Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have welcomed the opportunity to listen to the contributions of Senators for more than two hours. I kept note as best I could of all of the contributors. It is worth noting that 18 Senators contributed, 13 of whom were Government Senators. That says a great deal. I have been a Member of the Dáil for many years. I remember a time when on budget day voting in the Dáil could go on up to 12 midnight. but these days, the Dáil sometimes adjourns at 7.30 p.m. or 8 p.m. because the Opposition has nothing to say. We are in that space here tonight, as reflected by the number of contributors here. I take on board everything said by Government Senators and by the Opposition. I was intrigued by the marked contradiction in some of what was stated by the Opposition Senators.

I will not reference what every Senator said because several Senators touched on the same topic. The first topic touched on by Senator Casey was the new zoned land tax, which is an important issue. I found the debate on that very interesting. In terms of how the new 3% rate will work, the maps will be prepared by the local authorities but, importantly, the scheme will be administered by Revenue such that we will not have a situation whereby no tax is being levied or some tax is being levied but not properly collected. In terms of taxes that require to be collected, it is up to the local authorities to collect that money. They should not be approaching the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage next year looking for additional funds if they have not collected the debts validly owed to them. They must make all reasonable efforts in that regard. Some of those will have to work their way through the system. This is a worthwhile scheme. It is not about collecting money. Rather, it is about forcing people who are sitting on zoned land, serviced by Irish Water and open to connection to the sewerage system, to move on it or pay tax on it. We want them to move on it. They can either develop houses on the land themselves or move the land on to somebody who can do that. If local authorities and landowners have agreed zonings in local authority area plans over a period of years and there is land lying idle, serviced at significant cost to the taxpayer, it is only right that those lands should be used for housing. It is an asset that belongs to all of us. If it is not being used, it is fair that the landowner should make some contribution back to the State. This tax might encourage people to move on land.

I found it interesting that an Opposition Senator stated this was really a tax cut for the wealthy farmers and landowners on the edges of various towns and that all the Government is doing in this measure is cutting the tax rate from 7% to 3%. The next Opposition Senator - there were many of them in the House during the course of the afternoon - stated that under the existing regime, nothing is being collected. I do not understand how going from zero tax being collected to a new regime of 3% to be operated by the Revenue Commissioners is a reduction in tax. Those Members were looking at what we call the headline rate, which does not exist. The actual rate of what was being levied was almost zero in most cases. I am sure that under these new arrangements, the tax will be collected by the Revenue Commissioners. People know that. I encourage people in that situation to get moving. We need houses. If landowners are sitting on an asset, it is important they move on it. Those who own zoned land on the edge of towns and cities, which is very valuable, will be well compensated for the disposal of that land, in particular those in the farming community. They will also find land elsewhere that is not zoned at a much better price and as such they may be able to increase their landholdings should they wish to continue farming.

Many Senators complimented the retention of the EWSS, in particular in the hospitality sector, but they also said that to make the changes in January will be difficult to do. That is a fair point. I will raised that directly with the Minister, Deputy Donohoe. The VAT rate for the hospitality sector will continue up to the end of August 2022. It was requested that it be extended. We take everything on board. A Senator said that the quickest way of getting people off the road is to increase the tax on petrol and diesel. That Senator lives in Dublin city centre and so it is easy for him to say that. Those of us who do not live in Dublin 1 or 2 would have a different view on that.

Another Senator raised issues that are more relevant to a debate on public expenditure, including the pupil-teacher ratio in particular schools. The budget provides for an increase in teacher numbers and a reduction in the pupil-teacher ratio by one. There was also a request for more funding for cancer and palliative care, which is also addressed in today's budget. On the question of reaching our overseas development aid target of 0.7% of GDP, this year, more than €1 billion, the largest amount ever in this particular area, is being provided. It is important to acknowledge that.

Other Senators mentioned that the number of people in receipt of the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, is now under 100,000, which is a fantastic improvement from where we were, and that the issues of inflation and remote working will have to be closely monitored. They also welcomed the measures in regard to carbon taxes and retrofitting. The latter was mentioned by a number of Senators.

The fuel allowance was mentioned, with the increase being deemed too narrow. There will be further improvements in this area. As we all know, those who are living alone and in receipt of the fuel allowance and the State pension will see their incomes increase by €13 per week. It is welcome that the €5 fuel allowance comes into force at midnight tonight. That is a good measure.

The childcare initiative, SIPTU and the Big Start campaign were mentioned. Many of us met the SIPTU representatives in recent times. I am pleased to see the matter is progressing through the Labour Relations Commission. There is funding in the budget for childcare, to which the Minister specifically referred. There are a lot of improvements provided for in the childcare area in terms of funding. I note the preference of those involved in this area that it be referenced as the early years sector rather than the childcare sector. I rap myself on the knuckles for getting that phrase wrong. I note it is also wrong in some of the documentation before me today. I was told by the people from the Big Start campaign that it is not about childcare; it is about the first start in children's education. That is the way we should look at it.

What we are doing today will help everybody. It will help parents in that costs are to be contained. It will also help the service providers. Once the arrangements come through the Labour Relations Commission and an employment regulation order, ERO, is available to set the pay rates, that will help the staff working in those areas. Everybody is a winner in that situation. We have laid the ground work for that here. There will be funding to deal with an ERO as required in the course of the coming year. We all look forward to that being agreed on behalf of that dispersed group of employees countrywide. I credit SIPTU on the effort it put into recruiting up to 7,000 members such that it was able to satisfy the Workplace Relations Commission in regard to that particular issue. In fairness, SIPTU is entitled to credit for doing that. The Government is responding appropriately. I hope that everything will work out.

I was intrigued by the comment of one Opposition Senator, who said it is all well and good spending all of this money while at the same time challenging everything we are doing today by saying that we should be spending better. I thought that was hilarious. We are providing money for childcare, increasing the fuel allowance from midnight tonight, increasing the living alone allowance and helping carers in terms of the means test. The back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance is being increased next year.There are several measures in respect of workers such as, for example, increasing the standard rate tax band, increasing tax credits and increasing the minimum wage. We will also introduce an income tax deduction for remote workers. We are extending free GP care for six- and seven-year-olds. For the first time, we are introducing free contraception for 17-year-olds to 25-year-olds. I take the point that it should not always be the responsibility of the female to deal with that. Us fellas have a responsibility in this area, too. That point was well made.

Regarding students, we are increasing the SUSI grant by €200 and its threshold by €1,000. Importantly for those of us in rural areas, the distance threshold for the higher education non-adjacent student grant is being reduced from 45 km to 30 km. In old English, that is a reduction from nearly 30 miles to nearly 20 miles and is very important. Many people in County Laois where I live are a little too close to Carlow or wherever the case may be. This is a fantastic change and will be a major advantage to people in every county because more will be able to get the non-adjacent grant. This is the grant that makes it possible for some people to get to third level. They can get the SUSI grant, but the costs they incur are still high. If they will now be able to get the non-adjacent grant, it will make the difference between them being able to get third level education and not being able to get it. The youth travel card was also mentioned.

Most of this is appropriate to the debate that the Seanad will have tomorrow on public expenditure, but I was intrigued when I was told that we were not spending the money well. I suppose that the Opposition has to say something when it is here, but I found that to be an extraordinary comment.

Childcare has been mentioned by several Senators. Regarding VAT for the hospitality sector and coach and bus tour companies, I will convey the comments to the Minister for Finance.

We were challenged on the gender proofing of this budget. I will read from the document that was circulated to everyone today:

The CSO has conducted an equality data audit and a data strategy is currently being drafted to ensure this data source is kept up to date, addresses gaps identified during the audit, and ensures the information is utilised in the intended way. A focused equality data audit has been conducted on all national data sets held by Tusla and a report on that audit has been published alongside Budget 2022.

The audit is out there for people to follow up on, so I found it extraordinary that such a challenge was made. As one Senator mentioned, we have a dedicated women's health package of €31 million in the budget. This includes access to free contraception from next August for women of between 17 and 23 years of age, further investment in measures identified in the women's health task force, progress in the period poverty implementation group, additional funding for sexual assault treatment units, the implementation of the national maternity strategy and gynaecological model of care, and dealing with endometriosis and the many other issues that women must deal with. How could someone say that the budget was not gender balanced? It is the most gender-balanced budget that I have encountered, and I have been around here for a few years.

I commend the budget and I thank the Senators. I will not take their time, but if I had another ten minutes, I could go on more. I have responded as best I can. We all look forward to what is in the budget being implemented. Its measures are for the benefit of families, parents, children, older people, workers and renters, and the public have been seeing that over the past couple of hours.