Niall Ó Brolcháin (Green Party)

I wish to share time with Senator Mark Dearey. I was listening intently to Senator Phelan and I listened to and read the speech of the Minister. Senator Phelan is absolutely right to refer to money circulation and such issues facing small businesses and businesses in general in respect of our economy. This matter is crucial to the future of the country. However, he is confusing the Finance Bill with enterprise and employment initiatives. We are discussing the Finance Bill and, as I understand it, the job is to lay the groundwork for solid foundations upon which our economy can thrive.

There are many interesting aspects to the Finance Bill. It is one of the largest Finance Bills ever produced. I refer to an issue relevant to my own political party, that is, the carbon tax. There has been much discussion in respect of the carbon tax but it is a crucial part of the broad green agenda. I do not refer the Green Party agenda but the environmental agenda which should be relevant to all parties. The idea is to move away from an unsustainable economy, largely based on unsustainable resources such as fossil fuels, and to try to move us towards an economy which is sustainable and based on such things as renewables and on what Senator Phelan referred to in the NewERA document produced by Fine Gael and in our smart economy policy document. We must move towards an economy which will last for thousands of years because people are sick and tired of this boom and bust cycle in which we consistently find ourselves. This has been one of the worst busts in many years. We have had the Celtic tiger years and it seems because of the way in which the economy is working at the moment, the higher we climb, the harder we fall. I hope to consider how we can do things differently as quickly as possible.

Senator Phelan referred to getting rid of quangos and not simplifying things and not taking the difficult decisions. However, this Bill refers to the recommendations of the Commission on Taxation and the abolition of six tax reliefs previously in place. My party favours the abolition of tax reliefs. They are good for a certain period of time but, unfortunately, they can get moved out of shape after several years. I believe tax reliefs should be short, sharp and there should be a clear life span on them. The purpose of tax reliefs should be to stimulate particular sectors of the economy, not to underpin the economy as a whole. The phasing out of tax reliefs on a gradual basis is something I welcome and it underpins this Bill.

I refer to the main point made by many speakers. The key factor facing the economy at the moment is for it to become more robust and provide employment for all the people. How do we do this? We are in a difficult situation with almost 440,000 people unemployed at the moment. Unfortunately, many companies are disappearing. The difficulty is that we face the stack of cards phenomenon whereby companies which owe money to other companies can no longer pay and this makes life difficult for the companies which continue to survive. However, there must always be a critical mass and a need for particular services by the people underpins a particular stability within the economy. It is not necessarily a matter for the Finance Bill but we need to come up with measures, build on the Bill and put forward measures which will underpin the economy and especially small business in this country.

There has been much discussion of the idea of a bank of national recovery, a measure I support. This is something we have done in the past and it is a way in which we can get out of the recessionary situation in which we find ourselves. Many small businesses in Galway have discussed the matter with me and have indicated the need to get credit to get through cashflow difficulties, a matter of great importance for their survival. Unfortunately, certain businesses find it very difficult to survive simply because of the crisis in the banking situation at the moment and the lack of short-term capital. It is crucial we deal with this issue in the shortest possible time because there is something of a gap between now and the time when the economy will be on the upswing again. There will be a crucial period during which we must guide as many of our small and large businesses and steer them through the difficult times ahead. I urge the Government to take account of this and to examine ways in which we can get credit flowing again in the shortest possible time.