Colm Keaveney (Galway East, Labour)

I wish the proposers of the motion a happy Christmas. Santa Claus has come early to Fianna Fáil. Judging by the palpable sense of relief on the faces of many of its Deputies, they are delighted to be out of Government. Thomas Jefferson once wrote: "History, in general, only informs us of what bad Government is." The budgetary measures that Fianna Fáil seeks to condemn this Government for are the very same as those to which Fianna Fáil, through the late Brian Lenihan, signed up in December 2010. The memorandum of understanding between Ireland and the EU and IMF is not an agreement that anybody in this House should be proud of. It has tied the hands of this Government in certain matters of fiscal and economic policy. We have little scope to form the policies we believe in. Not all of the proposals outlined in the budget last week are palatable, but they are necessary in order for us to recover our economic sovereignty, which was surrendered by the previous Administration. Despite the constraints faced by the Government, we have committed not only to protecting but to increasing labour activation within our communities. We will spend €95 million extra on labour activation, which is an endorsement by this Government of the role of community employment schemes. The Government is fully committed to protecting the community, promoting community development and providing valuable services in the areas that are most deserving in society.

Without doubt, this motion sets out to scaremonger on the issue of rural school closures. I have contacted the Department of Education and Skills, which informed me that there is no plan to close any rural schools. Fianna Fáil gave us the McCarthy report, produced by a man who has a pathological hatred of rural Ireland. The report that will be issued in February is a Fianna Fáil report, but we will consider it in terms of getting better value for money for rural schools. When I talk about better value for money, this is because Fianna Fáil has pulverised the public purse.

It is true that 30 of our Garda stations will close next year, and that is regrettable. Eight of these have not been resourced over the last number of years because there have been no gardaí in them. We are shackled by an employment framework as a consequence of the arrangement with the EU and IMF. As Deputy Barry said, we have to control the number of people within the public service.

The savings the Government has made on the rural environment protection scheme will be as a result of alterations in eligibility and qualifying criteria. In this way, we will be preventing abuse of the scheme by wealthy landowners and we can control subsidies that we otherwise could not afford. The Government has set out to insulate the taxpayer from having to fund frivolous spending on those who simply do not require it. I am delighted to say that no cuts will be made to the disadvantaged area scheme, which is important in the area from which Deputy Kitt and I come.

I know Fianna Fáil Deputies are hesitant about reading the memorandum of understanding to which they signed up. I have a copy here for anybody who has not read it to date, and I refer the Deputies to page 25, in which Fianna Fáil committed the Government to introducing a property tax and carbon taxes. On page 26, it committed to the introduction of water charges. That is the reality.

The Government has reduced stamp duty on agricultural land sales from 6% to 2% and introduced a new VAT rate of 9% for farms. We have allocated €5 million towards the establishment of beef technology. The threshold for exemption from the universal social charge has been raised from €4,004 to €10,036, which will be of particular interest to low-paid workers in rural Ireland.

This motion is nothing more than selective posturing to try to create a credible position with regard to one particular demographic in society. It is politics at its worst. As with the contributions from some Fianna Fáil Deputies on the economic situation last week, I am left wondering if they have nothing more constructive to add. They are living in denial and trying to prevent any acceptance of the fact that Fianna Fáil's fingerprints are all over the destruction of this economy. Its signature is on the memorandum of understanding. It wrote this country away, but we will resurrect it. We will give this economy the kiss of life. We will get people back to work, and it will have nothing to do with any contribution Fianna Fáil has to make.

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