Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I concur with the concerns expressed about the manner in which this debate was organised and the lack of time for a proper consideration of the paper presented. The context of the debate is the general election in which it was very clear there that was zero connection between the vast majority of the people of the country and the macroeconomic figures laid out in the document which is about to be submitted to the Commission in Brussels. The daily lives of families, small businesses, farmers and communities, both in this city and rural areas, are utterly disconnected from the fairy book story laid out in the document before us. This Dáil needs to commit itself collectively to ensuring the disconnect and alienation among communities, families and small businesses from these macroeconomic figures is dealt with. Otherwise, it will completely fail in its mandate, whatever side one is on in the economy.

In the context of the deal to form a Government, I will express a personal concern. There is a lot of speculation that the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is about to be re-merged with the Department of Finance. I strongly caution against this. The focus on expenditure and particularly public service reform will not be served by bringing it back into the Department of Finance, a Department that wants to control everything and justify nothing and which has a tradition and culture of secrecy, as we have seen here today, as well as of exercising utter control and showing a lack of a connection with real problems.

Second, we have had a debate on health and the many areas in which considerable resources are being invested. There is a need for more resources, but there is also a need to examine how resources are being spent. I believe taking public service reform away from its parent Department and returning it to the Department of Finance, perhaps under the control of a Minister of State, will not work. I was that Minister of State at one time. It will not work unless it is connected to a senior Cabinet Minister and there is some comprehension on the part of the parent Department of the need for the investment of resources and to see where they are going.

While I have huge respect for the acting Minister, Deputy Richard Bruton, I believe he has not heard the message from the electorate on the disconnect between the previous Government and what is happening in people's daily lives. Yes, it is fine to send these flash documents to Brussels. However, people are not seeking pay rises. They seek fairness. They want to know that if they go to an emergency department, they will not have to remain there for 36 hours waiting for a trolley and that if they require surgery, they will not have to wait two years for it. They want to know that they will be treated with fairness, equality and respect in the many public services available. That is the greatest risk and it is not outlined in the document. Because of where it is being sent, it will not outline that the societal risks of this pursuit of the economic model being pushed on us by the ECB are greater than any economic risk. I have said it previously and will repeat it now that the European Commission is failing completely in its remit. It has handed over any sense of a social obligation to the ECB. It is time that all those us who care about the European Union and the European project and who value what it has done brought the Commission back to representing and standing up for the people of the Union.

With regard to the risks involved, many Deputies have spoken about the need for increased capital expenditure. That is agreed across the parties. We need houses and greater investment in infrastructure because we need both the infrastructure and the employment potential it creates. Along with it we must also start to invest immediately in human infrastructure. There is no sense in outlining and agreeing a housing and infrastructure investment programme when we are gutting the apprenticeship expenditure programme. We will scramble again, as happened in the early 2000s, to find people to fill roles and jobs if we ignore the talent available by ignoring young apprentices. We also must re-imagine apprentices and bring people with those talents who are older and might not normally be the target of an apprenticeship programme into it to use their old talents and give them the chance to refresh. Unless we provide or redirect funding and resources into an education system focused on apprenticeships and training for skills, we will not get value for money when rolling out housing and infrastructure programmes because we will be scrambling for labour to build them. That is the first thing that must be done in terms of an apprenticeship programme.

We must have a proper internship scheme. I refer to the revelations in the Sunday Business Postlast weekend about the JobBridge programme. Many Deputies have been speaking about this issue for some time and I acknowledge the work the former Senator and now Deputy David Cullinane has done on it. Last weekend the JobBridge programme was exposed for what it was, but an internship scheme can be good. One can gain good experience if employers are willing to deal with it properly. We must examine the cohort of people who are long-term unemployed and give them the skills they need to take part in the recovery. Again, there is a disconnect between the fiscal figures and getting the long-term unemployed, particularly those who are older, back into some role with their skills, life skills and life experiences in terms of a recovery that means something to them and their families.

With regard to communities and small businesses, there is a focus on exports, with which the Minister, Deputy Richard Bruton, continued. That is good and we have good infrastructure in place. However, we are still not joining the dots for small businesses in services and retail that are continuing to struggle. Yes, the service industry is thriving in Dublin 2, Dublin 4, Dublin 6 and the city centre, but when one leaves those confines, it becomes progressively weaker. It is still not strong because money is still not in people's pockets and there is no confidence. We cannot ignore the 300,000 people who are working in the retail industry. We are struggling to get our heads around providing a future for them in the face of competition on the Internet. In ignoring the retail industry we are ignoring the future of small communities in cities and rural areas. If there are to be vibrant communities, be they in the villages of this city or in rural areas, there must be a retail sector that thrives and has a role. We must provide support to ensure the retail sector has a future because that is a threat to community stability as we continue to struggle with providing a future for communities. Again, it is not a threat in the view of the European Central Bank, but it should be in terms of the long-term threat to the country.

What is not included in the document is very important. Several Deputies have referred to the health system, including the mental health system, housing issues and the collapse in communities. That is what we must include in the document. That is how a proper document would look in the context of outlining the stability of a nation as opposed to the stability of the books. The stability of a nation is much more important and it is more fundamentally our role as legislators. That is also the message the electorate gave us at the end of February. A macro recovery that means nothing to people in their homes, communities, businesses and farms is nothing unless it comes with societal responsibility and is felt in these homes, businesses and farms. While people are struggling to access basic health, mental health and education services in so many facilities, they will not be happy with a recovery or the notion of a macro economic vision that ignores the reality of their lives.

See this speech in context