Cecilia Keaveney (Fianna Fail)

There is no doubt this is a tough budget. However, what comes to my mind is the number of people who tell me they never gained from the Celtic tiger economy. Would the people who said that be missing what they are missing now if they had not been touched by the Celtic tiger economy in recent years?

There has been a startling change in people's expectations over the past decade. When we see the statistics for the tax rates and standard of living of a relatively short time ago we must recognise that where we have come to and are now is far ahead of where we were ten or 15 years ago. That is probably no comfort for people who are trying to get used to the new reality or to the young people who do not know a different reality.

I recall a conversation I heard on a radio programme about three years ago. The people were discussing the leaving certificate subjects and commenting that there was a huge reduction in the number of pupils studying German and a huge increase in the number studying Spanish. Somebody was asked the reason for that. They responded that in the 1980s people had to learn German because they had to go to Germany for jobs because of the recession in Ireland. Now, because people have a holiday home in Spain, they must be able to ask for their wine in Spanish. That encapsulates the change that occurred in a relatively short period. We went from a hand to mouth economy to one that was a European leader and almost world leader. That is probably the reason the change in circumstances has been so difficult for people.

The media could be a little more honest in their approach to this issue. Their solution is: "Get rid of all the politicians and we will have no problem." If they could string a few bankers up as well, it would be an addition. The difficulty with that is that the people advocating these measures, complaining about the Taoiseach's salary and comparing it with that of President Obama are on salaries that are multiples of either the Taoiseach's or the President's salaries. There should be a little more honesty on the part of the media in dealing with the situation and presenting the case.

I wish to discuss one of the more positive measures in the budget. It is not positive to see €1,100 taken out of people's pockets for children under five but it is important that preschool education is beginning to feature on the Government's agenda. It is something I have advocated for some time. I have always said that studying music is very important in developing a person's hand-eye co-ordination as well as their rhythm and vocal abilities. I hope the preschool education year will encompass extra support for the musical element in the service provision. Of all the subjects for children under five years of age, music will help language development, co-ordination and working together or team work. I could speak for considerably longer than ten minutes on this matter. I welcome the budget proposal.

I also welcome the 25 cent increase in the excise on cigarettes. The Minister made a mistake in his speech in the Dáil when he said the increase was 25%. I walked up Grafton Street that night and heard a row between a man and a woman on the subject. One of them said the Minister said 25% while the other said he had said 25 cent. Regardless, I think both people were happy with the increase. It is recognised that 70% of the population do not smoke and 70% of smokers want to give up, and the price is one of the key issues in how successful people are in doing so.

However, if we are increasing the price of cigarettes we must also examine the issue of the unauthorised or illegal importation of cigarettes. There was a shocking programme on this on RTE recently. A person who was caught with 20,000 cigarettes was fined only 13 cent. I believe the highest fine that has been imposed is €243. I ask whoever is responsible for this issue to talk to members of the Judiciary, assuming they are responsible for setting the penalties. If it is up to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, I ask him to deal with it. We cannot seriously address the illegal importation of cigarettes if the punishment does not fit the crime. It is a serious issue and must be dealt with.

Another issue is being dealt with in Donegal, and I commend Customs and Excise and the Revenue Commissioners in that regard. There is a clampdown on cars being brought into the county illegally without VRT being paid on them. A number of people are buying cheaper cars and legitimately bringing them across the Border. However, many people have never legitimately re-registered their cars. It became a trend. It started out with people from Derry who bought houses across the Border and got away with not having to pay the rates they would have paid a mile away in Derry. However, because they got away with it, everyone bought a car in the North.

There has been a significant clampdown but the difficulty is that the Revenue Commissioners have not been ready for the reaction. They moved the VRT office from Lifford to Donegal town. They have not opened a facility in Bridgend and Letterkenny specifically for VRT. People are terrified. They are not driving the cars unless they are trying to get to Donegal town but when they get there, the queues are so long they are told to go home and come back another day. A woman was in contact with me today and told me she went there and met a woman who was there for a third day. This woman is eight and a half months pregnant and is on maternity leave. If she had not been on maternity leave, she did not know how she would have got the car legitimately registered. She did not get it registered the day she went there, so she drove 180 miles for nothing. The office could not deal with her that day because the queues were so long. There are offices in Bridgend and Letterkenny so I ask the Minister to open them and facilitate people to pay their VRT. Droves of them want to do it but they are not given the facility to do so. That is not right.

I am concerned about the 5 cent increase in the price of diesel. It is difficult for the hauliers, who are already experiencing difficulty. It is also difficult at a time when we are trying to get more economical vehicles on the road to increase the price of diesel and not the price of petrol. I come from a Border constituency that relies on many jobs in the fuel sector, especially petrol stations, because of our location and people coming from the North. We always rely on trying to absorb such increases. However, petrol stations must pass on the cuts in oil prices to their customers. In many cases what is happening is that they are exploiting customers because of the Border and the fact that the turnover is so great. I encourage the Department of Finance and the operators to be as generous to customers as possible. My loyalty changes according to which petrol station is cheapest.

It is very important to get the banks lending again. People who have been genuinely looking for small loans have not been able to get them and that is affecting the motor industry to a great extent. I do not claim to have any expertise in terms of taking the bad debt out of the banks. I will leave that completely in the hands of those who know much more about it, but we must ensure the banks get back to operating as banks as soon as possible. People appear to think that the bad debt is being taken off the people who owe the banks money. It is important to realise that those who owe them money will continue to do so and the difficulties will still remain even if the debt is moved to an asset management agency.

I am vice chairman of the youth and sport committee of the Council of Europe and people have raised with me their concerns at the halving of the jobseeker's allowance for 18 to 20 year olds. I understand the concept of trying to get people into the mindset of working or going into training. I will not be popular for saying it but I consider the reduction in the allowance to be an incentive to training and work. Persons who come from multiple generations of unemployment should be given a kick-start to get into employment rather than being encouraged to go straight into the social welfare system. However, if there are genuine difficulties I hope social welfare officers will have the ability to deal with the claims individually.

I very much welcome the focus on the north west in terms of social welfare fraud. Again, I probably will not be popular for saying it but significant sums of money are involved. I commend those involved. If we all pay what we are obliged to pay then the difficulties for the Government will be reduced and the need to squeeze those who always feel they are squeezed will be reduced. People have long being able to point the finger at those in proximity to the Border who are able to play the system. Accordingly, the people who are always hit continue to get hit.

Politicians have been hit heavily in the budget. The 9% pension levy has already been imposed and there is a 1% income levy, a 10% drop in expenses, a 25% cut in mileage, the consolidation of expenses and the lack of increments. The allowance for committee Chairmen has been halved and the allowances for conveners and Vice Chairmen has gone. While people will not recognise it as a pain or inconvenience for us, I point out that as a Senator I run an office with no allowance whatsoever for it. It is difficult to keep the show on the road. It is only when one is not in the office that people start complaining but no one seems to realise that it takes money to run an office. I am not being defensive but the reality is that if we want to provide a service for the community we are expected to do it on thin air currently.