Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Old politics are back. However, I welcome the opportunity to speak on the budget. Listening to some of the contributions, one would think that some of the contributors never had an opportunity to be part of the Government, to shape policy and to make a difference, which is what I always believed we were all elected to do. I have said many things about Fianna Fáil over the years but at least its members had the bottle to ensure that the country has a Government. Others sat on the fence or ran a mile when the opportunity of having some level of responsibility arose. Those same people are now pontificating about what should or could be done. When they had the chance to act, however, they did not take it. I hope the people will remember that the next time they go to the ballot box and that they will recall those who stood up to be counted when the chips were down.

All budgets in the history of the State have been far from perfect. However, we have come a long way from where we were in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012. The first budget when I became a Member of the House was that introduced in 2012. Some of the measures it contained were extremely difficult. Desperate hardships were endured by the people of this country for a number of years as a result of the crisis in which we found ourselves. If I had been asked in 2011 if I would accept a budget such as that which will apply in 2017, I absolutely would have done so. We have come a long way in a relatively short period. Five or six years ago, people thought it would take us ten or 20 years to reach our current position. We have a long way to go but the progress that has been made must be acknowledged. Thankfully, the country is going in the right direction. It is far from perfect. We face huge issues and a huge amount of catching up must be done - we probably have to catch up on a decade of under-investment - but we have come a long way and hopefully we can continue on that trajectory and build on the progress made in recent years to ensure that every citizen feels the benefits of that progress.

I consider a number of measures contained in the budget to be positive. One is the retention of the 9% VAT rate for tourism and hospitality businesses. Its introduction was one of the most proactive and positive measures by a Government in the history of the State. When it was introduced in 2011 it drew a great deal of criticism and opposition. It is a measure that reached every rural community in the country. It was one of the most pro-rural measures ever from a Government. The benefits are clear to see. It was largely responsible for kick starting the tourism industry in 2011 when it was going through a terrible time. Other measures, such as the development of the Wild Atlantic Way, The Gathering and the scrapping the airport tax, were very helpful. However, the 9% VAT rate was effectively a cut of one third in the VAT rate businesses had to pay. Other labour intensive industries benefited from it, such has hairdressers whose jobs are in every community in the country, but it was primarily tourism and hospitality businesses that benefited.

It has been under scrutiny in recent years and there was much pressure from certain quarters to abolish it. Much of that pressure came from people who cannot see beyond the M50 and Dublin. It was a lifeline for businesses in the regions, and particularly those in rural areas. While competitiveness problems might be creeping back into the tourism industry, with many of the problems in respect of our competitiveness in tourism that killed the golden goose in the early 2000s being seen again, punishing people in a nationwide business for the sins of a few is not the way to go. I welcome the retention of the 9% VAT rate and reiterate my call to have it extended to residential construction activity. That would be proactive and help increase supply on the market, which is one of the big problems. I would also welcome an acceleration of the implementation of the renovation scheme, which I proposed to the Government over a year ago. I believe it would be a positive measure and would bring extra supply to the market, which is crucial.

I warmly welcome the increases in social welfare payments, particularly the €5 increase in weekly payments across the board. Again, a number of years ago it was probably unthinkable that we would be in a position to do the like in a few short years. I particularly welcome the fact that the money is being spread across the board and that a large number of people will benefit from it. There is also the increase of 10% in the Christmas bonus, which brings the payment to 85%. It is a massive help for people at a difficult time of the year. With prudent management of the economy and further progress, I hope there will be a further increase in forthcoming budgets for those recipients.

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