Speech on Budget 2004 - 11|12|03
Adjournment Debate- 10|12|03
Planning Abuses - 17|12|03

Mr. Gogarty:

I thank Deputy Morgan. The budget was a clever act of deception as with no hands the Government kept its hand on the coloured handkerchief of decentralisation while it withered away people's quality of life and returned no more in benefits than it took in taxes. The Government mesmerises us with facts and figures about increases in social welfare and the widening of tax bands while the magician, Deputy McCreevy, attempts to grab the wealth by stealth. If one is wealthy, he will make one richer. The increases contained in the budget mean Deputies will receive as much as the low paid. The Minister can normally be relied on for razzmatazz. However, times are getting tough and, at the end of the show, more people will pay tax with no tangible return in terms of their quality of life. The less well off are in the cheap seats and they will be left on the scrapheap at the end of the performance, hopefully, in 2005 rather than 2006 or 2007.

Mr. B. Lenihan: It will be 2007. We will perform our duties.

Mr. Gogarty: This colourful distraction is full of holes. The entire decentralisation programme bears no resemblance to the national spatial strategy. Its intention is to relocate central Government to areas where Ministers can claim to have delivered. A total of 130 Irish Prison Service employees will move from Clondalkin to Longford, even though only one person from Longford works in the service. Deputy Sexton can claim a victory like Deputy Parlon while the Minister for Trade, Enterprise and Employment will hope her personal popularity protects her from a backlash.

The Green Party supports decentralisation but this is anything but and is only a distraction. This mediocre budget contains no vision, compassion or decrease in the gap between the rich and the poor. With regard to my portfolios the proposal regarding section 481 is welcome. However, I also welcome the increase in funding for school building projects and multi-annual funding for capital projects. The Green Party proposed the allocation of €2.5 billion over four years. This is a greater allocation, which is index linked to inflation. This issue is investment and whether it will generate both economic and non-economic returns.
More funding is required so that the educational welfare board can operate fully and efficiently. The National Youth Council of Ireland stated the budget bypasses young people and raises serious questions about the Government's commitment to them. The Government made a number of commitments under Sustaining Progress, for example, which have not been honoured in the budget. The NYC sought an increase of €5 million but received only €1 million extra.

Rent supplement will be refused to people who have not rented for six months and lone parents are discriminated against. For example, people in receipt of one parent family allowance or widow's pension are still expected to pay employee PRSI contributions while the one year half rate for one parent family claimants and the half rate child allowance have been withdrawn. Unemployment benefit has been reduced from 15 to 12 months and the dietary allowance will be phased out over a number of years.

The crèche supplement to cover emergency child care will be discontinued. There are also CE and JI cutbacks. Given that I will raise those issues on the Adjournment, I will elaborate then.

Mr. B. Lenihan: There are no cutbacks. This is an abuse of procedures.

Mr. Gogarty: It is a cutback in real terms. I will discuss it later because I want to share time with Deputy Finian McGrath. I wish to refer to the CORI justice commitments, analysis and critique. CORI has said there has been a dramatic widening between rich and poor and the gap is €294 per week at present. That is a harsh criticism from an independent body.

Mr. B. Lenihan: Is the Deputy quoting CORI. Will he ask it to pay more to victims?

Mr. Gogarty: The increase in child benefit is a mere 10 cents a day and we also have housing issues. The Minister of State can criticise all he likes in his contribution. It could have been a positive budget and tax credits could have been made available.
There is an argument that Government should tax and spend. It should increase income tax to pay for services which will have long-term benefit. If the Government was honest, there might be some merit in the argument. Look, for example, at the issue of green taxes and Government obligations under Kyoto. If the Government examined the situation it could reduce income tax, reduce employers' PRSI and increase green taxes instead. This would increase economic competitiveness and have a neutral impact from a budgetary point of view.

I raised the issue of the public's faith in the political process before but was accused of being a hypocrite. Today I wrote to all Deputies on a matter I feel strongly compelled to raise once again, PPP - politicians, pay and perception. When I described the pay and expenses of Oireachtas Members as a urination on the less well off, I was not being facetious but trying to be polite because the cutbacks in real terms are an issue when we seem to have double standards in terms of our pay and expenses. I do not in general disagree with the benchmarking process being tied in with the pay of senior civil servants but it is higher in real percentage terms.

The public perception of politics has never been lower. There are double standards for those who walk through the corridors of power compared to those who kick their way through broken bottles and syringes in less sheltered areas. This perception is exacerbated by the extremely lax system of expenses, where I can sit at home, butter my toast, fill in a form and claim €61 a day without a check. I stated the matter before and will not go into it now. However, as long as we have this perceived unfairness, the fat cat tag for politicians will remain.

We know the hours required by the job. The Minister of State is a prime example of an excellent Deputy who works long hours whose non-sitting days are as busy as sitting days. The public do not understand this and are influenced by media reports which correctly highlight the lack of days spent considering legislation but sometimes wrongly imply that the rest of time is spent doing nothing. I was rooting for some of the Fianna Fáil Deputies on "Liveline" with Joe Duffy. The criticism is fuelled by the public knowledge that while our long hours are reasonably well rewarded, they are topped up by generous expenses, some of which are available on an unvouched basis. We are accepting our benchmarking award increases at a time when others are suffering and insulting those struggling through no fault of their own.
I disagree with Members of the Seanad who wasted their Order of Business time by attacking me personally in an over the top defence of their pay and conditions. They protested a little too much but failed to put up a coherent argument. I agree that I sometimes wear an open-necked shirt, am still relatively young and may just fall into the category of "gentleman". However, that has nothing to do with real debate. An opposing argument eloquently put deserves some respect. Given the array of talent among the group concerned there was no eloquence, only insults which are like water off this Green duck's back. Further discourse is needed.

As Deputy Fiona O'Malley was quoted previously, "we need more visible parliamentary productivity from these Houses". I fully agree. In the absences of such productivity, we should give up our increase, collectively, as a gesture towards those who earn less in a week on social welfare than we get in unvouched expenses for turning up for work. I call once again for a voluntary pay freeze and tighter expenses. I will write to the Committee on Procedure and Privileges in this regard. The lax expense payments speak for themselves but more motivation is needed with regard to our pay increase.
Despite arguing that collective argument would be preferable it seems that money must be put where the mouth is. Although, on principle, I have given up €12,800 and the sweetener for giving up the dual mandate, I am still being accused of hypocrisy for not forgoing my benchmarking increase. Therefore, tonight, I announce that I will give up my benchmarking increase. However, I will not give it to the Exchequer but to those organisations affected directly by the cutbacks. I urge other Members to do the same, particularly Deputy Fiona O'Malley who indicated in the newspapers that she might give up her increase but who, on NewsTalk 106, has said differently. I ask her to clarify this.

We need to increase the good will of the public towards politicians. Local elections are on the way. The Government may, perhaps, hope that the low turnout will continue and the same old die-hards will vote their people in where communities such as south-west Clondalkin are ravaged by cutbacks. I will elaborate on that issue in the debate on CE. I ask other Deputies and Senators to consider forgoing their benchmarking pay rise as a gesture to those less well off. We are approaching Christmas and although it is a bit of a cliché I hope some of the Christmas spirit will emerge. When everyone else has to make sacrifices, Deputies and Senators should also make a sacrifice.

Adjournment Debate: The need to reverse CE scheme and JI cutbacks nationwide;


Mr. Gogarty:

In the past two years, the number of places available on CE schemes has been reduced by 3,800 to the approximately 20,000. The Government will save €135 million by making these reductions. However. no programme has been put in place to secure the future of the services provided by the CE scheme. Consequently, a large number of organisations have been forced to reduce or in many cases terminate services. A new programme may be introduced in rural areas. Yet, in urban areas, there has been no indication as to what will happen or what the transition will be like.
The cutbacks in CE schemes have affected the relatively well-off areas of Lucan, Palmerstown, Saggart, Rathcoole, Brittas and Newcastle, but the worst affected is Clondalkin. In north Clondalkin, though it is in a RAPID programme area and has well-organised community bases, the chipping away of CE and JI schemes is taking its toll. South-west Clondalkin, however, does not have this comfort blanket. It is hugely deprived in more areas than one, but it was not chosen as a RAPID area because it has a high number of private homes. However, many of the owners of these private homes are struggling to make a living and many more are occupied by tenants on rent allowance. The CE scheme was a saviour to this area.
I understand that the scheme was not set up to provide an alternative social economy or provide much needed social services. However, that is exactly what it ended up doing. In taking that away, the Government have ripped the stitch that kept the community lining together which is now in danger of collapse. The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Harney, officially opened the Bawnogue Enterprise Centre which operates on a semi-commercial basis promoting local businesses. However, its remit prevents it in assisting a community struggling against years of neglect, criminal elements, the drugs trade and a breakdown in the sense of community. The enterprise centre charges commercial rates for various meetings while the rooms are not the right size for various groupings.

The Bawnogue Youth and Community Centre was one of the three community projects supported by the CE scheme. There was also the youth and family support group and the DBD advice and information centre, all of which are now facing closure. The Bawnogue Community Centre provides a centre to the community in more ways than one. For instance, the local children use its tuck shop because they feel safer there than the local shops where drug pushers and addicts hang around. Yet, it is now facing closure. The community groups operating there have seen their staff numbers dwindle to a bare minimum following the cutbacks in the CE scheme. Though, it is proposed to move in some council and other State-supported bodies into building, the original community services provided are falling apart. These are the community services that people have a sense of pride and self-esteem in because they have been built from scratch.

I urge the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Lenihan, to make representations to save the DBD advice and information centre. It is a long way to Clondalkin village for the many people who have come to depend on its services. I urge him also to ensure that the temporary staff loaned from north Clondalkin to the Bawnogue community centre are retained. It will cost the State more in trying to root out crime, solve the drugs problem and deal with social alienation in the long term if it discontinues funding.
I say this from an economic viewpoint because that is the only argument the Minister for Finance, Deputy McCreevy, understands. If the Government want to keep taxes low and prevent barriers in society, the only way is through a thriving community where people can depend on one another and work together. The CE schemes have employed people over 50 years who were on disability and invalidity allowances. They would be only considered for the scrapheap of gainful employment. However, their work in the CE schemes is as valuable to the community. If the new replacement for the CE schemes is to be introduced, there should be a transition phase run by FÁS so that the existing groups can continue their work. If not, it will cost more to the State and see the death of some communities.