Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

The charge I have made against the Taoiseach is that the failure of the Government to properly evaluate incentives and to have a full cost benefit analysis carried out before any extension has in the past five years cost the taxpayer €1.5 billion. The two mistakes made were non-evaluation of the schemes and no cost benefit analysis was carried out prior to an extension taking place. Four years ago the then Minister for Finance, Mr. McCreevy, announced the ending of these schemes. He knew then, as did the Government, that their time was up. Yet, in 2002, for example, the relief for multi-storey car parks, which was to end in 2000, was extended three times, to 2002, 2004 and 2006, with no examination carried out of worthwhile progress made. In December 2003, with one wave of the Government pen, the life of a range of schemes was extended from 2004 to 2006, with no examination carried out. These schemes included the urban renewal scheme, the multi-storey car park, hotels, student accommodation, rural renewal and park and ride facilities schemes.

The Government failed by not carrying out any proper evaluation of the incentives and analysis before the schemes were extended. The Taoiseach could have saved a fortune for the taxpayer if this had been done and I ask him to include it now. I presume those who were creaming off the benefits of these schemes went to Government and made their case to have the schemes renewed without analysis. Does this not demonstrate beyond yea or nay, beyond denial, that the Government of which the Taoiseach has been head for nine years, has a much greater care for and pays much greater attention to a small number of elite super rich who have benefited greatly from these schemes, extended without examination to the detriment of the hard-working taxpayers who cannot find a garda on the street, cannot get into an accident and emergency department and cannot get teachers for their schools, whose children are being bullied in other schools and who find that life in this country has become nothing but pressure? There is no escape for them from paying their taxes, yet the Government has cost them €1.5 billion in the past five years by allowing a range of these schemes to have continued without a cost benefit analysis.

Deputy Bruton has been calling for the past five years for these measures to be implemented. The then Minister, Mr. McCreevy, was aware of the situation four years ago but nothing was done by the Government. Will the Taoiseach admit to those two fundamental failures which, if dealt with, could have saved the taxpayer millions of euro but which have cost him €1.5 billion in the past five years?

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