James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)

Issues that were not addressed in the Finance Bill include the wider credit crisis and the issue of late payments which are crippling small and medium-sized businesses throughout this country. Companies are stuck in a catch-22 situation with no money coming in, making it hard for expenditure such as staff wages to be met. According to a survey last October by the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association, 60% of businesses indicated that late payments were playing havoc with their cash flow levels. The negativity that has engulfed the economy has led to the deferral of a number of foreign direct investments that had been earmarked for the midlands and for my county of Longford in particular. The IDA has confirmed that key money spinning foreign investments scheduled to come to County Longford have been temporarily shelved as a result of a negative perception of our economic standing. The IDA said that it had expected more businesses to have come to the midlands. Although some projects have been postponed, according to the IDA it was not possible to name their locations. They would greatly benefit counties Longford and Westmeath where more than 15,000 are unemployed at present.

County Longford's multinationals have endured mixed fortunes for the past year and a half. Although Abbotts has confirmed its commitment to increase production capacity at its plant on the outskirts of Longford town, the US-owned company, Cameron, announced a 10% reduction in office and engineering staff through voluntary redundancies. This followed an announcement in 2008 that the company was to expand its existing manufacturing, research and development facility in County Longford, with the creation of 140 jobs over the next five years. This has all been put on hold.

The loss of these jobs is only part of the continuing job drain threatening the economic viability of counties Longford and Westmeath, where live register figures rose by 22.8% and 28.5% in the past year. The Government seems immune to the heartbreak and loss being experienced by families in these counties and across the country. This Bill will not give them hope that the Government has a grip on job creation. What plans are there to appoint a job facilitator for the midlands, particularly for counties Longford and Westmeath?

Who exactly benefits from this Bill? Would the Minister of State agree that the main winners are the Revenue Commissioners? According to a spokesperson for the Department of Finance, Revenue will gain because of enhanced powers to ensure that everyone pays the correct amount of tax. Where there are winners there will also be losers. Once again the losers are the struggling lower and middle income earners and those who have seen their jobs evaporate into thin air. The live register has risen again, despite the Minister's assurance in his budget speech that the worst was over. What the Minister forgot to mention was that the worst is not over for already hard hit householders. New stealth taxes are set to cripple further those who are unemployed and those who have faced pension levies, income levies and pay cuts. The Exchequer is reaching out a grasping hand to take hundreds of euros of extra taxes through road tolls, waste services and car parking charges from people who simply cannot afford to pay another cent.

The power this Bill will give to the Revenue Commissioners with regard to the black economy is welcome. Retailers have claimed a loss of €700 million in revenue from illegal selling of tobacco on the black market. The maximum fine for smuggling cigarettes has been increased from €12,695 to €126,690.

I welcome two other provisions of the Bill, namely, the extension of mortgage relief to 2017 for those who took out a home loan in 2004 or after and the provision of some help to hard-pressed farmers struggling to comply with the nitrates directive. I stress, however, that had the Minister not sold out farmers with regard to the payment of grants for the construction of slatted sheds, this belated help might not have been needed.

Can I tell the people of my constituency that this Bill is a serious attempt to get those among them who have lost their jobs back to work? Can I tell them that the Minister is making an honest effort to support the development of companies in Longford and Westmeath? Can I tell them that the pain will now be shared across every sector in the country? I think not.

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