Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I could speak about special needs assistants, school secretaries and so on. They are important, but no one would deny that school secretarial and caretaker staff give bang for their buck.

I wish to make two more points about education. I am sorry about the reduction in the capitation grant for primary schools, although I can see from where it is coming. The amount is not being taken from the schools. Instead, it is costing the local community, as locals will need to find the extra money. It is an additional cost.

I welcome another measure. I listened to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Gormley, as he made a clear point today, one that will be welcomed. We have given the Green Party a great deal of hassle, but we must be fair and admit it has taken a leading role during the past year in opposing a reduction in primary school class sizes. In the middle of all of this, it is an important vote of confidence in the system.

I am not sure where the local services money will go. The Minister of State might clarify whether it is going to local authorities, which would be positive. I am sure that is the intention, but I cannot see where it has been clearly outlined. If the money is going into the central funds, the measure defeats the purpose of what we are trying to achieve. For politics to be re-established with the trust and confidence of the ordinary people, it must begin at local authority level. This means local authorities must have a budget for which they are responsible. For example, people in Sligo should be able to see what Sligo Town Council or Sligo County Council is spending their money on and argue on that basis instead of believing the money is coming from Dublin, which they would not view as being their money at all. People would feel no ownership over "Dublin money".

I welcome water metering. I am unsure about the infrastructural costs involved, although they are mentioned. Siemens Ireland has offered to save the Government €1.1 billion by putting the water meters into every home. The company would be repaid through water charges. The Government is shell shocked and will take no further risks, but it should take a decision on this matter as well as others to which I will refer. The Government should enter into a public private partnership with Siemens Ireland, which has been with us since 1927. It built the Shannon scheme and various other projects. The Green Party would acknowledge that Siemens, above all other international companies, has a feel for renewable resources and so on, having produced information and research that is second to none.

I welcome something outlined on page 33 of the report, although I have a conflict of interest. I am vice president of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, PIAB. I am delighted to see a reference to the good work that is being done by us. The PIAB's board, executive and staff are fantastic. They take their responsibility for reducing costs for industry, claimants and everyone else involved in insurance seriously.

It is a success story and people will be delighted that it is referenced there. The chief executive, the chairman of the board as well as the executive and staff will be delighted with that. I would like the Minister of State to convey my appreciation to the Department and the board that this has been done.

Another great conundrum in this is the issue of the minimum wage. I have not heard a convincing argument for reducing it. If we want to make it more attractive to work and less attractive for people to be on welfare, then to reduce both by the same amount will just keep the same gap in place. It surely makes sense to me to keep the minimum wage as it is, and if welfare has to be reduced, in the event, that at least opens the gap. Very clearly, we have conceded a point to IBEC while the case has not been made. I shall back this up in a second. I have read the report from cover to cover and the most important single fact in it is that in the last year no other country in Europe has improved its competitiveness except Ireland. Every other country in Europe has seen its competitiveness disimprove.

If we take our improvement as compared to the European average, we see we have improved our competitiveness by 6.75%, against the average. While we have improved our competitiveness we have increased our output and workers should be rewarded for that. It is a vote of no-confidence in them and an unnecessary step to reduce the minimum wage. We could certainly have held it and it saddens me above all other issues. I could speak at length about pensions, the public service etc., but the thing that bothers me most is that. I am saying this in terms of growth and I do not want my comments to be written off as just a whinge from the Independent benches.

The other thing I do not believe is a good idea is the increase in VAT to more than 23% over two years, which is regressive. It will impact on growth and I do not believe it will incentivise. Reducing the minimum wage is a disincentive, as is increasing VAT. These measures are both disincentives to growth. I am sure the Minister of State can give me the reasoning behind all of that, but I cannot welcome those two initiatives. I am trying to keep away from the things about which we shall hear plenty more, the sad stories, as I want to deal with the top-line issues at the moment.

I do not have a problem with the €200 site tax on a house, although I believe it should be called something else, as it is somewhat unfair to somebody who is struggling to pay for a site he or she will never build a house on, to be charged for it. That is an unfair and unnecessary burden, and there should be some element of potential relief for people struggling to pay a mortgage, in certain cases. It is all right for people such as myself who got a mortgage 30 or 40 years ago and do not have to worry about it. There is no problem about hitting people such as us, but it is a problem for others.

In that regard, I would like to hear more from the Minister of State in his response in terms of the 2.75% projected growth in the economy in each of the years covered. I did not pick up exactly how we got to that. I welcome the abolition of the various tax exemptions, but I should like to hear an impact report on what this will do to pensions, because I do not want a situation whereby having taken away the pension inducement or incentive, people will fall back on the State from here on in. This will leave a great many people poorer. I have tried to work out what it is going to cost on average. It is a great deal of money and people will be hit hard by it.

I have to support it as it goes along, although it contains issues, as I mentioned, that I disagree with. However, I do not see that I have a choice at this point until we have more details and can, perhaps, nuance some of these things in a particular way. In the meantime I wish the Government well, and the next one even better. It is hugely important that we climb our way out and I think we have. I conclude by asking for a debate next week or the week after on the initiatives. I want people to stand here and say what can be done. I will have a list of things, and we can take it from there.