Ann Ormonde (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State. I am glad of the opportunity to say a few words on the Finance Bill. I congratulate the Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Lenihan, on his grasp of this serious position and the tight measures he has introduced, which must be welcomed. That is reflected internationally.

I would like to focus on an area of the Bill that relates to promoting Ireland as a good place in which to invest and set up. We have a highly talented pool of well-educated graduates from which foreign investors and companies can choose and I hope the provisions in the Finance Bill will ensure they are utilised. That is the reason I believe investment in education must come to the forefront.

I acknowledge that while the budget brought about some cuts it earmarked significant investment for the economy. In the next six years €40 billion is earmarked for investment in infrastructure, €6 billion of which will be for this year. Some €130 million is for energy efficiency measures, €10 million for the food industry and €50 million for support for a new agri-environment scheme, among many more. That is a broad-brush view on the investment in terms of what is earmarked for the future.

As announced at the time of the budget, €130 million in funding was provided to create 26,000 training places. That is the area on which I want to put emphasis because there are many people out of work who must be brought back into the workforce. This is an opportunity to re-employ those people and allow them to be up-skilled in their original areas of expertise.

A total of €165 million was provided through the stabilisation fund for the temporary employment subsidy scheme in 2010. The Tánaiste recently announced that a second round of this scheme will be made available to some 1,620 companies. That will provide many small, medium and large businesses with valuable supports at this time.

A new scheme which will provide local employment and reduce PRSI contributions is introduced in this Bill. Under this scheme, when an employer creates a new job and employes a person who has been on the live register for six months or more the employer will be exempt from employer's PRSI contributions for the first 12 months of employment. That is a huge plus in my book because it opens the door for them, so to speak.

The Islamic finance tax measure will help to promote Ireland as a more attractive location for international fund-raising operations, in addition to providing Irish companies with an alternative source of funding.

The decision to retain our corporation tax at 12.5% is most welcome and sends out a good message to international investors that Ireland remains open for business.

I am also pleased to see the extension of the tax exemptions for start-up companies for the first three years of trading being continued this year. It is vital that we support start-up companies in the small to medium enterprises sector. We must nurture those entrepreneurs who are willing to invest and develop pro-enterprise businesses in the economy.

I welcome the changes to the current research and development tax credit scheme. Research and development is vital to the advancement of our economy and one of the key areas identified by the Government is in the context of the knowledge economy. In that regard, successive Finance Acts have improved the scheme for tax credits on qualifying expenditure for research and development credits.

The current scheme has been a drawback to research and development in that people who invested in two sites could not transfer the benefit to the other site if one closed. As a result of the change, where two sites are located within 20 km of one another and one closes, the benefit can now be transferred to the other. It is vital that we continue to assist all research and development projects. We must do everything we can to encourage stronger learning in education and provide employment for college graduates. To come back to my original point, education is the key to our success in the future. We have always leaned on education as the way forward for Ireland and should not shirk our responsibilities in this area. Education at third and fourth level will ensure we are a knowledge economy. If we go down that road and ensure investment in this area we will succeed in the future. We must ensure we publicise the fact that many companies other than those which operate outside of laboratories are entitled to research and development tax credit.