Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to make a brief contribution in support of the Government amendment to this motion. We can all agree with the objective of having economic and political stability. We all know that a general election is on the horizon. In the interim, we have work to do in the interests of the country. We must achieve the economic stability that all our citizens so earnestly crave. The budget, which will be announced next Tuesday, 7 December must, in my view, be passed in the national interest. The legislative arrangements to implement the budget will follow on from that with publication of the finance Bill.

The Fine Gael motion demands that the finance Bill be disposed of by the end of December. I am only a Member of this House three years but in my experience as a member of the finance committee, the finance Bill requires serious consideration. It is probably the single most important item of legislation on the annual Dáil calendar. As Deputy Rabbitte pointed out, last year's finance Bill was not disposed of until April and the Bill for the year previous to that it was not disposed of until June. I do not wish to frighten the Green Party into believing that this year's Bill will not be disposed of until April 2011. The question that arises is to what extent one can accelerate that process. How quickly can the Parliamentary Counsel staff prepare the finance Bill and have it ready for publication? Last year's finance Bill contained more than 160 sections dealing with all of the major taxes, including the income levy, income tax, corporation tax, capital gains tax, capital acquisitions tax, VAT, stamp duty and so on. It also dealt with Revenue powers and amended the tax consolidation Act. I would be interested to hear the views of the Irish Taxation Institute on the proposal that all of this be dealt with in a matter of days. That would not make for good legislation. I do not believe it would inspire economic confidence in the country if we were to deal with the single most important item of legislation on the Dáil calendar in that manner. That legislation requires careful scrutiny by Parliament. It must be comprehensive and water tight given that we are amending important and longstanding legislation. I do not believe it is realistic to dispose of it in the manner proposed. It would be far better for the country that we do our business professionally. We must see out the budgetary process and bring it forward to the extent that is possible without compromising the integrity of the process. I would support the House coming back earlier in January and perhaps sitting later in December. However, this will not serve any purpose unless we have a finance Bill to examine. In this regard, we are at the mercy of the officials. Once published, we should engage in an intensive period of parliamentary activity in the Chamber and in committee to dispose of it. We should then get on the business of the general election.

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