Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)

The Acting Chairman might remind me when my time is coming to an end.

There was a commitment in the budget that this would be a pro-employment Finance Bill. There is nothing in this Bill that demonstrates that aspiration. We expected something would be done regarding employers' PRSI but it has not been done.

On one side of Leinster House there are mostly "To Let" signs. I have never seen as many "To Let" signs since coming to Dublin 27 years ago. On the other side of the building the signs are "To Rent". That is manifested throughout the country.

In recent weeks I have never had as many small businesses contacting me that cannot get finance from the banks, that are in serious trouble in terms of their rent, the tax man and even the council in respect of charges. Those small businesses will be closing their doors. I listened to the debate on the monitor and heard a number of speakers refer to finance being available from banks. The banks have closed down at this stage. They did not do it before Christmas. Obviously, they waited to see what would happen over Christmas, but Christmas was a disaster in many instances, especially for small restaurants and shops. A serious issue now arises that is not fully understood by people who do not move outside urban areas.

When we debated the NAMA legislation last summer, I recall saying that NAMA would be there to rescue the banks, which it did in one way, but it would not guarantee any finance for small businesses. What I forecast then has been confirmed.

There was also a major commitment to research and development and intellectual property in the budget, but I see nothing in this Finance Bill that will give that incentive. If we are to compete in the future with China and India we must provide jobs in intellectual property and other high end jobs if we are to succeed. There is no provision in this Finance Bill that will guarantee that.

The unemployment problem is spiralling out of control. With all the jobs that will be lost in small businesses, I am convinced that by the end of this year the unemployment figure will be well over 500,000. That is a staggering figure. I do not know what those people will be doing when they are trying to find work or how they will pass the time, pay their mortgages, look after their families and so on. Nationally, the figure for January is 436,936. In terms of the figures for Kerry, in January 2009 it was 13,303. In January this year it increased by 3,615 or 27.2%. It is now 16,918. That is a record figure in the history of Kerry. Even in the bad times of the 1980s there were factories in Kerry and things were happening. There was emigration and we lost many young people, but something was happening. It is not happening now.

Previous speakers mentioned the fact that the IDA has not created any jobs in their areas. The IDA has not introduced a single new industry to Kerry in the past ten years. Even during the time of the Celtic tiger the IDA brought itineraries to Limerick but in the main to Cork, especially when the Minister, Deputy Micheál Martin, was there, but not to Kerry. We got 13 itineraries in five years and I am sure most of those were golf tourists. They came to Kerry on the pretence of looking at sites but the real reason was to play golf on some of our links. It has been a disaster from a Kerry point of view. Kerry has been off the map in terms of Government and IDA policy.

I want to refer to one issue in particular, and I am sorry that my Green Party colleagues are not here because it concerns the carbon tax. At this time there is no great incentive for people in this country to get into the area of biofuel energy. I know that because Federico Pucciariello, who played with Munster as prop, has returned to Argentina to set up a biofuel energy business, Rosario Energy. He had great attachment to Munster and would love to do something similar here but having examined it and got experts to look at it, it would not be viable. On the one hand the Green Party talks about developing biofuel energy but, on the other, it is imposing a carbon tax that will impact on the biofuels sector. That is a contradiction.

Green Biofuels Ireland Ltd in County Wexford recently made a good presentation to the joint committee. It has proposed a number of amendments that no doubt will be promoted by Deputies representing Wexford. A representative of that company said it is inappropriate to impose a carbon tax on a renewable green fuel that reduces carbon. He further stated that the biodiesel produced by Green Biofuels Ireland Ltd., some 30,000 tonnes annually, will make up approximately 50% of the biodiesel element of the obligation we will introduce under the Energy (Biofuel Obligation and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010. He also said it reduces carbon emissions by 90,000 tonnes annually and should not attract a carbon tax levy.

On the one hand, we are trying to encourage people to produce biofuels but, on the other, we are taxing them. We are introducing an obligation that 4% of transport fuels will comprise biofuels but we are giving the sector a disincentive. I hope the Minister of State will bring that to the attention of the Minister.

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