Seán Ardagh (Dublin South Central, Fianna Fail)

I am delighted to have an opportunity to make a contribution to the debate on the Finance Bill. With regard to the current state of the economy, the Government is making strides in trying to resolve the issues to be addressed. Four cornerstones have been identified, the first being improving the fiscal position, which the Government is accomplishing well by bringing the general government deficit to a level which is manageable, even though it is still high. The next cornerstone is getting the banks to give credit and resume lending to some extent. This is very difficult but, again, is being dealt with by the Minister for Finance through the proposals for the establishment of the National Asset Management Agency which will be discussed later this evening by means of a Labour Party Private Members' motion.

With regard to training and education, the Government is making good efforts and has recently increased by 1,500 the number of PLC places allocated to the vocational education committees. The Minister of State, Deputy Haughey, is making a great effort in this regard and getting results.

I refer to the proposals in the budget and the Social Welfare Bill to provide incentives for those in the 18 and 19 year age group to return to education. Unless young people have an education, their chances of having a decent income in later life are minimised. The jobseeker's allowance is being decreased for 18 and 19 year olds from €204.30 to €100 but if a young person is in full-time second level education or returns to education after two years, the amount will increase from €100 per week to €204.30. They are also encouraged to participate in the Youthreach programme if that is an option that would suit them. They will have the general opportunity to move from PLC courses to third level education. The number of FÁS training courses has been increased dramatically. Therefore, good work is being done on the so-called cornerstone of training and education. Work is being done on job creation initiatives but there is a long way to go in tackling competitiveness and innovation. I will return to this subject if time allows.

Instead of having four cornerstones, I would like to think there is a pentagonal or five-sided structure. The fifth cornerstone as such should be the care we show to those who are suffering the most from the adverse effects of the current economic downturn. Deputy Neville referred to the effect financial troubles might have on people's ideation of suicide.

I propose that a special initiative be taken for those who are unemployed but who have mortgages. I will give as an example a couple where the main earner in the house loses his or her job. They have a mortgage of €300,000 to be repaid over 20 years, with a loan to value greater than 80%, as is generally the case. I am suggesting that in a case where such people lose their jobs and are making large mortgage repayments, they should have an automatic entitlement to reduce their payments to the value of the interest only on the basis of the ECB marginal lending facility rate of 1.75%. This is the overnight rate at which banks can borrow liquidity and it is a reasonable rate to offer to those in dire straits. For instance, if a person with a mortgage of €300,000 was paying interest at a rate of 1.75%, it would cost €5,250 per annum or €440 a month. I suggest that if this amount cannot be repaid, there should be subsidies available to meet the repayments in order that the capital amount would never increase in the case of a person who is unemployed and in a tough mortgage repayment position. The normal repayment on a 20-year mortgage with a loan to value greater than 80%, on the basis of the AIB rate available this morning, is €1,647 per month.

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