Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

When an economic shock hits this country again, the first decision will not have to be to cut public expenditure or raise taxes. That is a scenario that we certainly want to avoid.

The risk of overheating is significant. If we look at the economy around us and the issues in terms of labour shortages, very noticeable trends in traffic and the difficulty in getting projects under way, it is evident that there are signs of it. We also have to be cognisant of the real risks that exist. The outturn from Brexit is a huge unknown with potentially very significant ramifications for our country. On the corporate tax front there are so many challenges. The growth in receipts is great but it is also a risk. We must be cognisant of the concentration of receipts among a small number of companies, the threats from the Trump Administration reforms, and the constant threats from the European Union in respect of the common consolidated corporate tax base, CCCTB, digital tax and so on. We are at the bottom of the interest rate cycle. We know quantitative easing, QE, is going to be unwound and do not know what the effect of that will be. We have a possible trade war. These are real risks. It is important to make the right decisions.

Absolutely, we have to deliver on the challenges facing our people. There is frustration at the lack of progress and delivery in the housing area. One of the provisions of the agreement we entered into two years ago was that there would be an affordable housing scheme. We have had various announcements of affordability measures but as of now we do not have an affordable housing scheme in this country and we are crying out for it. The people we represent really need to see that delivered and quickly. We need to see red tape and bureaucracy cut. Local authorities need to be allowed to get on with the job of delivering social housing units. When the Minister stood up last October and announced a new €750 million fund of private finance to facilitate construction, we welcomed it. We did expect that it would take eight months to publish the legislation and God only knows when the first euro of that money will start to be provided to enable construction to take place.

On health, we all know what the challenges are. We need to improve and increase capacity in the public system but the Government needs to increase resources in the National Treatment Purchase Fund as well, to make short-term progress in respect of waiting lists which have gone out of control and are not going in the right direction. That issue has to be dealt with.

There are really important cost of living issues of which the Government is losing control. The whole issue of insurance is becoming more important by the day, not just for motorists but for businesses the length and breadth of the country, community groups, sporting bodies and voluntary organisations. They are crippled with insurance costs. The issue needs to be dealt with, as does that of rent. That relates very much to the lack of supply on the housing front. Childcare, education and transport costs need to be addressed. When I look at the balance of our economy, I see that the Minister needs to focus on a renewed enterprise strategy in the indigenous economy. He needs to look at the challenges facing SMEs and, on the taxation front, he needs to consider specific measures to deal with that. We want to see longer term budgetary, economic and fiscal forecasts. At the moment they go out to 2021. We should see them covering at least five years and, at a lower level, we should see some forecasts out over a period of up to ten years.

We need to have an honest and open discussion in the months ahead about where our priorities lie. The Minister is already talking about income tax cuts before even talking about the really serious challenges that people are facing in housing and health. We must address where we are in terms of funding our education sector and third level. The Minister seems to be working backwards from a starting position that we have to cut tax. Let us look at the resources and the needs of our country and make the right decisions. Issues we have set out in the agreement include early assessment of children with special needs, intervention services, mental health funding and supports for older persons who wish to stay in the home. We will engage constructively over the next four months with the Minister, his officials and his colleagues in government to make the right decisions. It has to be a sensible and prudent budget but where individual budgetary decisions are made, they have to speak to the priorities and real issues that are facing people in their day-to-day lives.

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