Diarmuid Wilson (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank him for his contribution. I am contributing to this debate on behalf of my colleague, Senator Horkan, who is unavoidably absent this afternoon. Fianna Fáil will be supporting this Bill on Second Stage but will be submitting a number of amendments on Committee Stage.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Finance Bill 2017. The Bill puts many of the announcements made on budget day on a legal footing. This, the second budget under the confidence and supply arrangement, has a greater than 2:1 split between services and tax reductions. It will be the second progressive budget in a row after five regressive budgets by the previous Fine Gael-Labour Party Government. Fianna Fáil is curbing the right wing policies of Fine Gael and has its stopped its US-style approach to taxes. Our focus has been on ensuring that tax reductions are focused on low and middle income earners and on maintaining a 2:1 budget ratio that emphasises services. We also demanded that pensions and all social welfare payments be increased by €5 for the second year in a row. Fianna Fáil wants to ensure the delivery of action on housing, health and Brexit. We are not interested in spin. In contrast, this Government is so obsessed with spin, particularly under the current Taoiseach, that it has allocated €5 million to the strategic communications unit in the Taoiseach's office, as alluded to on the Order of Business this afternoon by a number of colleagues.

It is clear that the key test for this budget, or indeed any budget, is the delivery. Building houses, slashing hospital waiting lists and improving public services must be the real, on the ground results of budget 2018. We have taken measures towards these aims. The National Treatment Purchase Fund, NTPF, for example, will have an allocation of €55 million in 2018. The Indecon report illustrated what Fianna Fáil has been saying since the cruel and callous cuts in 2012 were applied to lone parents. We have made a step towards correcting this cut. Separately, retaining the mortgage interest relief will benefit up to 420,000 people. Our continued role in the confidence and supply arrangement is based on progress in these key areas. The budget is only a set of announcements; what matters is delivery.

The Government has increased stamp duty on commercial property from 2% to 6%. This includes agricultural property. As a result of Fianna Fáil's influence, however, the relief on the transfer of farms to relatives was loosened. Consanguinity relief reduces stamp duty to 1% for inter-generational transfers of farmland. The current limit, where the transferring farmer had to be under 67 years of age, is to be removed. The Finance Bill also provides that where a contract was agreed before 11 October 2017 and will be executed before 1 January 2018, the stamp duty will remain at 2%. The Coffey report, to which the Minister of State alluded, recommended that capital allowances on intangible assets be restricted to 80% and this will be implemented under this legislation.Fianna Fáil has called for a reduction in USC for middle and low-income workers. Last year, we succeeded in getting a reduction in all three bands. Again due to the confidence and supply agreement, this year there will be a reduction in the 5% and 2.5% rates and an increase of €600 to the band to €18,772. This will benefit more than 1.8 million people including married couples earning over €13,000. We believe this is the fairest way to reduce tax. The Government has announced an increase in the standard rate tax band by €750. While we are supportive of this measure, it will only benefit people earning more than €33,800, leaving everybody else untouched. Mortgage interest relief has also been extended. We believe that we are the only party that pushed for the extension of this relief because of what it would mean to nearly 420,000 people. These people and families bought houses when property prices were at their peak. They have suffered worst from negative equity whereby the mortgage exceeds the value of the house. Housing is a key part of the confidence and supply arrangement and Fianna Fáil budgetary negotiating priorities. It is receiving a €500 million capital increase, an additional €148 million for the housing assistance payment, HAP, scheme and an additional €18 million for homelessness services. However, there is no affordable housing scheme, which must be addressed by the upcoming capital plan.

With regard to health, boosting the National Treatment Purchase Fund by €55 million to tackle hospital waiting lists was a key Fianna Fáil demand in the confidence and supply arrangement. We have secured a reduction in the prescription charges for those under 70 by 50 cent to €2 and in the drug payment scheme threshold from €144 to €134, as well as an additional €435 million for the mental health service in order to achieve service levels proposed in A Vision for Change.. There will also be an increase in personal assistance hours, home help hours and home care packages.

In education, there will be a reduction in the pupil-teacher ratio from 27:1 to 26:1. Additional funding for the DEIS schools meals programme and additional career guidance posts also will ensure that each school is equipped to help their pupils reach their full potential. Increasing the threshold for postgraduate grant eligibility was a central Fianna Fáil demand. It will help to expand access to fourth level education. Fianna Fáil will stand by the commitments we made in the confidence and supply agreement. We did that last year and we intend to do the same this year. We will engage in robust debate throughout the course of this Bill and I indicated to the Minster that we intend to submit some amendments on Committee Stage.

I reiterate that we will be supporting this Bill on Second Stage and I look forward to the Minister's reply.