Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)

The withdrawal by the Minister for Finance in the Finance Bill of all the incentives for urban and rural renewal must be regarded as a response to the inefficiencies, incompetence and bad financial management associated with the schemes. We should note an editorial on the issue in a national newspaper today and the Government-commissioned report which detailed the poor information available about the costing of the schemes. We should be saddened that the Minister, in rescinding all but three of these schemes, is abolishing the rural renewal scheme. The people who benefited from this in rural Ireland were not the fat cats who benefited in urban areas, particularly those associated with the building industry.

If, as is stated, 43% of building inflation in the country is associated with these schemes——