Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senators on all sides for an interesting debate. If I have picked up one thing from it, it is that no one on any side of the Houses and no citizen is suggesting that the job of work is done. In fact, there is a great deal more to do. I often describe my four years to date in the Oireachtas by saying that in my first three and a half years, the pause button was pressed on so many of the important issues which Senators have raised as we fought to restore and win back our economic sovereignty. Now that we have won back the sovereignty, we can begin to have the exciting and important conversation all our citizens want us to have on how best to cut taxes and increase public expenditure and on what areas to focus expenditure. From the contributions of all Senators, it is clear that there is much to discuss and much to do and that a great debate needs to happen. I am sure it will happen in this Chamber and, as such, I look forward to feeding into it in terms of where those priority areas should be.

If there is one specific benefit of the spring economic statement, it is that we can now have an honest debate. Last time I checked, almost all parties in both Houses had signed up to the European spending rules. They have signed up to the fact that we must live within our means and within certain economic parameters. If that is still the position of all parties and groupings, including Independents in this House, the fiscal space is in and around €1.2 billion to €1.5 billion for the next budget. Roughly speaking, it is likely to be the same later although I accept what was said about forecasts. Therefore, we can now discuss how best to spend that. That will lead to much better and more informed debates for us all and I look forward to that.

I will run quickly through some of the issues that were raised during the debate. Senator Ó Domhnaill raised the issue of the self-employed and I agree that it is an issue that must be addressed. I am pleased the Taoiseach took the opportunity of the spring economic statement to say the issue of the self-employed and how they are treated by the tax system will begin to be rectified in the next budget. I agree absolutely that entrepreneurial spirit needs to be encouraged. That is why we have established the local enterprise offices and the Action Plan for Jobs and are putting in place measures. There is always more to do.

In respect of part-time workers, I note that there will always be people in the economy who need to work part-time for family reasons and who want to work part-time in other cases. We will continue to support them. Thankfully, however, we are seeing ever more people who were in part-time work moving to full-time work as the availability of working hours increases in the economy.

On the issue of regional economic growth, which a number of Senators raised, we are putting in place regional strategies and plans. A €250 million fund is being put towards that to ensure real economic growth is felt in every part of the country. We will stop the cycle of emigration Senator Ó Domhnaill and many others spoke about. The spring economic statement shows that from 2017 onwards, our emigrants are going to begin to come home. It is time to invite our young and not so young Irish people to come back home.

Senator Paul Coghlan made the point about the universal social charge and the ability to accelerate changes. I was pleased he mentioned that by the time of the next budget, 500,000 citizens who were paying the charge when we came to office no longer pay it. In particular, the Government wants to see a focus on those who are paying the 7% rate, which is penal. It is too high and being paid at too early a point. If we are serious about the squeezed middle, that is where we need to focus in relation to tax reductions. Tax reductions, as the spring economic statement shows, can lead to job creation. They are not irresponsible if they are done in the correct manner and targeted at the right people. As stated in the spring economic statement, the ESRI report outlines that if we follow a path of tax reductions on work, we can create 20,000 more jobs over the lifetime of the plan.

Senator Barrett raised the issue of the capital plan. I note that capital infrastructure is something in respect of which the Senator has an expertise. We will have the Government's capital plan in June. I take the Senator's point about the need to ensure we learn the lessons of the past. In my time on the Committee of Public Accounts, we dealt with many scary projects that happened in the past. We need cost-benefit analyses and to ensure our projects finish on time. While I am not saying everything is perfect, I am pleased we now have an Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service. It is a very important job. It is the job of the service to check that we are getting value for money. It does not just look at the surface level, but evaluates further the benefit of a particular spend. In my own area, we have the Office of Government Procurement which centralises procurement and puts better standards in place. We also have the multi-annual expenditure ceilings so that one does not have Departments rushing to the end of the year with the feeling that they must spend money. The budget can be applied to the next two years, which is important. I agree on the reduction of the tax burden and was pleased to hear Senator Barrett refer to it. I understand why we put an emphasis on the low-paid and the vulnerable in all our political discourse, and rightly so, but there are many people out there who are just struggling. Many people are working really hard who do not get the attention they deserve. That is why I would like to see cuts to the USC and a focus on reducing the burden of tax.

Senator Gilroy outlined very eloquently the importance of the spring economic statement and I would like to reiterate that. The statement does four things. It updates our domestic forecasts, which is really important, sets out policy intent well in advance of the budget, ensures people in Brussels or the Bundestag do not hear information before it is debated in our own Oireachtas, and reforms the budget process. As Senator Gilroy says, the recovery cannot just be felt at a macro level. While we do not agree on many things, I am sure Senator Kathryn Reilly would be pleased to hear me say that if she were here. I thank her for her comments on my own youth. In our own ways, we do our bit to represent young people in these Houses of the Oireachtas. She deprived me of the title of youngest Member of the Oireachtas, which is a title she wears well in doing a good job speaking up for younger people according to her own political ideology. Senator Reilly spoke about the low-paid, as did Senator Craughwell. It is an important issue. It is really important that when we see the results of the Low Pay Commission, action is taken to implement its recommendations. While the Government has restored the minimum wage, the best way to help any struggling worker is through tax reductions. There are possibilities to build on that. Senator Reilly also spoke about housing. The Government has launched the largest local authority building programme in the history of the State. I agree that the availability of housing and ensuring public and private supply is a real challenge. It is something on which my colleagues in the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, the Ministers, Deputies Alan Kelly and Paudie Coffey, are working.

Senator Colm Burke referred to demographic challenges and highlighted exactly why we need to plan. Challenges never go away in politics, they just change. We have a number of challenges coming down the tracks in relation to demographics. They relate to younger people and child care but also to pensions, health services and our education system. The spring economic statement enables us to plan for that. Senator Burke is quite correct that the self-employed need more support. There are anomalies and an unfairness in the income tax system for the self-employed, which is something the Taoiseach has personally committed to working with our colleagues in the Labour Party to address in the October budget. I was very pleased to hear Senator Burke say about housing supply that when we give money to local authorities, we must see that targets are met. We must keep a close eye on it.We have all seen instances of this. When money leaves the Oireachtas, there must be delivery on the ground. I am sure that we will work on this.

There are many other issues that I would like to touch on, but we have had an interesting debate. I thank Senator Craughwell for his balanced contribution as a constructive Independent. The one comment I would make about forecasting is that there have been changes. The forecasts in this document are endorsed by the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, which is an important development, but the Senator is right in that we must constantly keep matters under review. I hope and expect that the spring economic statement will be an annual event. I look forward to debating the issues further. I am sorry that we could not get through them all. I thank the House for its time.