Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Technical Group for allowing me some time to speak on the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2012. When it comes to guillotines, the present Government parties were highly critical of the previous Government. However, the first thing they did when they came to power was to avail of the guillotine at any and every opportunity that suited them. It was one of the big disappointments I have had with the Government because it represented another false promise of reform.

The Bill before us amends section 17 of the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Act 2011. The main changes provide for medium-term expenditure management by making provision for multi-annual Government expenditure and multi-annual ministerial expenditure ceilings. Planning ahead is, of course, very important. The reason we are in the state we are in is probably that there was not enough prudence and planning. However, I believe this is definitely a case of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.

A number of broad themes can be identified in the process of reforms taking place in Ireland and internationally - the evolution of a stronger medium-term framework, including expenditure management, and a stronger focus on performance. With such proposed reforms, Ireland is moving towards good international practice in a number of areas, which is, of course, to be welcomed. Under the EU-IMF programme of support, Ireland is committed to implementing a number of reform measures in its budgetary management process. The Bill will build on reforms undertaken to date, particularly since 2006, aimed at increasing the transparency and effectiveness of the budgetary process.

Despite all that, since taking office the Government has continued down the road of breaking every commitment and every promise it made.

Deputy Catherine Murphy spoke about incoming governments buying elections. To borrow a phrase used by a Minister this morning - I will use it in its proper context - one silly thing the Government parties did was to buy the election, because they did not have to do so as it was being given to them in a bag and was there for the taking. They made false promises to students and signed pledges in front of them swearing what they would do. They made commitments with regard to abortion, and to old, disabled and vulnerable people. They have continuously broken every commitment and promise they made. When they were canvassing in the last election, did their members tell elderly people they would put a carbon tax on their bags of coal and their bales of briquettes? They stop people from cutting turf but want to place a carbon tax on those who do cut it. We have the hypocrisy and irony of the Government breaking every commitment and promise made to vulnerable, disabled and old people, to students and young people struggling to pay mortgages, to the living and to those who have not been born yet, and it is absolutely frightening. Firm commitments were made with regard to upward-only rent reviews but the Government broke these promises and hid behind advice it received. When we asked in the House for this advice to be published it refused to give it to us. We would have had much more respect for the Government if it had finished the story and explained why it was reneging on a promise.

I take grave exception to the way Deputy Mattie McGrath was treated this morning. As was his right during Leaders' Questions, he was asking questions but he was continuously badgered and told he was being silly. He was accused of being silly because he was highlighting the plight being suffered and endured by the farmers of Ireland at present. These are people affected by budgetary matters and false promises. Two or three months ago we were highlighting on a weekly basis the fact that there would be a fodder crisis. This fodder crisis will most certainly not end in the coming weeks; it will continue throughout the summer and into next winter, and the Government will have to engage in a continuous programme of importing fodder because next winter there will not be enough to feed the animals. The Acting Chairman may fear I am straying from the point, but I am not. This Bill plans for the future through budgeting for the future and these budgets are for all sectors of society. The issue of the farmers was described as being silly this morning, and when the issue of the contractors - who were here today, and we are very glad they were - was raised it was also described as silly. It was a low day to see a senior respected member of the Cabinet using such words on a continuous basis. It would not happen on a sheep dipping committee that a member would shout at another that he was being silly. We will see who is silly in the future.

Of course a debt write-off was required. We took our eye off the ball and gave too much for too little. That is why we are in the mess we are in and why young couples, the people I think of from when I start in the morning to last thing at night because, like other Deputies, I deal with them, are saddled with insurmountable debts and live in houses that cost €300,000 or €400,000 but that, if they were sold tomorrow, would not make €100,000. For the next 30 or 40 years these people will pay massive mortgages and will never have the luxury of having disposable income. The Acting Chairman, Deputy Tommy Broughan, is a politician with an extremely thoughtful conscience and I see him in his office until 10 p.m. or 11 p.m. working in a very diligent manner. Like many of us, he has these people firmly in his heart. They will never have the comfort of having a spare €500 to treat themselves or their children. They will never have this luxury because they will have a continuous battle with the budget.

Deputy McGrath mentioned the smoke that was to fly up into the sky when the bondholders were burned. What happened to this? It was another false promise, like all the others by the Government, which has now been in office for more than two years. The Government has failed miserably because it has broken the commitments it made and continuously removes itself from reality.

The centralising of services was supposed to save us money, but decentralising the medical card system removed the community welfare officers from the process. They had an intimate knowledge of the people in their areas and could work in conjunction with local representatives to deal swiftly with those in urgent need of medical cards. Drivers' licenses were also centralised and taken from local authorities, which had given excellent service. What will this eventually do to local authorities? It will cost jobs. Those in employment are not being let go, but when they retire, get sick or die they will not be replaced. These jobs will be gone from locations throughout the country.

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