John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to say a few words about the debate that has been before us for the last three days, which many would see as an extension of the recent Fine Gael and Labour Party Ard-Fheiseanna. It is totally unacceptable that the national Parliament would be used in such a way to promote the Labour Party and Fine Gael propaganda we have heard in the past three days. We have heard Minister after Minister competing with each other to give out what they perceive as the good news. The Ministers did not mention the fact that the prescription charge is being doubled and that medical cards and phone allowances have been withdrawn. The domiciliary care allowance is practically impossible to get approval for under the current Minister, home help hours have been cut and respite grants have been reduced. There have been savage cuts to services for people with disabilities and huge cuts to grants to county councils for housing aid for the elderly and other housing supports for people with disabilities. We have had reductions in the fair deal in my county. All these areas I mentioned affect the less well-off in our society. While the Government Ministers have claimed that they have managed to balance the books, it is very obvious that they have done so on the backs of the less well-off in our society.

Last Monday I attended a meeting in Wexford General Hospital for the help line to outline what was in store for us in Wexford. We were informed that the allocation to Wexford General Hospital will be reduced by €3 million and that home help hours available for Wexford in 2014 will remain as in 2013 despite the fact that the Minister for Health tells us we are an aging society. In Wexford, home help is available to people only if someone dies and the help that person had is passed on to a new applicant. That means people must remain in hospital much longer. It falls to economics, because it costs much more to keep a person in hospital than it would to make home help available for one or two hours per day or per week. I have had many representations from people with disabilities. They seem to be very severely hit, particularly in the lack of money for housing and upgrades to housing.

In Wexford, and I am sure it is the same in every other county, very few, if any, council houses are being built under the Government. In the past few weeks the Minister of State with responsibility for housing, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, and the Government have said they will kick start the building industry and allocate allowances to councils for social housing. I certainly hope that will happen because now, unless houses are handed up by residents, no houses are available for the ordinary consumer. In this area there are many false economies and wastage of money. The rental accommodation scheme, RAS, has cost millions of euro. There are other schemes, and at the same time people are not able to avail of a local authority house. This should be near and dear to the Labour Party and the Minister of State with responsibility for housing. I hope there will be an allocation of money sooner rather than later to local authorities to build or buy houses for the thousands of people on their housing lists. I also hope extra moneys will be available for housing aid for the elderly and other similar schemes.

Before he left, the Minister, Deputy Jimmy Deenihan, mentioned the 1916 commemoration. I remind him that 1916 does not all revolve around Dublin. Enniscorthy was very much at the heart of the 1916 Rising. We had Captains Thomas Weafer and Séamus Rafter and the famous meeting when the leaders of the 1916 Rising came to Enniscorthy and addressed a gathering outside the Athanaeum there. If there is funding available for Dublin, I hope a relative amount would be available for towns such as Enniscorthy that played a significant role in the fight for freedom. Going back to 1798 and Vinegar Hill, Enniscorthy has a history of republicanism and of being at the vanguard of the fight for freedom in this country. I ask the Minister of State, Deputy Sean Sherlock to remind the Minister, Deputy JImmy Deenihan of this. I have already written to the Minister to ensure funding is available for commemorations in Enniscorthy and other parts of the country.

Although the Minister of State, Deputy Sean Sherlock, is at the forefront of this, I remind him of the importance of science, technology and research. We have had an excellent base from which to make further progress. Some two thirds of Ireland's research and development is in the private sector, creating new product and service innovations that will drive exports, growth and jobs. Productive, high-calibre research undertaken by highly skilled research teams working closely with industry partners must continue to be a priority. The research and development tax credit is a function of increases in expenditure using 2003 as the base year of comparison. The incremental approach needs to be reviewed in light of pressure on company budgets. To encourage investment in the sector all research and development in a two-year period should be eligible for tax credits subject to EU competition approval.

It is also important to encourage the widest possible uptake of the research and development tax credit. Revenue and Enterprise Ireland should actively target the Irish SME sector with a user-friendly information guide on how the relief works. That is important. Many major companies are availing of the research and development tax credit but I am not sure about some of the companies in the Irish SME sector. I support what the Minister of State, Deputy Sean Sherlock, is doing in that area. Perhaps he could improve the terms and conditions available to companies.

The agrifood sector is one of the major success stories of the previous Government and this Government. The combination of thriving family farms and world-leading food production companies has the potential to be a key element in the economic recovery. We have seen that over the last two or three years. Food Harvest 2020, which was initiated by the last Fianna Fáil Government, has been taken on board by the current Government. It is a tremendous opportunity for the development of the agrifood, fisheries and forestry sector. Some of the experts say there is potential in a short period of time to create at least 4,000 jobs.

The abolition of the milk quotas in 2015 will be an ideal opportunity greatly to expand output from this sector. It will cost a lot for farmers who have not been in milk production to get into it.

They will probably need a substantial amount of grant aid and support in this area. I read recently comments from a Teagasc expert who maintained it would cost between €500,000 and €750,000 for a farmer to get into viable milk production when the quota is abolished. That is a significant amount of money that would not be available to younger farmers; perhaps, therefore, the Government should consider a low-interest scheme for farmers to get involved with milk production, as we could create jobs in the area. I ask the Minister of State to ensure the agricultural sector is adequately looked after.

Youth unemployment is another major problem in my county, and I am sure it is replicated in other counties. Many young people were in the building industry because the money was good and opportunities were plentiful. They left education at a very young age to enter that industry but now these people are 23, 24 or 25 and they have few skills. It is important that we look at training in order to reskill such people and make funding available for that. The old FÁS schemes and companies provided training, but in many cases this was done in areas where job opportunities were not available. It is important that future education and training should upskill people for viable industries such as farming, fishing, tourism and other areas where there are job opportunities.

We must tackle youth unemployment. People in Europe discuss how funds are available but they seem to be trickling down very slowly. People on both sides of the House should put their heads together to focus on tackling youth unemployment in this country, as the high numbers out of work are unacceptable.

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