David Norris (Independent)

I welcome the Minister of State. I saw that he enjoyed the tributes to his modesty as compared with his predecessor. I am not the slightest bit interested in political point-scoring by parties. As an ordinary citizen, taxpayer and Member of this House I say a pox on both your houses. I am not really bothered. It is a matter for a further day to have a historical review to see where things went wrong. Now we are faced with a crisis, the dimensions of which have been laid out very clearly by the Minister of State. The figures are shocking; €500 million a week to be borrowed and we will be lucky to have a decline of 1.1% in our domestic product next year. These are horrifying figures. It is right that they should be front-loaded. I agree with the Minister of State that we have to restore our banking system but must we revert to the same kind of system? I am referring to the structure of the system as well as the personnel involved. I accept that we need a good banking system but what does that entail? Investors should believe their investments are safe and credit should be made available for business but that has not been the case in the recent past. I am deeply concerned about NAMA. I do not intend to show malice towards the Government because we were all enmeshed in this but I suspect the sums may be wrong. Recent news reports indicate an additional €1 billion in banking deficits. Banks are having to defer interest payments on bonds, including those now due. The signs are poor, which is why we need a positive review of the situation.

This morning I attended a business breakfast meeting which was addressed by the chairman of Aer Lingus, Mr. Barrington, a very charming man. We must be careful not to cause further damage. I have been contacted by Aer Lingus employees about their pensions. We are in danger of doing another Irish Ferries job, given that the airline is transferring its assets to a new company registered in the United Kingdom. We may find that all the pilots of our national airlines are hired on lower wages from eastern Europe. I do not think that would be good for the economy. Perhaps the events which led to the closure of SR Technics are now a matter of history.

I have to laugh at Senator MacSharry's remarks on the North of Ireland. I recall the Minister for Finance's call for patriotism during last year's budget debate. We have not seen much patriotism from the banks. People would not demean themselves to take €500,000, while the little people pay tax, as that horrible American woman said. There was not much patriotism among the people who headed across the Border while they were supposed to be on strike but the Government led us to this situation. I questioned the sense of increasing the rate of VAT by 2.5% on the day that it was lowered by the same amount in the United Kingdom. That was a daft decision in the light of the land border between our jurisdictions. As a result of allowing property speculators to impose upward rent reviews only, Grafton Street became the most expensive street in the world. Add the increase in rates and one strikes three hammer blows against the capital and other towns. If the haemorrhaging to the North continues, a further 17,000 jobs will be lost.

I agree with the proposed suspension of the general round of increases and would be the first to volunteer a 20% pay cut but such gestures are useless if they are from individuals rather than across the board. I can afford a pay cut but that will not make the slightest difference unless those who can afford it contribute most. Similarly, I acknowledge the need for a ban on recruitment but advise the Minister of State that sensitivity is needed. In the past programmes which had been given permission to hire staff before being axed by previous bans on recruitment resulted in undelivered services and a couple of old freaks who were stored somewhere and paid out of taxpayers' money to do nothing.

The 7% reduction in regard to pension arrangements and the incentivised early retirement scheme is fine but, again, the implementation of these proposals must be nuanced. We have already seen in the case of the Garda that the most senior officers got out quickly because they were afraid that in the budget their lump sum payments would be whacked. In several Departments early retirements compounded the lunacy of decentralisation. I understand many of the staff in the Department of Transport who have transport expertise have gone or are going. I hope the excellent personnel who continue to work in that Department do not leave because it is important to press ahead with the metro project.

The development of a private hospital in Sligo represents yet another drain on taxes. However, the real Scrooge cut was to the Christmas bonus. We would all give up 20% if the Government were to restore it. Last year I attended an excellent briefing by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul at which the suggestion was made that the fuel allowance be front-loaded. It is idiotic to stagger it over several months because recipients have to pay up-front for oil and other heating fuels. Women are particularly disadvantaged because their lower wages mean they have lower savings. MABS needs additional funding because it has insufficient staff to provide its services which are absolutely necessary.

I am in favour of a windfall tax on property development but again I ask the Minister of State to ensure the proposal is nuanced. I am sure he is familiar with Westport House which may be facing bankruptcy. I will forward to him the letter I received from Jeremy Browne on the matter.

For God's sake, let there be no further cuts to overseas aid. The Government should restore us to our proper position of heading towards the figure of 0.7% of GDP. The decline means we will continue to reduce spending, even if we leave the target intact. Will the Minister of State raise with the Minister for Foreign Affairs the urgent necessity of cutting all intergovernmental aid to Uganda in the light of the introduction in that country of the death penalty for homosexual activities? I do not think any Member of the House, no matter how extremely reactionary his or her views may be, would welcome such a development.

The scrappage scheme proposal is interesting but the Government should be careful. A similar scheme in the United States led to a environmentally unhealthy bulge. Why not increase tax on petrol? That would address the principle of the polluter pays. We need these cuts and people like me are prepared to take whatever medicine is doled out because we are lucky enough to afford it. However, we must protect the vulnerable and be nuanced in our approach in order that budgets do not conspire to destroy the system.