Luke Flanagan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank those who made this debate possible because it is vital to talk about this and we need discussion and debate to establish how well we are actually doing. My idea of a successful economy is one that takes care of its people and leaves them with enough to live and to have a decent life. The survey undertaken by the Irish League of Credit Unions has been quoted on umpteen occasions throughout this debate. The more often it is said, the more chance it will be listened to.

As the House has heard, 1.8 million people are left with €100 or less after paying their bills, which is an increase of 35,000 on the last time the survey was done. Alarmingly, 602,000 people had nothing at all left after they had paid their bills, so one would have to conclude the economy is not working for these people. It also states that 42% of consumers have had to borrow money to pay bills in the past 12 months. That is obviously not sustainable. People cannot be borrowing money to pay bills because that will eventually catch up with them.

In the last couple of weeks, information came out on how successful our economy is. It is so successful that one in ten people do not have enough to eat. With a group of Independents, I met the troika last week and this issue was put to them. In fairness, they came back with a fairly decent answer. The problem is that the amount of money needed to survive in this country is so high in comparison to anywhere else.

The idea that one could not feed one's family on €65,000 a year amazed them. They pointed out that they had economists with the highest possible qualifications working for them who were only getting that amount of money. It brings us to the nub of the issue; the problem in this country is that the cost of living is too high. One of the major reasons why the cost of living is so high is because people have unsustainable mortgages. The most recent figures available indicate that 83,251 people are 90 days behind in their mortgage repayments. If one is paying €400 and €500 a week on a mortgage the level of pay required to sustain it does not exist. Mortgages are too expensive and the economy is being crushed by them. We must help the people affected. It was my understanding that when stress tests were carried out on the banks that such factors as people not being able to follow through on mortgage repayments were included in the calculations. Reference was made to various figures, but approximately €9 billion was put aside for that purpose. Unfortunately, now the banks have the money, they do not want to use it for that purpose. They should not have been given it unless they were going to use the money for its intended purpose. As a result, people cannot afford to live in this country.

Another major issue when it comes to the cost of living and the economy is the lack of a real Competition Authority. We were supposed to have moved on in that regard with the Competition Act but many decent recommendations were ignored. For example, many people recommended the introduction of civil fines. The reason we need civil fines is because there is a gulf between “beyond reasonable doubt” and the “balance of probability” when it comes to proving whether a cartel is in existence or there are dodgy dealings. Civil fines were not introduced but they should have been. In addition, rewards should have been introduced. The introduction of financial rewards for information which helps in the detection and investigation of cartels leading to fines and-or criminal prosecutions are a key tool used by the Office of Fair Trading, OFT, in the United Kingdom. The OFT makes up to £100,000 sterling available to individuals who assist in successful prosecutions. I do not know what figure we would use in this country – perhaps €150,000 - but we need such a measure. We will be told that we cannot afford it. We can afford it because it would result in much greater savings.

We need adequate funding for the Competition Authority, a several-fold increase in the amount of resources given to it, to provide for effective public enforcement, including investigation and market studies. Currently, two gardaí work with the authority. There are more gardaí in west Roscommon trying to solve our crime problems than the number involved in trying to solve the entire range of crime in the area of competition. The number provided is grossly inadequate considering that there are so many anti-competitive practices which are costing the economy €4 billion annually according to Dr. John Fingleton, the former head of the Competition Authority. Something must be done about it because otherwise people will not be able to afford to live in this country, unless one calls living having nothing left at the end of the month. That is not living; it is merely surviving. I have higher ambitions for the Irish people. We must get rid of regulatory capture, but unfortunately in this country we are going in the opposite direction. We are encouraging more regulatory capture. As a result of a lack of competition and the fact that people have exorbitant mortgages, one cannot afford to live on what would be a reasonable amount of money in other places in Europe. There are times when one does not spend money because one does not have it but when the money is spent, more money can accrue from it.

I met with the IFA yesterday. I am not its biggest fan. I have been open about that. It provided me with interesting facts on the suckler premium scheme which, if cut in my county and in surrounding counties where it is most required, will end up costing the State even more. For the sake of the economy we must tackle the notion of saving money while ignoring the fact that it could mean we will lose more money down the line.

In discussing the economy we do not talk enough about the local economy. In the run-up to the general election I carried out a survey on a few different products in the local economy. I examined fruit and vegetables for a start. In the Roscommon-South Leitrim area in 2010 we spent approximately €9 million on fruit and vegetables, virtually none of which is produced locally. We must encourage local production because it is the salvation of small towns such as the one I come from. If €9 million were spent locally it does not just remain as €9 million. The man who grows the cabbages and carrots will need to have his house painted at some stage or need to have a door hung. That means more money will go around in the economy because the farmers will then have the money to do such work. The person who hangs the door will also no doubt like to eat cabbage and carrots so the money will go around. At the moment that is not happening. In fact, we are going in the opposite direction.

I also examined the sale of draught beer and stout. We spent €14.5 million on them. It says something about us that we spent more on draught beer and stout than we did on fruit and vegetables. We must encourage more production to take place locally. An incentive is provided for microbreweries, which means they pay half the level of taxation of those involved in bigger operations. I suggest that we reduce the taxation even more because if a product is produced locally the money will go around locally.

A total of €430 million is earned by Galway in tourism revenue every year. Roscommon-South Leitrim earns €52 million. We are never going to reach the levels of Galway but with a little ambition and direction we could definitely treble the amount. We have the longest border with the River Shannon in the country. We got great news this week. As a result of “Moon Boy”, Chris O’Dowd’s television series, hotels.comreported an increase of 160% in interest in the county. We must take advantage of that. The way to do so is to vest as much power as possible locally. Unfortunately, local government reforms have thrown that to the wolves. The Government is getting rid of the very authority that could have driven the fact that Chris O’Dowd comes from Boyle - Boyle Town Council. We need proper local government and proper input from local people to drive the economy.

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