Michael Fitzmaurice (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Accountants are quoting fees of €450 per employee in respect of the extra work they will have to do. We must bear in mind that it is more paperwork for them. What is proposed will cripple small businesses. Some of them might already be paying accountants between €1,200 and €1,500. This will double or increase even further if a business has three or four employees. It will be a major problem for businesses such as hairdressers and also nursing homes that have 15 to 20 employees.

In the context of the hotel sector, and as the previous speaker noted, it is a case of "You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't". There is a hotel boom in Dublin but there will not be too many people looking for bed and breakfast accommodation on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday nights in most small rural towns. I accept that it is difficult to achieve a balance; it is like a weighing scales. Dublin is doing fairly well. A person would struggle to get a room in the city at night. I am aware that something of the order of €460 million or €470 million will be taken in and that there will be €45 million or €46 million coming back off this, but it will have an effect on those small businesses. I do not know the ins and outs of the situation but I would have preferred a bed tax whereby we could have hit the establishments that are booming and protected those in smaller rural areas.

There are good aspects to the budget. I am not going to say that everything about it is bad. I welcome the measures for pensioners and the fact that the self-employed are getting nearer to the target, although it should have been reached it before this budget. At least we are getting there.

Ireland exports €12 billion worth of agricultural products. Agriculture was the backbone when everything else hit a wall. Some €73 million is being provided in respect of normal agricultural initiatives. However, an additional €103 million or €104 million is to be provided in respect of forestry. That will cause raised eyebrows because forestry does not bring in €12 billion per year. Those in rural areas, for example, beef farmers in the midlands, are going to suffer as a result of Brexit. The cattle sector is shaky enough at present and some of those involved in it would have part-time jobs with Bord na Móna. In that context, the announcement earlier about lay-offs at the company came as a bolt out of the blue. Has anyone ever asked whether we could put the jigsaw about which we are dreaming together? We are going to take 1.5 million tonnes of peat out of production as part of so-called decarbonisation, even though the ESB paid €20 per carbon credit for everything it used. I heard reports about what this was doing to the environment. The ESB was probably the only company in Ireland whose operations were carbon neutral, particularly when one considers what it bought each year. I am concerned about the small farmers and those struggling to raise beef cattle or suckler cows who have part-time jobs with Bord na Móna.

What is in place for them for next year? Has this been accounted for?

At the same time, we are talking about reducing imports. The Corrib gas field is at its peak this year. In 2025, it is expected to be gone. We have decided to reduce 1.5 million tonnes of milled peat and, at the same time, we will have to import it. Some people in the House have spoken about reducing our imports but it will be money going out of the country, people losing jobs and not working in rural areas. That is not good. One can have task forces and other things but it remains a worry for the future.

In agriculture, I have always said suckler cow farmers need more money. I am not saying the €40 allowance per cow in the budget is no good, but it will not save the suckler cow. We need to ensure that family farms are protected.

The Minister has made adjustments to tax. There are many people in middle Ireland who others might think are fairly well off, earning €40,000, €50,000, €55,000 or even €60,000. Those people might have kids in college and a high mortgage. They are the new poor in this country. They pay for everything and are entitled to nothing. That is a problem. I am meeting them day in and day out. I was just on the phone to such a family, and I would have hoped there would have been some alleviation for those people in the Finance Bill. They are losing farms. I spoke to people tonight who live in a western county. There is a receiver going in to them, even though they had an agreement, but Ulster Bank never gave them the letter and Promontoria will appoint a receiver and add more cost to it. There is nothing to facilitate those people. The figures in their case are about €230,000 or €240,000. There is nothing to facilitate those people to try to save their livelihood and live in that area. That is a major problem. I would have hoped there would have been something for them in the Finance Bill. We have been talking about that in this House forever and a day but nothing seems to change.

While there is extra money put towards housing in the Bill, we are not able to spend the money that we have in housing. We are tied up in red tape, policy documents, planning issues and we cannot get to the point of putting bricks and mortar into the ground. We can throw nearly any figure at the problem but we are not able to attain what we need to be spent.

The other thing coming down the line that I do not see much provided for it is the need to get more apprenticeships up and running. I do not see a carrot being dangled for that. While we talk about building houses, we nearly need them to build themselves because of the shortage of machine drivers to dig the ground, pipe layers, bricklayers and plasterers. That problem has been flagged for a few years. There were many of them during the boom, but they got disgusted and went to other employment and they are not going back into it. We have almost lost a generation. We need to focus on that.

I would prefer to keep costs down than to throw money at something. Affordable housing should be prioritised. I know the Minister has spoken about it. It needs to be driven at a faster pace. We are reaching a situation where a house is out of the reach for youngsters working in what I call front-line services. They will need more money. I built a normal house on my own site in 1999 for €50,000 or €60,000. If I say that to someone now, they will ask if it was a tent I put up. If house prices keep going up, wages will have to go up. This is how to redden an economy and leave it in a dangerous position. The front-line staff, such as nurses, gardaí and young teachers, are crucified, especially in Dublin and the main cities. They deserve to have a life and a house, the same as anyone else. It is a damnable thing to say that sometimes it might not pay to work. It should be made very attractive for those people to work, no matter where they are.

I welcome the funding for the N20 from Cork to Mallow and also for Collooney. I talked to the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport yesterday. Balanced regional development is in the programme for Government and I spoke about it yesterday. We need to get the trans-European transport network, TEN-T, up and running for the western arc railway. We also need dual carriageways for the north, south, east and west of Ireland. Deputy Ó Cuív has spoken about this for many years. I am not only talking about one area. All areas should have the same opportunity. The road from Dublin to Galway has made Galway accessible.

The Finance Bill also mentions climate change. So-called environmentally friendly buses for Bus Éireann will cost 20% more, even if they are environmentally friendly and research is now proving to the contrary. There will be eight buses where previously there were ten from the same budget, so the budget has to increase by 20%. It will cost something like €3 billion for Iarnród Éireann to put electric lines down to run the trains. Do we have that type of money to spend? I question that. I worry that parts of the country will be left behind.

Returning to the roads, I know Collooney is mentioned in the budget, and that is good. Part of the N5 project is going to An Bord Pleanála. We need to drive this on as quickly as possible to ensure we try to attract more businesses to rural parts of Ireland to try to help them.

It is disappointing that there is no plan for a light rail system in Galway. That is required.

I note from the budget that the Minister spoke about investment in Dublin Port, Cork Port and Foynes. The Minister might remember there is also a port in Galway that could do with a few euro to ensure we could bring in ships and cruise liners. Farther along the coast, there is also Killybegs. We should not forget about the northern part of the country. I would have hoped some funding would have been given to that.

I welcome money for overlay at Knock airport.

Knock airport needs the connection of a good road from Tuam to Sligo. When people turn out now on any part of that motorway, there is motorway all the way to Shannon, which is great and appreciated, but they tend to go on the good road rather than the road that is tougher. We need to ensure we give equal status to all the airports around the country.

There are many houses left vacant in smaller towns, which may help alleviate problems in larger towns and cities. If someone can show they are willing to sign up to go there and stay for a few years, the local authority should be able provide some funding mechanism to do up a house and the person then pays it back through rent. I am not saying they should get it for nothing.

Unless we dangle the line of a tax credit for some of the smaller towns that are losing population there will continue to be pressure for more schools, hospitals and other infrastructure in the cities, making them struggle. We need to do something. I made one suggestion to the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government that we do it on a points basis so that if a person moves to a different area while they are on a social housing list they should go to the top of the pile quicker which provides an incentive.

If the Minister takes note of nothing else I say, he should note this. What is happening with the self-employed is causing a lot of trepidation. I am talking about small businesses and not multinationals which can employ people to complete forms etc. Many small and medium-sized businesses that contact us are fearful of what has to be done. Every two weeks they have to complete all this paperwork and send it in. Many of them have openly said that a big company that is making plenty of profits might have someone there twiddling their thumbs. However, if one is basically just keeping the door open between rates and the different taxes that one pays, it is a struggle to have this thrown in on top. It may be something that has not been foreseen. I am not blaming anybody. However, when a problem comes before a person, they try to alleviate it or solve it rather than maybe closing a door. I know there is much uncertainty about Brexit and this on top of it has put a lot of worry on small businesses in villages.

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