We now come to amendment No. 2 in the name of Deputy Proinsias De Rossa. Will Deputy De Rossa or perhaps someone from his party please move his amendment? As the amendment has not been moved I am, therefore, proceeding to the main motion.
Estimates for Public Services 1990 and Public Capital Programme 1990: Motion (Resumed).
The following motion was moved by the Minister for Finance on 30 November 1989:
That Dáil Éireann takes note of the 1990 Estimates for the Public Services (Abridged Version) and of the 1990 Summary Public Capital Programme.
Debate resumed on amendment No. 1:
To add the following:
"That Dáil Éireann considers that the 1990 Estimates will do nothing to reverse the trend of inequality and disadvantage that has been the consequence of Government policy since 1987. Dáil Éireann considers that improved economic growth must be equitably distributed, must lead to the creation of jobs through the creation and retention of wealth in Ireland, and must be accompanied by social improvements in the areas of health, education, housing and social welfare here at home, and by an improved contribution to the alleviation of famine and poverty in the world around us. Against the background of an improved outlook for the economy, Dáil Éireann considers that the failure of the Government to make additional resources available in the following areas is particularly deplorable, and condemns the Government in respect of:
—Its failure to provide any specific programme to combat the continuing scandal of emigration;
—Its decision to reduce the Capital Allocation for the provision of health facilities by 8.5 per cent in real terms, notwithstanding the increasing and urgent demand for additional hospital wards and beds and notes that such a cut will
inevitably delay, for instance, work on the Tallaght Regional Hospital;
—Its failure to provide sufficient current resources in the health allocation to allow for the reopening and adequate staffing of hospital beds and wards, notwithstanding the fact that the use of accident and emergency services as the only means of access to hospital beds for a great many people is leading to a resurgence of long waiting lists for elective treatment in public hospitals;
—Its failure to make any additional allocation available for the development of additional residential, training and employment opportunities for people with a mental handicap, even though it is now reliably estimated that in the Eastern Health Board area alone, for instance, a total of 328 residential places are needed immediately, with a further 567 places needed in the years after 1990;
—Its decision to maintain capital spending on the provision of educational facilities at the same deplorably low level as last year, which was the worst year for capital investment in education in the 1980s;
—Its decision to cut Exchequer current spending on First Level Education by 1 per cent in real terms, and to freeze expenditure on Second Level Education, having regard to the growing level of inequality within our education system, and its decision to use European funding to replace Exchequer expenditure at all levels of our education system;
—Its continuing covert approach to restricting access to Social Welfare programmes, and its lack of adequate funding for programmes
whose main aim is to combat poverty;
—Its deplorable decision effectively to force local authorities to finance their housing programmes out of the sale of local authority houses, thereby ensuring that the housing crisis already evident will become worse this year;
—Its scandalous allocation to International Co-Operation, which now represents the smallest proportion of GNP of any year since 1980."
—(Deputy Spring.)
Amendment put.
The Dáil divided: Tá, 20; Níl, 74.
Tá
- Bell, Michael.
- Byrne, Eric.
- De Rossa, Proinsias.
- Ferris, Michael.
- Gilmore, Eamon.
- Gregory, Tony.
- Higgins, Michael D.
- Howlin, Brendan.
- Kavanagh, Liam.
- McCartan, Pat.
- Moynihan, Michael.
- O'Shea, Brian.
- O'Sullivan, Gerry.
- O'Sullivan, Toddy.
- Pattison, Séamus.
- Quinn, Ruairí.
- Rabbitte, Pat.
- Ryan, Seán.
- Spring, Dick.
- Stagg, Emmet.
- Taylor, Mervyn.
Níl
- Ahern, Bertie.
- Ahern, Dermot.
- Ahern, Michael.
- Andrews, David.
- Aylward, Liam.
- Barrett, Michael.
- Brady, Gerard.
- Brady, Vincent.
- Brennan, Mattie.
- Briscoe, Ben.
- Browne, John (Wexford).
- Burke, Raphael P.
- Calleary, Seán.
- Callely, Ivor.
- Clohessy, Peadar.
- Connolly, Ger.
- Coughlan, Mary Theresa.
- Cowen, Brian.
- Cullimore, Séamus.
- Daly, Brendan.
- Davern, Noel.
- Dempsey, Noel.
- Dennehy, John.
- de Valera, Síle.
- Ellis, John.
- Fahey, Frank.
- Fitzgerald, Liam Joseph.
- Fitzpatrick, Dermot.
- Flood, Chris.
- Flynn, Pádraig.
- Gallagher, Pat the Cope.
- Geoghegan-Quinn, Máire.
- Harney, Mary.
- Haughey, Charles J.
- Hillery, Brian.
- Wallace, Dan.
- Wallace, Mary.
- Wilson, John P.
- Hilliard, Colm.
- Hyland, Liam.
- Jacob, Joe.
- Kelly, Laurence.
- Kenneally, Brendan.
- Kirk, Séamus.
- Kitt, Michael P.
- Kitt, Tom.
- Lawlor, Liam.
- Lenihan, Brian.
- Leonard, Jimmy.
- Leyden, Terry.
- Lyons, Denis.
- Martin, Micheál.
- McDaid, Jim.
- McEllistrim, Tom.
- Morley, P.J.
- Nolan, M. J.
- Noonan, Michael J. (Limerick West).
- O'Connell, John.
- O'Dea, Willie.
- O'Donoghue, John.
- O'Hanlon, Rory.
- O'Keeffe, Ned.
- O'Leary, John.
- O'Toole, Martin Joe.
- Power, Seán.
- Quill, Máirín.
- Reynolds, Albert.
- Roche, Dick.
- Smith, Michael.
- Stafford, John.
- Treacy, Noel.
- Tunney, Jim.
- Woods, Michael.
- Wyse, Pearse.
Tellers: Tá, Deputies O'Shea and Howlin; Níl, Deputies V. Brady and Clohessy.
Amendment declared lost.
Question, "That the motion be agreed" put.
The Dáil divided: Tá, 73; Níl; 63.
Tá
- Ahern, Bertie.
- Ahern, Dermot.
- Ahern, Michael.
- Andrews, David.
- Aylward, Liam.
- Brady, Gerard.
- Brady, Vincent.
- Brennan, Mattie.
- Briscoe, Ben.
- Browne, John(Wexford).
- Burke, Raphael P.
- Calleary, Seán.
- Callely, Ivor.
- Clohessy, Peadar.
- Connolly, Ger.
- Coughlan, Mary Theresa.
- Cowen, Brian.
- Cullimore, Séamus.
- Daly, Brendan.
- Davern, Noel.
- Dempsey, Noel.
- Dennehy, John.
- de Valera, Síle.
- Ellis, John.
- Fahey, Frank.
- Fitzgerald, Liam Joseph.
- Fitzpatrick, Dermot.
- Flood, Chris.
- Flynn, Pádraig.
- Gallagher, Pat the Cope.
- Geoghegan-Quinn, Máire.
- Harney, Mary.
- Haughey, Charles J.
- Hillery, Brian.
- Hilliard, Colm.
- Hyland, Liam.
- Jacob, Joe.
- Kelly, Laurence.
- Kenneally, Brendan.
- Kirk, Séamus.
- Kitt, Michael P.
- Kitt, Tom.
- Lawlor, Liam.
- Lenihan, Brian.
- Leonard, Jimmy.
- Leyden, Terry.
- Lyons, Denis.
- Martin, Micheál.
- McDaid, Jim.
- McEllistrim, Tom.
- Morley, P. J.
- Nolan, M. J.
- Noonan, Michael J.
- (Limerick West).
- O'Connell, John.
- O'Dea, Willie.
- O'Donoghue, John.
- O'Hanlon, Rory.
- O'Keeffe, Ned.
- O'Leary, John.
- O'Toole, Martin Joe.
- Power, Seán.
- Quill, Máirín.
- Roche, Dick.
- Smith, Michael.
- Stafford, John.
- Treacy, Noel.
- Tunney, Jim.
- Wallace, Dan.
- Wallace, Mary.
- Wilson, John P.
- Woods, Michael.
- Wyse, Pearse.
Níl
- Ahearn, Therese.
- Allen, Bernard.
- Barnes, Monica.
- Barry, Peter.
- Bell, Michael.
- Belton, Louis J.
- Boylan, Andrew.
- Cotter, Bill.
- Creed, Michael.
- Crowley, Frank.
- Currie, Austin.
- D'Arcy, Michael.
- Deenihan, Jimmy.
- De Rossa, Proinsias.
- Doyle, Joe.
- Durkan, Bernard.
- Farrelly, John V.
- Fennell, Nuala.
- Ferris, Micheal.
- Finnucane, Michael.
- FitzGerald, Garret.
- Flaherty, Mary.
- Flanagan, Charles.
- Garland, Roger.
- Gilmore, Eamon.
- Harte, Paddy.
- Higgins, Jim.
- Higgins, Michael D.
- Hogan, Philip.
- Howlin, Brendan.
- Kavanagh, Liam.
- Kenny, Enda.
- Bradford, Paul.
- Bruton, Richard.
- Byrne, Eric.
- Carey, Donal.
- Connaughton, Paul.
- Connor, John.
- Cosgrave, Michael Joe.
- Lee, Pat.
- Lowry, Michael.
- McCartan, Pat.
- McCormack, Pádraig,
- McGahon, Brendan.
- McGinley, Dinny.
- Mitchell, Jim.
- Moynihan, Michael.
- Nealon, Ted.
- Noonan, Michael. (Limerick East.
- O'Brien, Fergus.
- O'Keeffe, Jim.
- O'Shea, Brian.
- O'Sullivan, Gerry.
- O'Sullivan, Toddy.
- Pattison, Séamus.
- Rabbitte, Pat.
- Ryan, Seán.
- Shatter, Alan.
- Spring, Dick.
- Stagg, Emmet.
- Taylor, Mervyn.
- Timmins, Godfrey.
- Yates, Ivan.
Tellers: Tá, Deputies V. Brady and Clohessy; Níl, Deputies J. Higgins and Boylan.
Question declared carried.