Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Kitt. It is good to see him in the House.

The debate is on pre-budget statements and I will use it as an opportunity to point out the need to rein in spending and costs but also to look at opportunities for growth the Government should be grasping for the sake of the country. We have a €25 billion budget deficit and we are funding pensions out of the current revenues. That is unsustainable and needs to be examined. It has been likened to what Madoff was doing in the United States and he is now charged with criminal fraud. The budget introduced in 2008 has as good as unravelled in many areas. We need a plan for the future and I hope this will be the plan. As I mentioned on the Order of Business this morning I welcome the appointment of Dr. Alan Ahearne who gives the country much hope because he has sound judgment in the area.

In the context of the talks that have resumed between the Government and the social partners, I would like the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Kitt, to bring to the attention of the Taoiseach the absolute need for the social partnership model to be reformed to include the wealth-creating and job-creating sectors in this country, namely, the multinationals and small and medium enterprises. They represent 1.5 million people and unless they are at the partnership table we will not have the right model. They are the people who generate the revenues so we can afford our services, pay public servants and pay us. It is ridiculous to have them excluded from the table.

Lest anyone think it might, IBEC does not represent them. If it represented them it would not have agreed to an increase in the national wage agreement last September. We must be serious about devising a sustainable model for the future. I know the two good Senators opposite are very serious when it comes to the economy and I assume they will see merit in what I say. The current model of social partnership is one-sided. As a union member I admit that at times the union leadership has shown itself to be reckless and is in need of lessons in economics. The only way that knowledge will be enlarged at the social partnership table is when everybody in the workforce is included at the table.

I concur with Senator O'Toole's assertion that we must rein in our costs. The cost of electricity to industry is a huge inhibiting factor in our competitiveness, job creation potential and job protection. I urge the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Kitt, to please talk to the Minister about mandating the regulator to allow energy become more competitive. In Galway, the electricity bill of Boston Scientific, which employs 3,200 people, was increased by €3 million last October. That is ridiculous. Celestica's bill increased by €500,000 and it had to seek 80 redundancies. We do not want to risk good jobs and that is just in Galway alone. I urge the Minister to consider that issue.

Another area of job creation we could tackle without much money is the English language teaching sector. Currently, this country generates €500 million in this sector but if we had a more user-friendly visa system that was not so long and protracted we would be able to avail of revenues in line with the United Kingdom. It makes £12 billion from the English language training sector. Australia makes $6 billion and New Zealand makes $4 billion. It is billions we are looking for now. This is a missed opportunity because all we have to do is get our visa system in order.

The Minister of State, Deputy Michael Kitt, is a former teacher, as I am. We need to look again at education. We are faced with the prospect of losing 1,000 teachers from each sector, primary and secondary. I have done my sums. Most of the teachers who will lose their jobs at second level are new and part-time teachers. A part-time teacher has approximately 14 hours of teaching contact time and earns a salary of €25,000. When one factors in social welfare payments if they are made redundant and the loss of tax revenue the net differential is €2,354. Is it worth losing 1,000 teachers for such a saving?

Then one must consider the effect on the pupils. They will have reduced subject choice, which means they will be less happy and less capable and they will have reduced access to higher, ordinary and foundation levels. They will all be lumped in together. If we do that to our children we are looking at a disaster in terms of outcomes. They must be allowed to work to their level of competence and interest at second level outside of core subjects. The proposed change will result in more failure. That is the biggest issue.

Information and communications technology in schools is appalling. I said that at a committee meeting this morning. We are talking about developing a knowledge economy and an innovation society. If we are serious about that then we must look again at ICT. In this country there is one computer per 20 children. When I visited schools in the United Kingdom in November with the Joint Committee on Education and Science the situation there was one computer per 1.5 children. Who will have the competitive edge in the future?

A total of €252 million has been taken from the budget. I began by saying we must rein in spending but we must have priorities about where spending is more valuable to the nation in the future. Fine Gael has come up with a very good model for the higher education sector whereby we could get €500 million per year through a PRSI contribution cost to students after graduation and this would be ring-fenced for the higher education sector. I suggest that should be considered. I do not support the reintroduction of fees because they would fall on parents, many of whose jobs are threatened. Students would then lose out if parents could not afford to send them to college. We do not want to see more of these people joining the social welfare line.

The Minister of State, Deputy Michael Kitt, was at the IFA meeting in Athenry with me on Monday night. Part-time incomes in farming are currently €16,000 and a full-time income is €20,000. These are extremely low incomes. While many of the budget cuts unravelled since last October, those affecting farmers did not. Disadvantage payments and suckler cow payments have been cut and farmers must now pay an income levy on gross income. I do not believe that levy can stand up legally if tested. Income levy on a business, which farming is, must be on net income. I ask that the Minister take another look at that area. Above all, as the Minister of State heard on Monday night, there must be no cut to the REPS payment. That payment is central to farmers' incomes and to our protection of the environment and waterways. Contracts have been signed. I am aware contracts were signed with regard to farm waste management and that adjustments had to be made to these, but there must be no change to REPS payments. The suckler cow scheme is particularly important for west of Ireland farmers because they are small farmers. If a change is to be made in this area, a cap of 40 cows should be allowed before any cut is made.

The Minister of State may not have been watching the news in Britain, but the former head of Royal Bank of Scotland, Sir Fred Goodwin, is up for fraud. However, because the British Government has not done much to get him, the public has taken matters into its own hands and has attacked his home and his car. I am afraid this will happen here if we do not ensure people who have committed fraudulent acts are charged with fraud. I was astounded to hear disclosed at a committee the other day that AIB had been covering up charges. This was flagged by the internal auditor to the deputy regulator at the time, Mr. Patrick Neary, who had come from the Department of Finance, yet we only heard about it the other day.

In the interest of fairness and of the public, these issues must be cleared up. Average citizens must pay their bills. We must ensure that we do not let the fat cats who have ruined us get away.