Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

Cuireann sé áthas orm deis a bheith agam cúpla focal a rá ar chlár an Rialtais agus gach rath a ghuí ar an Rialtas. Ar ndóigh, tá an Rialtas seo tofa ag an bpobal agus tá súil agam go ndéanfaidh sé leas don tír agus go mbeidh an tír níos fearr dá bharr.

There are many things in the programme for Government that I would like to debate today, but I will raise a few issues that are important. One of these is the vague commitment in the programme for Government to protect front line services in education. However, there is no commitment to increase the number of teachers as demographics require. It is important that the Government clarifies whether it is its intention to honour the commitment Fianna Fáil gave in Government to increasing the number of teachers to deal with demographic requirements. Any doubt about this must create serious doubt about the Government's commitment to education.

The national recovery plan contained a commitment to the creation of 2,500 extra teaching positions. I ask the Minister to clarify whether that is a firm commitment by this Government even though it is not provided for in the programme for Government. If it were not, I would be very concerned, particularly in view of the fact that the Government has said it will cut public service jobs by 25,000 between now and 2015. It is important that the Government now outlines where these jobs will be and whether any of them will be in the teaching sector. Is it now resiling on the previous commitment to the provision of teachers in our schools?

I welcome the support shown in the programme for Government for programmes that Fianna Fáil had already begun implementing, such as the free pre-school year in early childhood education, the professional development of maths and science teachers, a bonus system for maths and investment in ICT.

A second issue of major concern to me is the lack of reference to cross-Border infrastructure links. I have always believed in taking an all-island approach to as many matters as possible. One of the great signals given by the previous Government in recent years was the decision to provide a €580 million investment package to upgrade the A5 road from Aughnacloy to Derry and Letterkenny to dual carriageway status, as well as the provision of the road to Larne. In budget 2011, some €22.68 million was approved for cross-Border initiatives, a 77% increase on last year's allocation. I ask the Minister to clarify whether the incoming Government intends to honour this commitment not only to the North of Ireland, but also to the north west of this State, which is cut off from the rest of the country by a lack of motorways. There are motorways to the west, the south and the east of the country, but none to the north west. This money was intended to provide the dual carriageway to the north west that is so badly needed.

We know there is a difference between Fine Gael and the Labour Party on this point, with the Labour Party recently questioning the rationale behind the provision of this funding for cross-Border transport projects. I am disappointed with the lack of commitment in the programme for Government to something that made both economic and regional sense and was an indicator of good faith in the shared future of our peoples on this island.

I welcome the commitment throughout the programme for Government to a number of strategies that Fianna Fáil introduced while in Government, including the innovation strategy, Food Harvest 2020, the national addiction strategy, the smart economy agus, ar ndóigh, an Straitéis 20 Bliain don Ghaeilge. Cé go ndeireann clár an Rialtais go bhfuil sé i bhfábhar na straitéise don Ghaeilge, is léir nach bhfuil sé i gceist acu í a chur i bhfeidhm. Cheana féin, tá trí nithe a bhí sa straitéis curtha ar leataobh ag an Rialtas. Ceann acu sin ná go mbeadh Aire sinsearach freagrach as gnóithe Gaeilge ó lá go lá.

The programme for Government proposes to implement the recommendations of the report Trading and Investing in the Smart Economy. This is a happy turnabout for Fine Gael. When Fianna Fáil was in Government, Fine Gael said there was nothing in this report and that it contained no funding and no new policies or programmes. I am delighted to see there has been a U-turn on this and that the Fine Gael-Labour Party Government is now supporting this report.

An enormous number of areas are ignored in this document, and perhaps that is understandable up to a point. However, an extraordinary omission for a document in which the Labour Party was involved is the fact that there is only one small reference to the Croke Park agreement, in the educational sector. There is no reference to it at all under the section dealing with public service reform, and again will the Minister clarify whether this Government is committed to the provisions of the Croke Park agreement and the important reforms it can bring about? These are reforms in which I was involved as Minister for Social Protection, where we made rapid progress, for example, in bringing FÁS into the Department of Social Protection as well as the transfer of community development officers, while providing guarantees for workers, which I believe were very important.

I was interested in the provisions relating to transport, where there was not a mention of roads. The vast majority of transport in this country is done by road. Even public transport in most parts of Ireland totally depends on roads. I am sorry, there is a reference to doing immediate work this year to fill the potholes, but there is none to major infrastructural needs, particularly in the more peripheral areas that are still highly deficient in road infrastructure. Those of us who travel the roads of Ireland all the time can see the enormous benefits in the road network. However, anyone who believes the road network is complete does not have any experience of what it is like to live in the more peripheral parts of the island. Furthermore, there is no reference or commitment on whether metro north in Dublin is to proceed or the western rail corridor in the west of Ireland. It is important these issues are clarified.

On social protection, there is a commitment to examine family and child income supports. I published a very detailed report as Minister for Social Protection, before Christmas last year, which looked at this whole issue. It is important that the Government clarifies in the short-term what its intentions are for child benefit. I notice that a major privatisation programme is being proposed by the Government. It is talking about realising €2 billion from the sale of non-strategic assets. We have to be very careful, however, and ensure that the Government does not propose to sell assets that it terms non-strategic which are, in fact, highly strategic for this country. I shall certainly watch this with great interest because I believe it is important that core assets are maintained in State ownership. We need clarification on what exactly the Government intends to sell and in the event we need to be absolutely satisfied that they are non-core strategic assets.

I deplore the habit that has crept in, in recent years, particularly in the light of seachtain na Gaeilge, namely, that all the names of the proposed new State companies are in English. There was a time that this State used Irish nomenclature, for example, Bus Áras, Córas Iompair Éireann, Bus Éireann, Bord na Móna and Coillte. I notice in the proposed amalgamation of Bord na Móna and Coillte an Englishlanguage name is proposed for the new company. Similarly, right through the text, while lip service is being paid to the Irish language, the idea of having Irish as part of everyday life is not evident. In this regard, the excuse given sometimes is that strangers will have a difficulty with using Irish nomenclature. My view is that if it is explained to them what is involved, they normally understand. These names are normally for our own use and I never found that we had much difficulty in talking about the Knesset or the various institutions abroad that are now commonly in use but do not have English language origins. One way we had for enforcing Irish as the first official language of the State was to use it for key public bodies and positions. I regret the regression from this position.

Ar deireadh, I remember studying Caesar's Galllic wars, and the text contained an admonition to the effect that it was not just war but the threat of war that did the damage. By raising doubt in relation to the corporation tax rate, I believe the Government is not doing the State any great service. No doubt there are potential investors all around the world thinking of investing in Ireland, and we are competing with Switzerland and other countries that are asking, in effect, "Can we be sure anymore that the 12.5% low corporation tax rate will stay?". It is absolutely vital that the Government puts the argument to bed once and for all and gets absolute agreement in line with the Lisbon treaty that the corporation tax in this country is not for negotiation and will stay the way it is, and that nothing which happens in Europe will change this. The very doubt that it might even be debated will frighten off investors who might invest in this country.

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