Michael Noonan
Ceist:3 Mr. Noonan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on progress in the implementation of the Government's An Action Programme for the Millennium; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [4629/01]
Ceisteanna–Questions. - Government Programme.
Progress on the Government programme is constantly kept under review. Deputy Noonan will be aware that last year the third annual progress report was published and I propose to publish another progress report this summer. The action programme and its mid-term review contain 535 specific commitments and 44 months after the last election, more than three quarters of the objectives and action points have been achieved or significant progress has been made.
In implementing our commitments, we have brought forward and progressed one of the most ambitious legislative programmes in the history of the State. Since this Government took office on 26 June 1997, an unprecedented 145 Bills have been enacted. In addition, there are currently 45 Bills before the Oireachtas. Given the scale of the Government's legislative programme and the large number of specific commitments set out in the action programme, it would be impossible in the allotted time to fully detail the immense amount of progress we have delivered.
The cornerstones of our action programme were based on our desire to build a better Ireland for everyone and our core promises at the last election were to cut unemployment, taxes and crime and to work to build a lasting peace on this island. We have delivered on all these.
We said we would cut unemployment and we have done so. No Government has done more in addressing one of the major sources of disadvantage in our country, that of joblessness. We have been responsible for the implementation of policies which have led to the creation of over 300,000 jobs, a dramatic reduction in unemployment from 10.7% to 3.8% and long-term unemployment from 4.6% to 1.2%. Going forward, we are implementing policies to make certain that every single unemployed person in this country is offered a full opportunity and support to get back to work in their own locality.
We said we would cut crime and we have done so. Figures have fallen by an unprecedented 21% since this Government took office. Alongside the drop in crime, the detection rate for recorded crime has increased significantly over our period in office. Ireland now has a detection rate of 44% compared to 21% in the USA and 26% in the UK. This is simply because this Government has given, as promised, the Garda Síochána the resources to police our streets, waterways and air spaces as never before. We have also ended the revolving door syndrome in our prisons and have invested unprecedented funding in crime prevention measures.
We promised to cut taxes and we have done so. We have introduced large tax cuts in each budget which have resulted in real increases in take home pay for all sections of the labour force. We have reduced the standard rate of tax from 26% to 20% and the higher rate from 48% to 42%. We have removed 310,000 income earners from the tax net and have moved 268,000 income earners from the higher rate to the standard rate of taxation.
We said we would restore peace and we have done so. Within weeks of our return to power, the IRA announced another ceasefire which has held. The Good Friday Agreement and the subsequent referenda clearly demonstrated that the people of this island wanted their politicians to put in place and operate structures set out in the Agreement, which were based on equality, toler ance, mutual respect and a desire to see a society, which for so long has been ravaged from within, reach its full potential. Building peace in Northern Ireland, based on a just settlement, is painstaking but rewarding work.
While many real and serious challenges remain, we have all come too far together not to overcome these. I am very proud of the record of the Government in setting out an ambitious programme, earning the support of the electorate and implementing its promises in office. Over the course of the next year we will complete this work and be in a position to present to the people an unprecedented record of delivery and achievement.
I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. However, there is another way of telling the story. The Government's economic policies have widened the gap between the rich and the poor. There has been a total failure to implement a coherent policy to tackle traffic. The Government has an abysmal record on the environment, particularly in the area of environmental protection where a number of important EU directives remain to be implemented.
I put it to the Taoiseach that no progress has been made in eliminating the bottlenecks caused by our infrastructural deficit. It is a bit rich that years after the Government's pronouncements about what it intended to do, it is still boasting about progress on projects which are part of the development plan, such as the Dublin port tunnel and Luas, of which we have seen very little evidence.
Is the Taoiseach aware that in a time of unprecedented prosperity the Government is incapable of providing the most basic health services to the public? Is he aware that an accident and emergency consultant at St. James's hospital was forced to resign because the accident and emergency department in the hospital was in complete disarray? Perhaps the Taoiseach should consider whether that nice young man, the Minister, Deputy Martin, is in a job which is too demanding for him and whether one of his heavy hitters could sort out the mess in the Department of Health and Children.
Any fair analyses – of which there have thankfully been many – show that this country has made dramatic progress in recent years, particularly since 1997, or 1987 if one wants to go back that far.
Try 1981.
I do not like to talk about the 1981-87 period.
I can understand why.
Negative growth and unemployment.
Charlie Haughey.
Deputy Quinn was in office during that period.
Tidying up the mess of cooked books etc.
You ran away from it like rabbits.
The Taoiseach, without interruption.
The country's population has increased dramatically and 40,000 of our youngest and brightest people – 3% to 4% of our labour market – no longer have to leave this country annually. People are now returning to Ireland and we have almost full employment. Those who are not in employment are in training. All this growth creates infrastructural difficulties. Ireland was not in a position to address these issues for many years and that is why we have introduced huge capital programmes in recent years. The funding provided to these programmes is much higher than a Government would normally consider providing.
More than £2 billion is provided in the national development plan for the health services, both directly and for the provision of health infrastructure—
Yet the system is worse.
Deputy Noonan referred to the accident and emergency department at St. James's hospital and the Minister responded to that yesterday by announcing that the department is to be doubled in size. St. James's is a fine modern hospital with which I am very familiar as it is located in my constituency. It is hoped that, for the first time, the Minister for Health and Children will succeed in convincing health professionals that accident and emergency consultants should work after 6 p.m. That has not happened since the foundation of the State. Until relatively recently, there was only a handful of such consultants in the Republic.
We have seen the commencement of the port tunnel which, unfortunately, was delayed for almost five years as a result of planning difficulties. The Luas system is under construction and the work on the metro, which will bring Dublin into the modern age, is also under way. The Firhouse roundabout on the M50 has been developed and the south-eastern motorway is being constructed.
It may be there but there is no traffic on it.
The eastern bypass is to be built underwater to link up with—
Mr. Coveney
Gridlock everywhere.
Development is ongoing throughout the country, particularly on the northern fringe where roads projects at Cloghran, Lissenhall, Dundalk, Dunleer and Drogheda are either completed or nearing completion. The Limerick bypass is being constructed on a public-private partnership basis. We also have the Nenagh and Waterford bypasses. Some £40 billion worth of projects have been sanctioned.
If one looks back at previous election manifestos, traffic and housing were not mentioned. Obviously, they were not considered priority issues. The fact that institutional arrangements have since been put in place and the establishment of the infrastructural committee to address these issues shows how far we have come. We are in a different position from the difficult days of 1996 and early 1997. Hopefully we will not go back to those days.
It is comforting for the Opposition to hear the Taoiseach whistling past the graveyard. Is he aware that Councillor John Minihan, chairman of the Progressive Democrats, stated last Thursday night that the national development plan's road programme will not be finished until 2010, four years after the deadline. Is Councillor Minihan correct? Did he get his information from the Tánaiste or is he suffering from one of the hallucinations from which members of that party frequently suffer?
It would not be the first time the councillor got something wrong.
Recently I gave a list of road projects, some of which drifted into 2007. There are some planning difficulties. By and large, it is accepted that the programme will be ahead of schedule. A fortnight ago, the NRA stated that its project teams had been established and project managers were in place. I congratulate Mr. Tobin and his colleagues because in the autumn of 1999, just before the national development plan, it appeared these projects would continue until 2115. The Dublin-Belfast corridor, which is so economically important to the whole island, has made enormous progress recently.
I admit to Deputy Noonan that the increase in population and car numbers has created problems. Through the 1980s we lost, under all Administrations, about 400,000 people. At the beginning of the 1990s, demographic forecasts indicated that our population would be approximately 3.4 million. People planned on that basis. Even in 1993 a report stated we would reach 3.5 million by 2003. The current population is approximately 4 million, as the next census may confirm. The increase in population and car ownership means there are infrastructural deficiencies.
That is one reason I disagree with the recommendation from Commissioner Pedro Solbes to cut back on our infrastructural programme. These difficulties have built up over years. In a country where exports have increased proportionally by five to one higher than any other OECD country, we need more infrastructure. We have to continue with this. Everything is not perfect but in a few years we moved from a stock position to one of enormous infrastructural development across all areas of life. There is more to do and I look forward to doing it.