Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

I am glad Senator Norris mixes with lords and knights. It is nice to see the gentry still has a role in Irish life. I welcome the Minister of State. I enjoyed the debates between the Minister of State, when he was a Member of the Seanad, and Senator Norris. We miss them.

I compliment the Minister of State on his work on the serious flooding. His response to the my submissions was very quick in terms of the different regions concerned. The Minister, Deputy Lenihan, has been extraordinarily effective as Minister for Finance. He has taken on a enormous task. It is one of the most difficult tasks in the history of the State.

The Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, who is an expert on history, would confirm that Fianna Fáil has always supported people on social welfare. It is our ethos. To prove that point, over the past 12 years we have increased jobseeker's allowance by 129%, disability allowance by 129%, the carer's allowance for those under 66 has increased by 147% and the one parent family payment has increased by 129%. Over the same period, the cost of living has increased by 40%. It is clear that when we had the money we distributed it fairly and evenly. We gave and gave and now, unfortunately, we are taking it back to preserve the economy as best we can.

Large numbers of people are involved. Some 1 million people are affected by the cuts in social welfare. One individual's pay is irrelevant as far as the savings are concerned. In that regard while the amounts involved in pay for the Judiciary may be small, there is a principle involved. If it requires a referendum, we should have one. We will be having a referendum next year to amend the Constitution regarding child protection. The State is entitled to regulate all payments from the State coffers. While the amount will make little difference, a voluntary approach will not work just as it does not work for Senators, Deputies and members of the Government. One does not write one's own tax code.

This morning I pointed out that on 5 November 2008, when the Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, was in the House, I proposed the introduction of a national reconstruction bond. It has now been adopted and has been called the national solidarity bond. It is proposed to establish early in the new year a new national solidarity bond to assist in the financing of the capital investment programme underlying the budget, that is, the bond will not be used to fund additional spending. The bond will be in addition to the current range of State savings products - savings bonds, savings certificates, prize bonds, national instalment savings and the post office deposit account. The main features of the new bond will be that investors can choose to invest for a five, seven or ten-year period, interest will be paid annually, investors will be entitled to a final redemption bonus on maturity as an incentive to leave their funds invested, with the bonus being different for each investment period, full details of the tax treatment of the bond will be provided in the finance Bill, it will be possible to invest in the bond by lump sum or by occasional payments, and the bond will be available through the following channels: Internet, telephone, direct debit, and at local post offices. The bond will be sold by An Post on behalf of the National Treasury Management Agency, NTMA. Further details will be announced early in the new year.

I very much welcome this announcement and I also welcome the remarks of Senator Norris who would be an excellent person to front this on a voluntary basis to encourage people to invest. We can all encourage people to invest. I believe the full range of services could be provided through the banking institutions. It would restore its credibility if Anglo Irish Bank, which is now a State bank, was given a role in this regard. There is no reason it could not be extended in the finance Bill and this is the time for suggestions. People have money and Senator Norris is correct to suggest that a number of people would be delighted to provide funding to help the State with reconstruction. A national solidarity bond is an excellent idea. I would support bringing in celebrities, some of whom are international actors and personalities, to sell the bond. As a national movement I believe it will be successful.

The Minister should consider another aspect to that bond. Many people do not have a pension scheme. The experts in the Department of Finance should investigate this. People investing €100,000 over ten or 20 years should be allowed to withdraw it on the basis of a pension over the rest of their lives. Actuaries could work out how it might work in reality. I do not have all the details but the Minister of State has experts with him. The Minister has already adopted the first part and there is a second part. Instead of paying out a lump sum in ten years' time with interest, the investor should be paid a pension over his or her lifetime. The pension might be €200 a week, which is €10,000 a year and is €100,000 over ten years. Whatever year an investor invests, he or she will know the amount he or she would get back. Even if it was €100 a week, it gives enormous security to know they would have that money on a regular basis for the rest of their lives. That would be worthwhile.

Senator Butler has proposed many ideas and has put working papers before our parliamentary party on the fitting out of houses to improve insulation. I congratulate him; it has worked. We are prepared to accept recommendations from the other side of the house. I read Fine Gael's document last year and it contained some interesting points in this regard.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions has supported the idea of the bond. In a policy document it stated:

In terms of trying to capture a mood of public support for a Social Solidarity Pact there might also be an opportunity to launch a Domestic Savings Bond - a National Recovery Bond - which people would contribute to if they felt they were part of A FAIR and genuine effort to put the country back on its feet.

I shall not go through most of the details in the budget. The Minister's Budget Statement mentioned supporting tourism. The initiative in the budget mirrors the European Calypso programme, which is a programme in social tourism aimed at increasing mobility for target groups such as senior citizens, young people, disabled people and families facing difficult social circumstances, enabling them to go on holidays in other member states. In 2009 preparatory action on social tourism was launched under the name of Calypso, with a €1 million budget for 2009. It is intended to run for at least three years. Financing for the following years would need to be reconfirmed with the budgetary authority. This would encourage tourism activity, especially during the off-peak season, thus generating employment opportunities. As far as I know this has been operated in Spain.

We could provide a service of free travel within the State for every person over 55 coming to Ireland through State agencies, Bus Éireann, Iarnród Éireann and Dublin Bus. Between September and April they would be given particular incentives. For instance, the air travel tax would be reduced for that area to attract in an enormous number of people to avail of the rooms that are now available at a very reasonable cost. Last weekend I stayed at the Louis Fitzgerald Hotel in Clondalkin and it only cost €45 for bed and breakfast in an excellent hotel. That indicates the price reductions available in and around the city. That is what will attract tourism. People love to come to Ireland and we have a great package. Bus Éireann and Iarnród Éireann have a fantastic holiday package travelling around Ireland. It would be great if they could provide rates that would be attractive. Tourism is very important.

We should initiate a new campaign called "Come back to Erin - Come back to Your Roots" encouraging people to come back to their native country. We could start it with President Obama. If he comes back to Moneygall in County Offaly, it would be a step in the right direction. Around him we could have the largest movement of tourism attractions ever. We should initiate a new An Tóstal throughout the country close to St. Patrick's Day. Clan tourism is also a marvellous idea. There might be 100,000 Butlers all over the world who could come back. There would be no better man than chieftain Larry Butler, Senator of this State, to lead that campaign. We could all make that effort. We can write to relations to invite them to stay with us for a while to generate tourism in Ireland. There are opportunities and now is the time to take them when we are in trouble and under pressure, and it can happen. When I was Minister of State with responsibility for trade I targeted our trade to the Irish shops and Irish buyers all over the world. I found out who they were through An Bord Tráchtála. We went to them and got them to buy Irish products in their stores.

The change in the VAT rate is welcome but it should have been reduced from today and not from 1 January. Reducing the price of alcoholic drinks is vital regardless of whether one encourages drink. The reality is that a bottle of Jameson whiskey can be bought in Northern Ireland for approximately half the price charged in the South. How does it come about when it is made by Irish Distillers? How can Irish Distillers sell the product at a cheaper rate in Northern Ireland or Britain than in Ireland? I cannot understand it. There is enormous over-purchasing of drink in the North, in which regard there must be a clampdown by the Revenue Commissioners. Truckloads of alcoholic beverages are being brought to the South and sold to small pubs at a cut-price rate. This must stop. We must try to generate more activity in Irish supermarkets. This measure is a step in the right direction and I applaud the Minister for having the courage of his convictions. This is also the case in his introduction of the scrappage scheme which allows a €1,500 reduction in VRT in return for the scrapping of cars over ten years old. Again, this is a welcome move.

In the budget there is a great opportunity to show national solidarity and provide for reconstruction. I believe the Minister will deliver another three budgets before the Government reaches the end of its term. I am also convinced that this party will be returned, with the Green Party and perhaps other smaller groups, in the next general election in 2012.