Ulick Burke (Fine Gael)

I thank Senator O'Toole for sharing his time. I welcome the Minister to the House and I welcome many aspects of the Finance Bill and the last budget, in so far as they have reduced the PAYE burden, as well as the tax take in general. In that regard, is it possible to find some mechanism for people who have overpaid their tax? I refer to those who are not particularly vigilant and are not aware that they may have done so. The recent statistics provided by the Department of Finance show that millions of euro, which are properly due to be repaid to the taxpayers, still remain with the Revenue Commissioners.

Over the years, I have often requested that a valuable and worthwhile tax incentive for the upper Shannon region should be extended to the middle and lower Shannon regions. The scheme gave new life to the upper Shannon area, particularly to County Leitrim. It would also give new life to the areas adjoining Lough Derg and particularly to east Galway. The results of a report have shown that the highest percentage of real poverty in Ireland still exists there. I hope the Minister will consider this possibility in the future. If the middle Shannon area was to receive the benefit of the same kick-start which was given to the upper Shannon region, it could lead to development and to an increase in the income of many people there. At present, incomes in the area are low.

In the few minutes which remain to me, I want to raise the question of the introduction of stealth taxes. I refer to increases in electricity bills and increases by local authorities. At present, one of the most pressing issues is that local authorities are introducing increases for services charges, some of which will never be provided by them. While the Minister has provided property-based tax reliefs in the budget, local authorities have clawed them back, particularly in the area of planning, for service charges, parking, amenities and so on. At present, local authorities do not know where to stop and someone in the Government should call a halt to it once and for all.

I also wish to mention the Government's present financing of the Department of Agriculture and Food. Proportionally, this has decreased substantially in recent years. While the single payments that now constitute part of agriculture were to be straightforward and simple, that is not the case. I know this is not part of the Minister's brief, but significant numbers of people are without such contributions thus far this year in respect of last year's payments, and have not yet been paid. Something must be done in this respect, as well as to recognise agriculture to some degree. While it will never again be the primary industry, the present rate of the flight from the land in the Minister's constituency and my adjoining constituency will inevitably lead to a deserted area. I ask the Minister to consider the Government's commitment to agriculture by providing financial support to keep young people on the land. At present, many young people do not consider the installation grant to be worth applying for because of the hassle involved.