According to all recent opinion polls, two-thirds of the Irish public do not have confidence in this Government. The Government have lost all moral authority to continue in office. Unemployment has risen each month this year in real terms. It is now at its highest level in the history of the State. There has been no response, no new initiatives undertaken by the Government to meet this heightening crisis. The budgetary targets set by the Government in January this year have proved to be fraudulent and false. The borrowing target is now likely to be, for 1991, 760 million, which is 300 million in excess of the target set for the year.
The Programme for Economic and Social Progress has been proved to have been based on unsound and unreal assumptions. These facts now mean that garda, nurses and teachers, who provide invaluable public service, are to be asked yet again to be the sacrificial lambs of Government mismanagement. Similarly health boards, not least of which mine, the South Eastern Health Board, are being asked to cut back 2.5 million between now and the end of the year. This will mean the closure of wards, cutbacks on dental and speech therapist services and not calling people from waiting lists because money has run out due to economic mismanagement. Similarly, public transport had to be increased three times this year, way above the current rate of inflation last month, to pay for the Government's errors due to their cutbacks in the subvention to public transport. Thousands of families awaiting local authority housing are left without [536] any hope because of the virtual elimination of the Government's public housing programme resulting in almost 30,000 applicants on their lists.
Early in 1991 we clearly saw that the budgetary exercise was a cosmetic and fraudulent one designed to deceive the public in the run-up to the local elections. The true state of the public finances and of the economy are only now emerging. On top of that has come public disillusionment, disbelief and anger at the daily revelations of the activities of the "golden circle" and their special relationship with the Fianna Fil Party. It is not yet clear whether the different inquiries set up into Telecom ireann will reveal the mystery financier or the Cypriot company who handled the massive profits on an over-valued site which Telecom ireann do not really need.
It has not been determined whether Stock Exchange rules were breached in terms of disclosure by Sugar Company executives at the time of the public flotation of Greencore. It has not been explained why the Minister for Agriculture and Food was not aware of the multi-million pound deals in the 49 per cent sale and resale of Irish Sugar Distributors at a profit of 7 million within one year. It remains to be seen if the exact ownership of Gladebrook, Talmino and other offshore companies will be ever truly established. Some of these matters have not been finally resolved. However, there is inescapable and conclusive evidence already that the Fianna Fil Government of 1987-89 deliberately or negligently failed in their supervisory role of these semi-State companies of Irish Sugar and Telecom ireann. At the most benign interpretation, Fianna Fil are guilty of incompetence and negligence.
The further revelations about National City Brokers, and the personal relationship and friendship of the Taoiseach and members of that Government with Mr. Dermot Desmond, could lead to a more sinister explanation to the greed culture of what has happened. Fine Gael are appalled at the breach of confidential [537] financial information from the State-owned Irish Helicopters to Mr. Ciarn Haughey's Celtic Helicopters, their principal rival. This breach of confidentiality by National City Brokers was so unprofessional, so unethical that it is simply not good enough for some junior executive to take responsibility. I was appalled to hear last Sunday of the open and flagrant boasting and bragging by Mr. Dermot Desmond in his letter to the boss of Pernod Ricard in relation to the services provided in the Irish Distillers deal. It is remarkable that Mr. Desmond should seek so openly and brazenly in written form to extort additional fees on the basis of his political friends and his alleged exclusive relationship with them. Moreover, that he would in turn allegedly have to repay to his political friends in some unspecified fashion is both remarkable and shocking. I should like to refer to the Taoiseach's comments in his speech this morning regarding his relationship with Mr. Dermot Desmond. He said:
I had no relationship or association with Dermot Desmond in regard to any other matter in either the area of public administration or the private sector.
He referred to the Sail Ireland project and the International Financial Services Centre. The Taoiseach's statement is simply untrue. He must have had dealings with Mr. Dermot Desmond to appoint him last year as chairman of Aer Rianta. That is a matter of public record. I will not go into detail about the Angela Phelan and Terry Keane gossip columns which weekly show photographs of Mr. Haughey's family and Mr. Desmond. That is a matter of public record and public titillation. It stretches credibility when the Taoiseach says he had no relationship or association with Mr. Dermot Desmond other than on those two points.
Denials have been made by many people but the public are now immune to such denials and do not accept the credibility of many of the principals involved. No satisfactory explanation has [538] been given regarding the lack of tendering for the consultancy contracts of some semi-State organisations. I would wish to see a full disclosure of the circumstances and the amounts of money paid by State companies in the context of the Sail Ireland project. Specifically, I seek clarification by the Minister for Energy in relation to the sum of 250,000 paid by the ESB and the approaches made to them to pay this sum when it was known to all and sundry that the Sail Ireland project was a financial disaster. I do not believe the ESB got value for money or any particular benefits from their sponsorship. The question must arise whether representations were made by the Taoiseach in view of his acknowledged support for this project. He said in his speech that he makes no apologies for supporting it fully. We need some clarification of his role in relation to that sponsorship and that payment by a company who are in debt and who have increased their charges to the public.
One of the most hapless and hopeless figures during the Dil recess was the Minister for Agriculture and Food, Deputy Michael O'Kennedy. This pitiful figure, who was able to moralise about condoms, was not even available for comment through most of the Greencore revelations. Any time he did appear before the public he repeatedly stated that he did "not know" of any of these details. The question must be asked, if not, why not? His attack on Mr. Bernard Somers, the accountant, showed that he was both foolish and precipitous in trying to be an over-enthusiastic public watch dog. All of this would be just sad were it not for the fact that Irish agriculture, farmers and the food industry are facing the most devastating future if the Common Agricultural Policy reforms, as proposed by Commissioner MacSharry, go through. We have already seen in the past two years a 30 per cent drop in farm incomes and the sheer depression and anxiety to be faced in rural Ireland if there are further cutbacks will be unbelievable. We must obtain at European level a special understanding and derogation in view of our unique dependence on the food [539] industry. We must be allowed a period of at least six years to phase in these cutbacks in EC supports through the CAP. It is clear that Irish farmers have no confidence in the ability of the Minister for Agriculture and Food to protect Irish interests. Only last week we saw his total lack of action when decisions were taken to legalise the importation of beef from Eastern Europe, which will depress further the Irish beef sector.
Undoubtedly serious international damage has been done to the reputation of this country and its ethical standards in business and politics. It is vital that the Government take immediate steps to act to restore the good name of Irish business and Irish politicians. Fine Gael demand the immediate establishment of a serious fraud office, not under the Attorney General, as the Taoiseach has proposed, which would entail quasi-political control, but under the Garda Commissioner, who has seen his fraud squad seriously under-resourced.
It is also a matter of extreme urgency that our political system is seen to be transparent in terms of the links between political parties and the business community. Such transparency can only be brought about by a declaration of interests of politicians which should be made to a Parliamentary Ethics Commission. This should be made up of the Ombudsman, the Comptroller and Auditor General and a High Court judge. There should be a change in the funding of political parties, with a maximum limit on the level of expenditure by political parties in an election, a limit on the contributions that can be made by business or private individuals, and full disclosure. The State should fund the activities at national level of political parties and provide finance for general election campaigns at a limited level. I believe 1 per person, per year, about 3.5 million, would be the amount of money it would take to clean up our political system, coupled with maximum limits on expenditure. It is wrong to have political parties dependent on voluntary contributions [540] and vulnerable politicians susceptible to the possibility of corruption.
It is also vital that we have more accountability by the Government to the Dil. It has been shown that our procedures for scrutinising legislation and financial affairs do not work. The fact that over 6 billion of expenditure was rushed through the Dil in a couple of days is simply unacceptable. Increasingly we see on Wednesdays in this House guillotine motions introduced to rush through ten, 20 or 30 sections in a period of three hours. Many Opposition amendments are never reached. The cosy secrecy between the Government and the Civil Service, in which public services are provided, is not good enough any longer. Fine Gael, therefore, propose the establishment of three strong committees dealing with economic affairs, social affairs and general affairs to deal with the broad range of these vital Government services.
It is inexplicable that there is still no foreign affairs committee, especially when we saw throughout this over-lengthy Dil recess so many international developments taking place without comment by the Oireachtas. On top of these reforms there is the immediate requirement for a freedom of information Act which would open up Government to proper scrutiny and accountability. We need a Government system that reveals more than it conceals.
It would be wrong to think that all the blame for the present difficulties can be laid at the door of the Taoiseach. It is a fact that disunity between Government parties has developed over the summer and that there is deep mistrust within the Cabinet. This has worsened due to the naked leadership contest that is taking place between Cabinet colleagues within Fianna Fil, given the inevitable demise of Deputy Haughey as leader.
We are not satisfied with the explanations given so far by the Minister for Education why she paid 1.5 million more for Carysfort College than she could have bought it for some months earlier. The Minister for Labour has to explain his role in enticing the social partners, and particularly the trade union [541] movement, into believing that pay increases could be paid as laid out in the Programme for Economic and Social Progress which were known to be unsoundly based and were known at the time to be unreal by any independent analysis.
The Minister for Finance has not only made a total mess of this year's financial management of the country but also faces serious questions which will be resolved in the context of the Goodman inquiry into his role as Minister for Industry and Commerce in the issuing of export credit insurance to that organisation. He has not explained, in the context of Mr. Dermot Desmond's letter to Pernod Ricard, his role in the monopolies and mergers legislation at the time of the Irish Distillers takeover that Mr. Desmond said was so favourable to the French drinks company. It is also obvious that his corrective action in the Dil recess to rectify the budgetary disarray of this year will, in fact, not save 100 million, but rather 30 million. He seems so preoccupied with cultivating backbenchers and developing his leadership ambitions that he is doing an exceedingly weak job in his present Ministry.
The Progressive Democrats are showing this week that they have lost all political nerve and credibility. It is undoubtedly the case that in opposition they would be leading the charge with calls for "high standards in high places". This does not even figure on their agenda of discussions in terms of the future life of this Government. I understand the final act of this charade will be concluded tomorrow in relation to an agreement on the remaining life of this dying Government. The real story of this week is that the Progressive Democrats have been blinded to the reality of the current scandals.
It is impossible to escape the principle of collective responsibility by all members of this Government and a change of leadership in Fianna Fil will not reduce the lack of confidence of Fine Gael in this Government. Fine Gael believe that this Government should be replaced by a Fine Gael led Government.
[542] Our priorities are the development of an enterprise society in a developing Europe. We want quality public services within a liberal and tolerant society with a pluralist ethos. We want to shift the tax burden away from employment to reduce the cost of creating a job. We want to set up a national jobs forum with the political and social partners to provide long term planning and solutions to our employment requirements.
We believe the productive capacity of the economy can be improved and made more competitive by an integrated transport policy. I quote the Tnaiste's own area of responsibility in relation to ports. Virtually 100 per cent of everything that is imported and exported in relation to our manufacturing industry comes through our ports, yet they operate outdated legislation passed in 1946. They require the Minister's approval fo everything, from selling property to commissioning a loan to superannuation. There is the most deep rooted bureaucracy as well as totally outdated industrial relations practices. This is, in effect, a tax on everything that moves in and out of this country.
As an island economy there is no more critical factor in developing the productive side of the economy than having a dynamic new structure for the ownership and deregulation of our ports. We need to implement the investment programme to ensure that our roads are brought up to a European standard and we have seen that the proposals of the Minister for the Environment as announced on 6 March this year, modest and all as they were, will not now be implemented in relation to new starts on national primary roads at a time when our transport costs are twice the European average. If we are to overcome our peripherality we must get an integrated transport plan together. Let us not be so taken up with our island status that we believe we cannot achieve success in relation to this. When we look at Japan and New Zealand and their real peripherality on the other side of the southern hemisphere we see that we are not truly peripheral and that if we take the correct decisions we can grow and [543] expand. The present lack of commitment on the part of the Minister for the Environment in meeting his own modest proposals earlier this year in terms of a national major roads development has been simply appalling.
In terms of the tax code we need a new starting rate of tax of 15 per cent for low paid workers. It is wrong that our lowest rate of tax is so high. We need to have an intermediate rate that low paid workers can lock on to.
We need to restore the incentive for work by reintroducing some tax-free allowance for children because under our social welfare system, the more child dependants they have the more people are paid. Under our present income tax system one gets the same tax-free allowance irrespective of whether one has no children or ten children. The reality is that there is no incentive for people with large families to go to work. We need to change our industrial policy by switching IDA capital grants, which are not linked to job creation, to tax credits on actual jobs created.
We need to extend our training and education programme to improve the skill levels of potential employees. We need to extend the scope of the social employment scheme for the long term unemployed so that more people on the live register can find gainful employment opportunities. We need retraining vouchers for people who are made redundant at an older age. Most of all, we need sectoral development that will create jobs.
In the food sector Fine Gael believe that grant aid should be geared to proposals which only have a detailed marketing strategy. For each food product there should be an Irish food quality mark for the health conscious European consumer. Financial support should be available to producer goods to provide guarantees of quality and continuity of supply. We need to enact a new food safety Act to raise standards. There is huge potential to assist the level of timber imports into Ireland by the substitution of Irish timber products. Fine Gael believe [544] that instead of setting up tax avoidance attractions in the form of the Financial Services Centre which will not actually create more jobs but will rather switch white collar employment from one side of town to the other, we should be establishing an international telecommunications service centre to attract specialist telecommunications based industries to Ireland in the areas of telephone sales organisations, information trading companies and value added network services. These are real employment opportunities unlike the German brass plate companies which have been attracted to the Financial Services Centre and whose employment content is only cosmetic. It is vital that, in all these areas of economic activity and job creation, Fine Gael restore some level of hope that there will be a dynamic economic future for this country.
The most damning indictment of this Government was the horrendous queue of young people to post applications at the GPO in the recent postal dispute for the 16,000 Morrison visas for people to get out of this country. Young people have lost all faith in the present Government. It is obvious, given the events of recent weeks and the parliamentary meetings of recent weeks, that many Fianna Fil backbenchers if offered a free vote in this debate would not have confidence in this Taoiseach. Recent statements by Fianna Fil backbenchers have clearly demonstrated their lack of confidence in their party leadership. At this time of huge international change, the dismantling of Communism, the opening up of Eastern Europe and the abolition of apartheid, we should be preparing for the vital changes that are necessary for the Single European Market. Instead we are beset with scandals, demoralised through financial mismanagment, facing cutbacks in essential services of education, health and housing and on top of this, we have a flurry of industrial disputes due to the Government reneging on pay commitments which they freely entered into only a few months ago.
I will finish with the obvious conclusion that with over 20 per cent unemployed [545] and with more than 160,000 people emigrating in recent years this Government depend on the economies of America and Britain to resolve their failures in the employment arena. This Government have lost their moral authority to govern and should allow the public to decide whether it wants them to continue in office. Fine Gael are determined that the golden circle of which we have had glimpses in recent months will not only be fully exposed but disbanded.

