John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)

I move:

That Seanad Éireann calls on the Government to implement a new economic stimulus package by establishing a state holding company called the New Economic and Recovery Authority to oversee targeted investment in a series of key infrastructural areas designed to generate 100,000 jobs over the next four years, while also re-structuring existing Government agencies dealing with these areas.

The NewERA will oversee investment in:

green energy power generation, including electric transport

next generation broadband roll-out

upgrading water distribution and treatment works

Unlike investments financed by the taxpayer, the New ERA investments will not count as Government expenditure as they will be financial investments seeking a commercial rate of return.

An additional €11 billion in investment funds will be managed by the NewERA, on top of the outstanding €7 billion worth of NDP projects in the relevant areas.

The NewERA will be funded from a contribution of sources, including:

the National Pensions Reserve Fund

additional forms of borrowing by the NewERA and

sale of existing state assets no longer serving the strategic goals of the NewERA initiative, subject to Oireachtas approval.

I welcome the Minister of State, who is a regular visitor to his former haunt. I am glad to have the opportunity to discuss the motion. Fine Gael has published four detailed policy proposals over the past four weeks, despite Senator Leyden's assertion on the Order of Business that the Opposition had no policies. We are positively brimful of policy over the past number of weeks. This policy was published last week by Deputy Coveney, our spokesperson on communications, energy and natural resources in the Dáil. It outlines a plan of action for direct stimulation of a number of key areas in the economy going forward.

The House has had a number of detailed debates in recent months on our economic position and more will follow in the next few months. The Government will have to examine two key issues, among others, in the context of next week's budget and its policy going forward. The first is job protection, to which Senator Butler referred on the Order of Business, and the other is job creation. Fine Gael considers that the Government needs to focus its attention on these issues over the next week, in particular, in drafting the budget. This proposal is our effort to unveil a specific targeted policy for job creation in the medium term. Over the past ten years, expertise was developed in construction, engineering and related fields and we are in danger of haemorrhaging this expertise over the next few years unless the Government makes a serious effort to replace jobs, particularly in construction.

Fine Gael proposes a new economic and recovery authority under which 100,000 jobs will be created over the next four years in a number of key targeted areas relating to infrastructure such as the provision of broadband, improvements in the national grid, the provision of water and waste water treatment facilities and the provision of renewable energy and bioenergy sources. A number of detailed proposals are outlined in the motion.

The Government's amendment highlights its difficulty with investing money from the National Pension Reserve Fund, NPRF, in the Fine Gael initiative. The NPRF is an investment fund, which invests significantly overseas, and I do not know what the problem is with the fund making investments in the State at this juncture when a cash injection is needed to stimulate the economy to provide jobs into the future and ensure a commercial rate of return is achieved. The last thing Fine Gael wants is the establishment of a new quango. The new ERA will be a State holding company, which will oversee the existing portfolio of businesses in State control and the establishment of a number of key new businesses in areas not best served currently. It will not be a new quango or "a new HSE", as it was referred to last week. Its structure will be completely different from that of the HSE.

The authority will be based on the ideal of achieving a commercial rate of return. Moneys invested by the NPRF and raised privately or through the new national bond scheme proposed under this initiative will generate a commercial rate of return. This has the added benefit from the Government's perspective of removing a borrowing requirement from its books in providing a stimulus. Most countries in the developed world are in the process of implementing a stimulus package. Our current financial position means we cannot hope to provide such a package from the State's resources but money is available privately, which can be tapped into, and this proposal also seeks the setting up of a national bond scheme through which citizens will be able to invest. Their money will be guaranteed and they will receive a return on their investment. That will appeal to many people in a position to invest in such a scheme.

These proposals from Fine Gael come hot on the heels of proposals for Oireachtas reform, which were made some weeks previously, proposals for reform of the funding of third level education and proposals this afternoon for next week's budget and what Fine Gael would do to bridge the appalling gap in our public finances if it was in government.

We are undergoing an industrial transformation based on global warming and peak oil. The public realises that we must do our bit. Many of the investments under this initiative will be aimed at renewable and bio-energy. The Government's amendment states that six new State companies would be set up if this proposal were implemented. That is not the case because the proposal states specifically that several existing companies such as Coillte, Bord na Móna and the forestry research company would be amalgamated if it were put into practice and that other State companies, such as Bord Gáis, could be sold off resulting in a rationalisation of existing State provision as well as the creation of several new companies aimed at areas that badly need investment.

We have had a series of debates here on broadband since I came into this House. One of the companies that Fine Gael proposes to establish would aim to give 90% of the population access to next generation broadband. In my area there are places that do not have first generation broadband but this initiative is important to stimulate the economy and ensure that small local businesses have access to international markets and ensure the creation of several job opportunities.

The motion also contains a proposal to establish a new company called Irish water which would be responsible for ensuring the provision of safe, clean drinking water. I do not need to mention what happened in Galway a few years ago, and the same has happened in other parts of the country. The company would have responsibility for administering funding for waste water treatment.

Another initiative is the greener home bank which would help tens of thousands of homeowners to upgrade their energy supply and waste water standards. A crucial component of the proposal is a company called SmartGrid which would involve the investment of €3.3 billion in the electricity network and take over the role of ESB Networks. It would be split off from the ESB group. That needs to happen if we are serious about competition in the energy supply sector.

There is no reason that Ireland cannot become a world leader in green energy. Senator O'Toole spoke earlier today about the potential for green energy, particularly on the west coast, which holds some of the greatest ocean energy potential in the world. The Green Party spoke a great deal about this before entering Government and there are initiatives investigating that energy. It is waiting to be exploited and the Fine Gael proposal would see us embark on an ambitious new plan in that direction.

Another key component of the proposal is to power our cars with domestically produced renewable energy rather than spending billions of euro importing fossil fuels whose supply is uncertain both because the source is running down and because the supply chain is politically unstable. The Government should embrace this proposal.

Most of the potential for job creation in this proposal is in construction, engineering, scientific research, plumbing and electrical technicians, insulation and home energy experts, forestry maintenance and timber processing. Many of the existing sources of employment in those areas have been badly affected in recent months and it is necessary to provide alternative employment for the people who have lost their jobs in those sectors. My part of the world is not very different from that of the Minister of State at the Department of Finance, Deputy Mansergh. The Celtic tiger was a myth there, apart from construction-related employment. It did not exist for other sectors outside Dublin and its environs and other large urban areas. If we are serious about protecting the fabric of our society and the many people who live in rural communities we must ensure that they are able to get jobs, provide for their families and live in their communities.

The most worrying aspect of what has happened here in the past few months is that we might return to the days when young people had to leave the country for economic reasons. I know many people who have already left and many more who are contemplating leaving. I regret that the Government has not sought heretofore to discuss possible methods of job creation. We have talked a great deal about what we need to do to bridge the gap in our public finances but have not said enough about what we will do to create jobs in our economy. That is the only way we can pull ourselves out of the present economic mess, not by massive tax hikes across the board but by expanding the economy which has contracted dramatically in recent months.