Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

—on a Third World railway. Having travelled from Kilkenny on my way back from a meeting of the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body, I totally disagree with the Senator's opinion.

The suggestion that this country is in the same financial position as it was between 1977 and 1981 is false because our economic and financial fundamentals have never been so strong. I believe they will remain strong. The Seanad has only a formal legislative role in relation to Finance Bills and its input is, to all intents and purposes, a mere formality. Senators can help the legislative process, however, by deliberating on the Bill's provisions and giving advice on future developments.

The most important function of a Finance Bill is to enact the provisions of the budget. I am sure it will be pointed out tomorrow that the tax concessions provided in the Bill are well below indexation, whereas social welfare increases, which will be debated in the House later this evening, are slightly above indexation. The ESRI gave a positive analysis of the distributive impact of the budget and mentioned that those who will gain from it will be those in the bottom 40% of the population. There will be some losses at the higher end of the scale. The Minister mentioned that one of the budget's objectives – one with which I agree – is to retain low tax rates. It is terribly important, in the interests of employment, to ensure that our tax system remains competitive. Our tax system was hopelessly uncompetitive for much of the past 25 years.