John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to have an opportunity to contribute to the debate on the spring economic statement. The response over the past 24 hours to yesterday's announcement has been interesting and intriguing. For the past four years, the Government has been dealing with a financial crisis the like of which has not been seen before in the history of this State. The economic war of the 1930s and the recessions of the 1970s and 1980s did not come after a period of full and plenty which, in spite of this, saw resources being frittered away, thousands of houses built in the wrong place and so on. In my former job as a teacher, I saw young people leaving school in second or third year during the Celtic tiger period for construction jobs in which they could earn €600 or €700 per week. Two or three years later, with those jobs now gone, they were left with no qualifications and, in many cases, having to emigrate.

It is important to keep in mind the events surrounding the arrival of the members of the troika. We were initially told they were not coming, then they arrived and, after that, they came every three months to mark us on our performance in sorting out the financial crisis. There was genuine fear, uncertainty and confusion among the public and politicians alike. People were wondering what the best way forward might be or even if there was a way forward. As a result of the understanding and patience of the Irish people and the prudent decisions that were taken in recent years, using job creation as a central plank and with a focus on restructuring and improving how we do public business, hope, confidence, stability and our credibility abroad have been restored. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, were allowed to find wiggle room to devise a positive way forward.

Trying to achieve success is one thing, and it presents a range of challenges and requires a range of responses and decisions, many of them entailing sacrifice. Coping with growth and even the moderate type of success we have at the moment - the recovery remains fragile and a lot of work remains to be done - presents a whole range of different challenges. The ideal scenario for everybody in this House would be for all pay reductions to be rowed back on and all cutbacks and savings, whatever one wants to call them, to be restored immediately. However, we must take on board the lessons of the past. Whatever is done must be done in a structured and responsible way, giving priority to the needs of the most vulnerable, including the elderly, people on lower and middle incomes, the disabled and so on. In introducing the spring statement yesterday, the Government painted a picture of what is available to enable us to do some of the things we want to do. We all would have suggestions as to what should take precedence, but most of us will agree that the most vulnerable sectors of our society and lower-paid and middle-income people should be the first to be dealt with. Measures that may be small in monetary terms, such as the provision of a telephone allowance or free electricity units, for instance, are of major concern to elderly people and should be restored as soon as possible.

The issues facing small businesses have been referred to by speakers on all sides. The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, has prioritised supports for small business in the Action Plan for Jobs for 2015. That prioritisation must be continued and intensified in every way possible. There will be no announcements on the television about the jobs created in the small business sector, but that is how we go about putting a few extra shillings in people's pockets and restoring their confidence. I expect to see some of the concerns facing the SME sector being addressed in the budget in October. We have been talking about these issues for long enough; it is time now to take action. I attended a meeting last week of small business owners where there was much discussion around the lack of social welfare entitlements for the self-employed. The Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, is examining this issue, and I urge that it be addressed as a matter of priority. People should be incentivised to take risks and where their business does not succeed, should be entitled to some form of social protection.

Reference was made to the procurement of State and semi-State contracts. We all accept that the Government has had to find savings in recent years, but that should not be done at the expense of local businesses which find themselves unable to tender for local projects because of the rules and regulations that are in place. We might save money nationally with that approach but it is important to have a mind to protecting local jobs and local businesses. There should be some flexibility included in those arrangements to reflect that concern.

The spread of the recovery is an extremely important factor. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, referred to farming, which is relevant to people the length and breadth of the land. There are various challenges for the different types of farmers. Productivity must be supported, but we also must help people who are restricted in what they can do. Tourism is another sector that requires support. We have seen straws in the wind in recent weeks with the announcement of the opening of an Apple plant in Athenry and the construction of a fibre-optic cable between Killala Bay in Mayo and New York. We must put in place the infrastructure that will ensure the recovery can take hold across all regions. It is crucial that we see that happening in the coming months and years.

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