Alan Kelly (Labour)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. My party will facilitate the passage of this Bill. This is a time also to reflect on the budget. I welcome the unified approach to the budget this year and spending in specific areas, including the national development plan.

I was intrigued to hear the previous speaker say that economics is not an exact science because some Ministers speak as if they knew the exact figures. The ESRI has been nearly always more accurate in recent years. We will have to wait and see whether the spending and revenue will be in line as the Minister says, although I doubt they will. We are heading into stormier waters and it is accepted that growth rates in this country will be above comparable European rates. However, we should compare like with like on the basis of the growth Ireland has had and examining trends is the most useful method of measurement.

There is a large difference between the views of the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, which predicts growth of 2.3% and the Government, which predicts growth of between 2.9% and 3%. There are also significant differences in predicted unemployment rates and this is worrying for a number of reasons. People have made a variety of comments on stormy waters ahead regarding pay awards and so on.

On the Order of Business, I mentioned comments made by FÁS and I share Senator Ross's sentiments regarding that organisation as I believe it has significant problems including a terrible industrial relations record. FÁS conducted a survey of the Irish labour market and its comments in this regard are startling. It suggests that we must examine the minimum wage but the way we approach this matter reflects our society and is very positive. Many argue that the minimum wage is not high enough and I do not think we should debate its reduction. FÁS's outlook may signal where the country is heading.

I welcome the increase in certain areas of national development plan, NDP, spending but I take issue with the air of self-congratulation evident in various Government speeches regarding parts of the budget. The Government has congratulated itself on a 1% reduction in the primary school pupil-teacher ratio but I do not believe this is warranted because, as someone married to a teacher, I do not believe it will come to pass.

I agree with Senator Twomey on the issue of health care and believe the statement was coded in fairly specific language. It states, "waiting times for most common procedures have been reduced to between two and five months". This could mean anything as a reference to "most common procedures" says nothing. Besides, the statement is neither realistic nor true.

We have spoken of provisions for mental health on many occasions in the House and a number of professionals in the area have said the budget provision in this regard is not adequate. There is a crisis in this area and I hope the Government examines this topic again early next year as it must be addressed.

I have spoken to the Minister of State previously regarding provisions for decentralisation as I genuinely do not know where this programme is going. I have read the reports but I am still confused about this matter, particularly regarding State agencies.

The area of tourism is often not examined when it comes to provisions for the year and I have a special interest in it as I am the Labour Party spokesperson on this subject. I spent two hours with the chief executive of Tourism Ireland yesterday and was intrigued by his views on the future of tourism, the spending required of Government and the areas most in need of funding. I will contact the Minister regarding the areas that require increased spending to make us more competitive. There have been increases in spending but they were very modest. We must examine the US tourist market as this will see increased competition next year due to the fall in the value of the dollar. The issue of access is important and we have been promised on a number of occasions provisions for Shannon Airport to promote regionalisation and access to the west, whether through the open skies agreement or the assessment of the impact of Aer Lingus changing its service in the region. I would like to see direct provisions in this regard because, while resources have been set aside, we do not know the actual amount. We need information in this respect and generally should examine areas that will make us competitive in the field of tourism.

The Government has been self-congratulatory regarding social welfare and there were some good points in the budget in this regard but, as far as I am concerned, the tax code still discriminates against families. The child care threshold of €15,000 is still in place and I think this is unacceptable but I find the fact that Ministers are congratulating themselves on granting an extra week in the area of fuel allowance hilarious. On that note I wish everyone a happy Christmas.