Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)

I am glad we have entered the decimal age. I would have said "seven and a half minutes" because I am something of a traditionalist. I am pleased to be able to contribute to the debate. This is probably the most important debate of the year aside from the budget because it puts flesh on the budget. I do not often agree with the Opposition but I agree with Deputy Fleming's comments on cheap drink. One can buy a bottle of beer cheaper than a bottle of water in a shop. That is crazy and it must be changed. However, my views differ from those of Deputy Fleming on other issues.

Unlike previous Governments, we have an integrated approach to bringing the economy around. The three strands are made up of the banks, which we have stabilised, the fiscal side, which involves balancing the books, and jobs. The budget and the Finance Bill are pro-jobs measures and this is what it is about. The action plan launched two days ago is on the same lines.

Section 2 of the Bill deals with the universal social charge. A further 330,000 workers will be exempt from the charge. This measure is welcome.

The Minister of State, Deputy Hayes, referred to the special assignee relief programme, SARP. People are missing the point of this. What is the opportunity cost for Ireland if we do not introduce it? There is no cost to Ireland otherwise but by bringing in the measure one gets the benefit of creating further jobs. One is bringing in people with skill-sets in research and development whether from the diaspora or others. The push and cry has always been for the multinational sector to get more into the research and development area. This measure promotes that field as does the fact that we are improving the tax credits on research and development in section 26.

The foreign earnings deduction for the BRIC group of countries is welcome. There is considerable growth in these countries especially in China and Brazil. We need to go to these countries and make the sales. We must think outside the box and that is what we are doing in this case. Before the election we committed to not increasing income tax because we believed that would be anti-jobs. We have honoured that commitment.

There is mortgage interest relief for people who bought houses at grossly inflated prices. I was a councillor for some time before I became a Deputy. Young people were forced to buy houses because they were told that if they did not get on the property ladder they would never be able to do so at a later date. Many bought one- and two-bedroom apartments with the intention of selling on and buying a home. Many of these are now trapped and probably will never be able to sell on. We are giving them 30% mortgage interest relief in cases where they bought a house or started to make first-time buyer mortgage payments between 2004 and 2008. That is a positive measure. We made that commitment and have honoured it.

I wish to refer briefly to the action plan. Legislation is being prepared for the partial loan guarantee scheme. Credit is hugely important for the SME sector and this scheme will be a positive measure. The micro-finance scheme, which will involve loans of under €25,000, is also a positive measure. There have been reports that we are dismantling the county and city enterprise board networks. I have a different perspective on that. One of the weaknesses of the system to date was that if one employed fewer than ten people, one went to the county or city enterprise board and if one employed more than 50 people, one went to Enterprise Ireland, but there was no enterprise board catering for anybody employing between ten and 50 people. The new model is simple. We are restructuring the enterprise boards and they will be a one-stop shop in which Enterprise Ireland will have both a micro and small business division. These one-stop shops will be located in local authority areas. This is important because local authorities are part of the business mix, but until now they often have not been included. They will now have a responsibility in this area. From now, businesses will be looked after from cradle to grave. Many of our companies are small, but we need to grow those companies above ten employees and encourage them to become involved in the export market.

I want to deal now with the banks, specifically the Anglo promissory note. This was an artificially created note with one institution for €30 billion. The practical implication of that note for the people is that in both 2013 and 2014, some €1.8 billion will hit current account expenditure for the State. This will affect people's lives. The Anglo note was put in place to avoid contagion in Europe. We did Europe a major favour with that note and it should now repay the compliment. I was part of a delegation to Berlin recently where I know the politicians understand what we have done. However, our diaspora need to engage more with the public in Germany and elsewhere on this, particularly now that many European countries are in general election mode. Negotiations on the Anglo promissory note are ongoing and I hope they go well. It is critical Europe realises we are in this together and that what is good for Ireland is good for Europe. A restructuring of the promissory note is a key step in that regard.

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