Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein)

I understand that the Government has a difficult job to do and was handed a poisoned chalice by the outgoing Government. The jobs initiative is well intentioned and parts of it are welcomed by Sinn Féin, in particular the proposal on 20,900 new training places. However, two underlying principles should be borne in mind by anyone who is trying to tackle the economic mess that is Ireland Inc. First, we cannot fix the national economy by taking money out of the pockets of the very people who sustain local economies. Second, we should be making it easier for people to do the right thing. Unfortunately, there is nothing in the well intentioned jobs initiative that meets with these two fundamental principles for fixing the economy.

Deputy Adams had it right when he stated this jobs initiative was a plan for a town, not a nation. It is not ambitious enough and does not do or encourage the right things. Little in the plan would indicate to jobless people that the Government supports them and will help them to get off the dole and to set up businesses of their own. For example, we could have examined Government impediments to existing business. The system of rateable evaluation for businesses makes no sense and is grossly unfair. It is based on the size of a building rather than the income generated by the business therein. Businesses are closing because they cannot afford to pay assessed rates. The system is unfair and should be changed. This could be done in a cost neutral way by ensuring that the businesses that generate the most income pay the most. Similarly, many businesses will need to close because of the high water charges imposed on them.

This initiative represented an exciting opportunity to propose an exciting and progressive schools development programme. Sinn Féin would advocate that 125 schools should be taken through the construction stage in 2011. This would cost €3 million per each 16-classroom generic repeat design project and €375 million in total, but it would create 4,000 jobs. The opportunity has been missed.

For the life of me, I cannot understand why the Government and State agencies are paying large amounts for leases while NAMA-owned buildings are lying empty. It does not make economic sense. Those buildings should either be used for State purposes or by entrepreneurs who would use them to set up businesses at low rental levels. Surely this would make doing the right thing easier for people.

I am disappointed that the Government is downplaying our natural resources' potential for revenue generation. It is a little bit like I am trying to sell a car but telling a potential buyer than it is not much of a car and is heavy on fuel. I would not sell too many cars were I to do that. Our natural resources have great potential to generate revenue. This is in line with the Democratic Programme of 1919 which states: "The Nation's sovereignty extends not only to all men and women of the Nation, but to all its material possessions, the Nation's soil and all its resources, all the wealth and all the wealth-producing processes within the Nation". We saw the mistakes made by the previous Government with regard to the Corrib gas field. In the dying days of that Administration's hold on power it signed off on exploration licences. We have to make sure such mistakes are not repeated. We are calling for a complete review of the licensing and revenue terms and the immediate revoking of the consent given to the Corrib consortium. We also call for a review of the exploration licence on Lough Allen where there is potentially a large find to be made. We have called for the establishment of a State oil, gas and mineral exploration company which would hold a 51% majority share in all oil and gas finds and have its own research facility in order to collect and validate up-to-date information on the reserves available. We have called for the imposition of a 50% tax on oil and gas profits and a 7.5% royalty. We should consider the difference that would make to the economy, national and local.

The next heading in my contribution is "Bunker management". The way Departments, State agencies and semi-State bodies work needs dramatic change. I hope this is something the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, will consider. Decision making in Departments, particularly in tendering, is done within the confines of each Department. For example, when the National Roads Authority is approving a €500,000 tender for a roads project, it may decide to save €50,000 by going for the lowest tender, but nobody considers the potential to take 100, 200 or 300 people off the jobless register. Every major investment decision made by the Government, irrespective of the Department in which the decision is made, must take into account the only real common denominator - the taxpayer who is funding it. We must get rid of the walls between Departments and every decision must be informed by the need to fix our local economies and the national economy. However, I do not see that happening.

There is major potential for job creation in the maintenance of roads. There are many counties in which roads need major work. The Dublin to Sligo road which I hope to be on shortly is generally good and a pleasure to travel, until one hits a lovely little spot called Cloonamahon. Then, all of a sudden, this good road, for some reason I do not fully understand, turns back to being an old road for 12 km. I do not know how many have been killed on that stretch of road, but it is something like 21 or 22, yet nobody is talking about it and it has not been fixed. The N16 Sligo to Blacklion road which is part of the Sligo to Belfast road is a disgrace and unfit for purpose, but it does not appear on the NRA's plan. The R280 from Tullaghan to Carrick-on-Shannon and the N59 Sligo to Ballina road badly need investment. There are people who could be doing that work, but instead of working and contributing to the economy, they are jobless and taxpayers are paying for them.

If we want to tackle the economy, let us tackle the delays in paying grants to farmers. Those who should have been paid by December have not yet been paid. If Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food officials were told that their pay cheques would not be ready until June or July, they would not be too happy about it.

The nation needs a Government with vision, courage and a passion for getting the small things right. It needs a Government which will work towards an economy that works for the people, rather than the people working for the economy. What it needs is a real jobs initiative.

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