Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to say a few words on the budget, the first, hopefully, of a series of budgets that will start giving money back to people. As the previous speaker and the Minister have said, this is not by accident. It is because of the work we have done over recent years to correct our finances that we are in a position to do this. We have got our deficit under control. That is because of the growth in the economy in recent years which has occurred because of the series of measures introduced in the tourism and other sectors to boost growth.

I welcome some of the budget's taxation changes. Obviously, work must pay and the budget measures are designed to help working families, including raising the standard rate tax band by €1,000; cutting the top rate of income tax from 41% to 40%; and the changes in the USC reductions, including increasing the bands at which people become liable to pay the USC. Many people have an aversion to paying tax but especially the USC, which is regarded as a temporary tax, an austerity tax and even a Fianna Fáil tax. Over the forthcoming years it is important that we see a gradual reduction in the USC.

The pension levy has been used over a number of years to boost job growth and it has had a positive effect on the sectors for which it was used. We have seen growth in those sectors - tourism and hospitality. It has worked and it is now time to end that levy. I welcome the commitment that it will be abolished at the end of next year and reduced from 0.75% to 0.15% in 2015. In the area of social protection, there has been an increase in child benefit and we need to push on with the housing assistance payment which helps a person with housing costs. Unlike the rent supplement, something needs to be provided after a person takes up a job.

I have mentioned the tourism sector which is very important in my constituency, Galway West, and along the west coast. We have seen the success of the wonderful initiative that is the Wild Atlantic Way, introduced by the previous Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport. This has been hugely successful along the west coast. The 2015 edition of the Lonely Planet' guide has cited the Wild Atlantic Way as one of the "must see" places in the world, which will be very positive. The 9% VAT rate introduced in 2011 has been a huge success in terms of the hospitality and tourism sectors. There was a big campaign to retain it and I am very happy that it has been retained. As the Minister said, it is important that those reductions are passed on to consumers.

I also welcome the decision not to increase excise duty and its impact on the drinks industry. I raised this matter in the Dáil in the week before the budget. It is not that I am promoting alcohol or anything like that, but I cited the importance of supporting the retention of jobs and creating more jobs particularly in our rural pubs which in many ways form the mainstay of the tourism sector. They are also a focal point for rural areas in many of which the population is falling.

I welcome the funding for the sports capital grant which is very successful. One cannot have enough money for sports capital grants, which is highly sought finance. It is very important for clubs to put in place much-needed sports and community facilities.

The previous speaker mentioned housing. We have a housing shortage and we know that building houses creates jobs. Any initiatives that can boost and stimulate the construction sector are to be welcomed. I welcome the commitment of €2.2 billion for social housing in the coming years. It is very important that this money is provided. The home renovation initiative has been extended to tenants to allow them to renovate the houses they are letting up to the end of 2015. The standard of some of the accommodation in the rental market is not good enough. Hopefully this scheme will allow people to do up houses for that market. I also welcome the living city initiative, on which discussions with the EU are at an advanced stage, to help regenerate urban areas and safeguard architectural heritage in Galway and other cities. I commend the range of taxation measures in the agricultural sector to stimulate our most important primary indigenous industry.

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