Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)

Yes. We met the chamber of commerce in Cavan and representatives of the workforce from Quinn Insurance. They find it extremely difficult to understand how the Government can find €22.5 billion of Irish taxpayers' money to prop up Anglo Irish Bank, which the Minister, Deputy Brian Lenihan, now admits has a very questionable future. There is no need to remind the House how many times my party leader, Deputy Enda Kenny, questioned the need or justification for propping up this bank, and our party spokesman on finance, Deputy Richard Bruton, ably pointed out the alternatives. It must be remembered that in the Quinn case some 5,500 jobs are at stake whereas, on the other hand, how many Irish jobs has Anglo Irish Bank provided or will it ever provide? The other issue which neither the chamber of commerce nor the Quinn Group staff could understand was how the Minister for Finance could raise the guarantees for the Greek Government from €500 million to €1.3 billion without even requiring a Cabinet meeting.

While the Quinn company admits freely that the insurance business lost money in the UK market during 2009, independent figures published in the UK will show that its loss was accordingly much less than those incurred by its opposition in the market. The unique loss in this market in 2009 was as a result of storm damage, which all companies experienced.

The attempts by Government this week to appease the workers by promising support structures and advanced training for other employment is of little comfort. The record of the Government in providing alternative employment in the Border region is nil, so it is difficult for the workers to understand how there is a need is to upskill an extremely well skilled workforce for jobs that do not exist. On behalf of the workers and the general Border community, I again beg the Government, particularly the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance, to bring about a rescue package.

The Government amendment to the Fine Gael motion asks that the Dáil "recognises the budgetary measures taken by the Government to stabilise the public finances". Again, one must question what this statement means. We were assured in the Budget Statement that the €4 billion paid to Anglo Irish Bank would not be included in the budgetary structures and, therefore, would not affect our standing within the EU. It is now clear this statement was not justified and that we have to deal with this charge as part of our ongoing budgetary situation.

While I welcome the change in VAT, although nominal, and the change in excise duty on alcohol, the fact the carbon tax has been put in place creates loss of revenue across the Border region, creating a fall-off in the cross-Border purchase of petrol and diesel. The carbon tax will have serious implications for the farming community and particularly for agricultural contractors, who will not be able to cover the extra charges from a farming structure which is already seriously in debt.

The fact the Government insisted on taking further levies and taxes from even the lowest paid is causing serious problems for low income families. Fine Gael's alternative budget showed clearly why there should be no cuts to income under €30,000. We certainly did not agree that the highest paid civil servants should literally be let off scot free. Farming income, particularly in the Border region, which suffered from severe weather conditions as well as falling prices, fell by anything up to 50% and farmers cannot get working capital from the banks. Many of the companies which supplied farmers with necessary feedstuffs for their animals over the winter period have no idea when they will get paid and, unfortunately, many of the farmers in most difficulty financially cannot get their REPS payments and have to wait on their farm building grants.

On the other hand, Fine Gael has set out, through a Border forum under the chairmanship of Deputy Joe McHugh, ways forward towards work in the Border region. We met a number of months ago and again last Tuesday in Cavan with our party leader to consider how matters could be improved in light of what the Government has done in the budget and how we can help that situation.

The Government amendment "notes the reduction in the number of Ministers of State and the reduction in staffing of Ministers' offices". I have heard much hypocrisy about what the Government did and why it did it. It was this side of the House that forced the Government to make that decision. The Greens claimed it was they who used their influence within the Government to insist that this reduction be made. What actually happened? We learned afterwards that, as part of the agreement for Government, the Greens got an extra Ministry half way through the term of the Government. They now have not just two senior Ministers but also two Ministers of State - such hypocrisy from the party that claimed they were the saints. This did not happen because the Government wanted it; the Government was forced to show leadership in the greatest economic crisis this country has ever seen. The reduction in the number of Ministers and the reduction in their staff is certainly welcome and shows some leadership. However, that leadership came from the Fine Gael side of the House.

The Government amendment "acknowledges the extensive efforts of the Government to secure solidarity among the social partners". I hope the agreement made at Croke Park is accepted. The one area I cannot understand, coming from a farming background, is that social solidarity kept farmers so quiet at leadership level that they allowed farm incomes to drop by 50%. I have never seen such desperation at farm level. While it is said the Government has made major improvements as a result of that solidarity, over the next year or so it will see the results of its failures at both European level and every other level to support those who are the backbone of this country. I ask the Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, to recognise the serious situation in farming and ensure that the negotiations at European level for changes in CAP are at the top of the Government agenda and are delivered in a positive way.

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