Michael Noonan
Ceist:7 Mr. Noonan asked the Taoiseach if he will report on the implementation of the recommendations of the Working Group on Basic Income; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6280/02]
Ceisteanna – Questions. - Basic Income.
The working group completed its work with the publication of its report in March of last year. The final report was a culmination of extensive research into the broad implications of the introduction of a basic income. I emphasise that it was not the role of the group to make recommendations either for or against the introduction of a specific form of a basic income system. The group concluded that the research represented a significant move forward in our understanding of the complex issues involved.
As already announced, my Department has been preparing a Green Paper that will build on the work of the group. An initial draft of the Green Paper has been completed by the Department and is being examined with a view to its early finalisation in consultation with other relevant Departments. My intention is that it will be published as soon as possible.
Does the Taoiseach agree that, since the Government came into power, the gap between rich and poor has widened significantly and that alone reinforces the case for basic income?
I do not agree. If one reads today's NAPS report, one will note that 400 people who in 1996 were below the NAPS poverty threshold have indicated they are now above it. We have seen huge reductions under all headings and enormous progress has been made.
Does the Taoiseach recall the commitment made in the programme for Government to publish a Green Paper outlining the facts? I agree it was not meant to make a recommendation one way or the other, but can he explain why he committed to publishing this document at the end of last autumn and – when asked to do so again – to publishing it at the end of 2001? Asked more recently, he made a commitment to publish it at the end of January, which has just ended. Is there to be a fourth breach of promise on this matter, or can he give us a publication date which will not alter thereafter?
To correct the Deputy, the working group published its report last March, almost one year ago. That report addressed the very technical and complex issues that arise from the concept of a basic income. Those issues include the distribution effect, the impact on lab our supply, the impact on economic growth and competitiveness. They must all be considered carefully. The task of taking these issues, evaluating the likely effects of introducing the system and of putting the arguments in a Green Paper fell to my Department. We said at the outset that we hoped it could be done in six months but, as I reported to the House previously, the same people were involved in much of the other PPF work and that delayed them.
I said they would try to publish in January, but what they are doing has proved to be very difficult. It is very wide-ranging and complex and the sort of system under review does not exist elsewhere. There is no other model to go on and all they can do is to look at and set out the advantages and disadvantages. They are doing their utmost to accomplish that and they will publish as soon as possible. I certainly intend to publish it, but hard-pressed officials are working on something that has not been examined before and are trying to build on what they received less than a year ago, while still carrying on their other work. That has proven to be an enormous task, but they will finish it as soon as possible.
I notice the Taoiseach has stopped short of giving a date this time around.
It will be published in a matter of weeks. The officials are endeavouring to do it.
I appreciate that he has not managed to give a correct date in the past and I wonder if he can identify any of the difficulties he mentioned. Is it true to say there is a reluctance in the Cabinet, particularly on the part of the Attorney General, to publish this document? Given the reticence about guaranteed basic income among some members of the Government, is it something we are going to see before the general election? Will we have the chance to discuss it in the House before the election takes place?
That is my intention. I have done a great deal of work on this in the past few years and Deputy Sargent has taken much interest in it. I have got it to this stage and I want to see it finished. The only difficulty is that the people involved are attempting something that has not been done anywhere before. They have to take the distributional impacts and describe the advantages and disadvantages in a fair way. There is no other agenda. It is an interesting project, but not an easy one. They are trying to be fair in terms of arguments for and against the proposal and are trying to make sense of the issues in a way that will be useful to the public.