Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to have an opportunity to speak on the Finance Bill. We are living in extremely difficult times that are tough for everyone. In debating the Bill we must discuss why we are taking certain steps and the impact Government proposals introduced in the House by way of the budget, now being followed up in the Finance Bill, will have on people.

We must explain to people what is happening. They need to know the difficulties they are in. Not enough effort is being made in our work in the Dáil and through the media to tell the true story of the economy, the trouble we have been in and how we are getting out of it. The media has not been fair in telling the story. Everyone has a duty, including Members and the media, to outline to people the true situation.

I spoke to an irate person this morning on the telephone that rang my office last week. After I had spoken to her for ten or 15 minutes about the reasons for the introduction of taxes and other changes she understood the situation. She asked me why we do not outline the situation more often. I say to the Minister of State, Deputy Sean Sherlock, that we have a responsibility to bring the message to the people. That is one way in which we are not fulfilling our duty. The Opposition must be fairer to us in what we do. I accept it is a political forum. We were on the other side of the House for many years.

There are times when we have to put the nation first. There are times when we in this House must be fairer and that will work not only to our benefit but to the benefit of the country. It would help us to get out of the mess we are in if we were more open and fair rather than for us to shout each other down at every given opportunity. A first step is that we must bring people with us in what we are doing.

There are many issues I would like to discuss but one that is of paramount importance is job creation. We need to get Ireland back to work and in that way stop young people from emigrating and provide opportunities for them through job creation. Great efforts were made in the budget and in this Bill to make job creation worthwhile but there are many areas that have not been examined and we need to examine those. I cite the example that more than 400,000 people are unemployed and if one drives on any of the roads in rural Ireland one would find that many of them are in a deplorable state. Every Member receives representations about the state of our roads. There are not enough people working on our roads. A proposal whereby unemployed people would be allowed to retain their entitlements and be given some extra money to assist in road maintenance through working in a co-ordinated way with the local authority is one we should consider in the future.

There has been considerable discussion on assets being calculated for the purposes of income in regard to qualification for a higher education grant. That is not something that should be allowed. I do not know if there is provision for that in the Bill. Such a proposal would be unfair and unjust. A person could have a large asset but derive no income from it. I know of several people who have assets but with the income they have from the work they do, be it agriculture or in a small business, they are struggling to survive. Many of them are on an income of €10,000 or €20,000 a year. They want to put their children through college and if we force through a provision whereby assets are included for the purposes of the calculation of income, that would be unfair. I call on the Minister of State and the Government to make sure that does not happen. It is unfair and unjust and cannot be allowed to happen. These people are committed to sending their children on to higher education and they should be supported in every way to do that.

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