and their spouses will benefit. The spouses of those on invalidity pension and on old age contributory pension will also benefit. There is an attempt at the moment to suggest that this is a benefit principally for people on larger incomes but that is a very false impression that is being conveyed. The spouses of all insured unemployed people will benefit as also will the spouses of old age contributory pensioners.
This is a very positive move by the Government and there is widespread support for it in the Oireachtas and in the community in general. There have been consistent requests for this extension from many groups, particularly those representing women who are working in the home. Many thousands of these women have suffered too long because they have been deprived of access to State-funded services in the past, especially dental services.
The implementation of the extension of benefit to spouses will involve the revision of the formal agreements under which dentists and opticians contract to provide these services to eligible persons. New agreements, providing for the extended eligibility, are being prepared at present and will be sent shortly for signature to the dentists and opticians on the Department's panels. Other dentists and opticians who are not on the Department's present panels may, of course, also apply to enter these agreements and thereby become members of the relevant panels.
When looking at the provisions in the budget and in this Finance Bill we must bear in mind that this is a specific benefit which will be paid to those who pay the full rate of PRSI. These are also the people who pay PAYE.
The Jobsearch programme which was announced in the budget is fully underway. As Deputies will be aware from what I have said already in relation to this programme its purpose is to provide direct support to the unemployed, especially the long-term unemployed, in their search for work.
Up to last weekend 22,300 unemployed people had been interviewed by the National Manpower Service under the programme. Of these, over 5,000 have been referred to job vacancies and to various programmes and schemes. Already 280 have been placed in jobs with employers in the private sector, 1,200 have been placed in Manpower schemes and AnCO training courses and approximately 1,150 are attending four week Jobsearch courses operated by AnCO and specially designed to help participants in their search for work.
Over 5,000 people have been referred to job vacancies and to various programmes and schemes. It will be some time before the outcome of these placements is determined and that information will be coming in week by week. In addition, 1,900 who were called for interview either failed to attend or refused to accept an offer of a course or job. In other word, some people opted out, failed to attend or failed to take up one of the options offered to them. Some of them have stopped signing on and others are having their cases reviewed. Information on these cases will become clearer as the programme progresses.
The Jobsearch programme is a new additional service to the unemployed, especially those who are out of work for some time. It also represents a change in direction for the State agencies in that the resources dealing with the unemployed in these agencies are now being used to actively assist those out of work in their search for employment. The benefits of the programme will increase and will spread more widely as it continues and as it extends to more people.
I should like to thank Deputies for their patience when this programme was brought in on a national basis. Naturally there were teething difficulties at the outset but I gave an undertaking that I would try to ensure that the programme would be as positive as possible, recognising that there were those who would be indirectly affected, that is, people working or people not interested in taking a job. Various people have told me what is happening on the Jobsearch courses. One person was very highly qualified and felt they should not be on such a course. Later they came back and told me it had worked out well in the long run. I would be interested to hear from that person's colleagues on the course. Two gentlemen said they were working and drawing unemployment benefit at the same time, but that they did not want anybody to be told. They said they would do the course and whatever was necessary. Another gentleman said he had been drawing benefit for eight years and that the week he was doing this course was the first week he had been idle. Obviously, as was anticipated, some people will find the Jobsearch programme inconvenient, particularly if they have a job and are drawing unemployment benefit at the same time. This is happening in a number of cases and Deputies are aware of that fact.
The comments from the majority of people undergoing a Jobsearch course is that it is helpful, that it is giving them increased confidence and that while initially they were nervous about entering the programme, once they got involved they found that for the first time facilities, resources and advice were available to them. A question which comes to mind is this: what follow up will there be for those who do not have jobs and want to maintain contacts? That is one of the areas we will be looking at.
I would like to make some comment on the health services. I heard my colleague, the Minister for Health, Deputy O'Hanlon, being attacked here this afternoon. The essential underlying strategy in the budget is to get our escalating debt under control, to restore confidence in the economy, to reduce interest rates and to encourage investment. In order to achieve this objective the Government had to take decisive action to improve the public finances. This action has resulted in some economies in the provision of services, but it is essential that the public finances be brought under control if we are to make progress in promoting development and new opportunities for employment and in our programme for national recovery. We have taken many hard and unpalatable decisions. Now we must follow through and ensure that this new impetus and sense of reality is maintained. Once we achieve this control the way is open to achieve our main objective of job creation and national recovery. The Government are now turning all their co-ordinated efforts to this task.
I would like now to turn to the effects of the budget financial decisions on the health services. We explained fully to the electorate that in Government we would take the difficult decisions necessary to bring the public finances under control. We were accused by Fine Gael and the Progressive Democrats of not having the will to implement these measures. We were told that if we took corrective action we were assured of their support.
Yet they now say that, on the one hand, public expenditure in the health services must be contained and the Government must face up to and take tough decisions. But when any of the necessary economies are proposed they immediately object. Fine Gael and the Progressive Democrats want to have the best of both worlds. They claim that they are responsible in principle, but are obviously not prepared to face responsibility in practice. Their stance in this regard is inconsistent and shameless.
Having got the finances under control we are now planning and implementing our programme for national recovery. We cannot, as a nation, afford to lose control of our financial position again. As a Government we have increased the allocation to the health services by a further £16 million this year bringing total funding of the health services to its highest level ever to £1.314 billion. When one speaks to people outside they are surprised to hear that the health services are getting an additional £16 million this year and that the problems in the health services arise from other causes, one being the additional money which the health services demand and which is regarded in that sphere as being desirable. This includes an increased allocation of £5 million for the health boards. The Government are committed to developing the health services along efficient lines and to ensuring that services are available to all, especially to the weaker sections of the community. This tight budgetary position is the same for all Departments this year, but Health have an additional problem to which I will return later. It is important to emphasise that all Departments were asked to carry their share of the economies this year. They were all subject to financial restrictions.
