Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)

I compliment my constituency colleague, Deputy Tom Hayes, on what was a very constructive and relatively non-partisan contribution to the debate. However, I disagree with him on one point in that I do not believe in scapegoating individual public servants, which is often too easy a response.

I welcome the presentation by the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Cowen, of the pre-budget outlook for the period 2007 to 2010, incorporating the pre-budget Estimates for public services in 2008, and particularly the important reform of the budgetary process. The provisional Book of Estimates published in previous years which contained decisions on Government spending was subsequently subject to heavys adjustments and additions in the budget and post-budget Estimates, when the full details relating to the previous year's spending had become available. In the Abridged Estimates Volume for last year gross capital and current spending amounted to €54.3 billion, representing an increase of 8% on the figure for the previous year. The Revised Estimates added a sum of €2 billion giving a figure of €56.3 billion, representing an increase of 13%, except that spending in the previous year, 2006, had dropped by €500 million. If it had not, the increase would only have been 11.5%.

The net point is that the earlier slimmer volume represented more and more simply the opening move in the budget process. It is preferable to recognise this reality and simply to provide as accurate as possible a benchmark against which can be measured the actual spending decisions and levels for next year. As a consequence, the budget debate will be a much more holistic exercise, uniting the decisions on expenditure, taxation and borrowing, than considering spending, in particular, in partial isolation from the other two aspects of budget-making. It should be borne in mind that there have been large increases in most areas of Government spending in recent years. In many areas, the challenge may be to secure and consolidate the progress that has been made and to make the best use of the resources that have been provided.

During this year's election campaign, the Minister, Deputy Cowen, placed a great deal of emphasis on two points, the maintenance of sound public finances as the foundation of economic progress and the prioritisation of public investment through the national development plan. I wholly concur with those priorities. With these objectives, the Minister also emphasised the maintenance of the relatively low tax regime we have established and the development of further measures to improve the quality of public services and social inclusion.

Ireland is in a remarkably strong financial position. The general Government borrowing and debt ratio normally quoted is the gross one, estimated at 24.25% this year. If the national pensions reserve fund is taken into account, however, it is down to 14%. While I am not comparing like with like, it makes a pleasant contrast to a national debt-GNP ratio peak of 118% approximately 20 years ago. The Minister's pre-budget outlook envisages a marginal increase, of between 1% and 2%, in gross Government borrowing over the next three years, assuming there is a moderate downturn in growth. Such a margin of manoeuvre would enable us to cope reasonably well, even with a diminution much more severe than that at present anticipated. I share the ambition to drive down the net rate of borrowing to closer to 0% in positive economic conditions.

The benefits of the national development plan can be felt everywhere. A new dual carriageway section of the N8 between Cashel and Cahir was opened last week, in conjunction with the N24 Cahir bypass, both of which will make a big difference to travel times across south Tipperary and will increase the attractiveness of the county to further investment. I noticed in this morning's newspapers an advertisement relating to the construction of a new road bridge near New Ross that will eliminate a bottleneck on the N25 and N30 routes within a few years and speed up travel times in the south-east corner of Ireland. If the Tánaiste has any marginal discretion in his budget, I remind him that road and public transport improvements provide a good return and could be accelerated. There is an urgent need to upgrade to N24 route, which connects the two gateway cities of Limerick and Waterford. As the route is the spine of south Tipperary, it is a vital corridor between the two cities and all places in between. In addition to developing our county and local roads, it is also important to improve the country's water supply and waste treatment systems. While such services are not politically glamorous, they deserve a high priority in view of global warming and other environmental considerations.

In his speech, the Tánaiste invited suggestions. I suggest that he should increase investment in primary, secondary and vocational schools so that learning, including remedial learning, can take place in better and less cramped surroundings. New schools and school spaces are needed in areas which have seen major increases in population. While a great deal has been done to address educational disadvantage, such endeavours demand extra space. Renewed efforts must be made to lower the pupil-teacher ratio in primary schools. There may be more scope to leverage philanthropic gestures in third level education by offering matching finance, as happened in response to the interest shown by Mr. Chuck Feeney in promoting local scientific research and development.

I would like to see Ireland honour its commitments to the Third World, even in the present, slightly more difficult, financial circumstances.

When I visited the house of a deceased woman last week, her widower pressed my hands and was eager to tell me about the wonderful care his wife had received in hospital from doctors and nurses during her short illness. The relentless public negativity about the health services must be profoundly depressing for those who work in those services and intimidating for many of those who need to go into hospital. The critics to whom I refer do not acknowledge the improvements in hospital and medical care that have taken place, or admit that people now enjoy greater life expectancy. Many people legitimately wish to highlight the service deficiencies that exist, particularly the delays in accessing services. Those with other motives think that relentless criticism is the surest way of inflicting political damage on the Government, but recent elections have not borne that out. The HSE is not short of managers inherited from the health boards. It is reasonable in the context of annually increasing budgets to expect, barring pandemics, that those managers should live within those budgets over the year as a whole.

One of the things of which I am proudest is the improvement in social welfare payments over the past 25 years. The increases in pensions, child benefits and early child payments are worth examining.

The justice system would benefit from the expansion of Garda resources. We need to make changes in the law, policing and judicial processes. If ruthless criminals can evade justice by deterring witnesses, intimidating juries and shooting enemies, the State must respond with equal ruthlessness within the law to protect society and dispel any misleading impression of impotence. We have done this previously when dealing with illegal organisations and the seizure of criminal assets.

The presence in the Chair of the Ceann Comhairle reminds me to mention in passing that the State's expenditure on arts and sport in recent years has been exceptionally worthwhile and has made a great difference to communities throughout the country. I hope to see that sustained.

Ireland's general economic prospects remain relatively good. The commentary of the Central Bank is broadly positive, though it warns of the erosion of our competitiveness. The Tánaiste has enacted the promised stamp duty changes. The rest of the programme for Government will be fulfilled over five years. It will not all be achieved at once — even if it were, certain people would object to it. The desire for continued economic progress had a far more important influence on people's voting patterns than any detailed manifesto proposals. The mandate of the Government parties is to maintain a strong economy, as near as possible to full employment. Notwithstanding anything that may have been said in this debate, people inside and outside the State have confidence in the ability of this country and the Government, including the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and their colleagues, to deliver a strong economy over the next five budgets. That remains the bottom line.

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