Yfg priorities for young ireland

PRIORITIES

for Young Ireland

INTRODUCTION This document lays out Young Fine Gael’s priorities for Young Ireland. Young people are amongst the worst hit by the recession created by the economic mismanagement of the last government. We believe the stemming of youth emigration and the creation of jobs is, and must continue to be, the first priority of the Government. With the most recent CSO report showing that 18% of unemployed people in Ireland are under 25 years of age, we simply must stem the flow of emigration abroad that is a result of the numbers of young people who cannot find work.

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We in YFG, and young people generally, support the policy of reducing our budget deficit because we know that if the problem is not solved, it is young people who will be saddled with the financial consequences for the rest of our lives. However, there are other aspects to growing up and living in Ireland that cannot be fixed through fiscal consolidation or by passing a law.

Department of Education and Skills

No poll will enumerate the impact that negative attitudes inherent in current public discourse are having on young people, especially when combined with the twinned plagues of unemployment and financial difficulty. Many young people who still have jobs are deciding to leave this country simply because of the sense of gloom and doom that pervades our current national identity and our sense of the future.

Raising the spirit of our people will have as much impact on our economy than an encyclopaedia of policy papers. One way of doing this is by keeping direct taxes as low as possible. The psychological impact of raising income taxes affects the attitude and behaviour of people who are both employed and unemployed. Young people will stay in Ireland if they believe that they will have a fair chance of getting work and will be rewarded for their hard work.

Another crucial element of recovery is the fundamental reform in the way our government works, how public services are delivered and how government interacts with business. We must never see the return of government by the combined forces of neglect, complacency and blind consensus - as was evidenced in the version of Social Partnership the previous government chose to implement. This trio of negative governing, as manifested by Social Partnership, left us with legacies which the current government and future generations will have to deal with. Failure to deal with the inefficiencies of government will inevitably lead to higher taxes and charges than is planned.

This document details where Young Fine Gael stands on the issues we feel have the greatest impact on the young people of today and how their future in Ireland can be changed for the better.

We will be making special presentations to the Department for Children and Youth Affairs and to the Department for Education and Skills in coming months to further outline many ideas our members have about how these Department can better serve young people.

We have presented this to all Government Ministers, TDs and Senators and we hope they take our views into consideration as we fix Ireland, not just the young, but for all of us.

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine Department of Children and Youth Affairs

Department of Environment, Community and Local Government Department of Health Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Department of Public Expenditure and Reform Department of Social Protection

Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine Agriculture and food exports were worth almost over €9bn in 2010. It is one of the largest growth areas in the Irish economy, creating jobs on farms and in factories nationwide. In recent decades, our industry has grown and changed to incorporate the agri-food industry, which builds upon our world-class reputation for food ingredients, and adds value to food products for export. The best facet of the agri-food industry is that it is labour intensive and thus creates a large number of jobs both directly and indirectly.

The following areas of a particular concern to young people involved in the industry and we believe the Government should focus on these:

Young Farmer Initiatives 7% of farmers in this country are under the age of 35 but the numbers of young people wanting to farm for a living is increasing. We believe that it is important that the necessary resources be allocated to the training colleges to be able to meet the current high demand for agriculturerelated courses. New entrants are absolutely essential to rejuvenating the industry and to reversing the current age structure within the industry to ensure that young farmers play their part. It is vital that younger people enter farming so that farms are modernised so that they work to optimal capacity, making 21st century standards universal across this country and helping to create a thriving agri-food economy to sustain future generations.

CAP Post-2013 YFG recognise the commitment of the Minister for Agriculture to CAP and to the re-negotiations which will come in the near future. These negotiations will be tough, with many countries seeking reductions in CAP spending. We ask the Government to focus particularly on allocating funding within CAP towards young, trained and active farmers.

Regulation Farming is not a hobby – it is an industry and one of the best this country deals in. We are world leaders in agriculture and agri-food

and can continue to be so. However, “red tape” and unnecessary bureaucracy in all forms and guises dampens growth in all industries, particularly so in agriculture. The vast majority of farmers are sole traders and the amount of their time allocated to completing forms and providing paperwork for inspections would not be tolerated by any other industry.

It is imperative that inspections be carried out with the very minimum number of farm visits. This is one area that the Government has complete control over and that it should be dealt with as a priority issue.

Department of CHILDREN AND YOUTH AFFAIRS We fully support and look forward to the referendum on children’s rights. This is one of the most important referendums that will go before the people, and which will give the State the tools to deal with cases of abuse quickly and properly. Proper child protection and clear reporting procedures must be introduced and implemented, and, moreover, must become a cultural norm in our society.

The excellent work of social workers must be better supported, funded and managed than has been the case in recent years. YFG believes that the government must work to ensure that social workers in Ireland work to international best practise, including the work load

Department of EDUCATION AND SKILLS Investment YFG welcomes the commitment by the government towards the investment in new schools and in education infrastructure. Over the next five years, the Government will spend €2.2 billion on capital expenditure. All this funding is needed to build new and re-develop primary and secondary schools in order to create the capacity for 80,000 school places, all of which will be needed to meet demand created by increased birth rate in recent years.

All too often, valid concerns about the funding of third-level education drown out the debate about funding primary and secondary education.

Everybody attends primary and secondary level; we do not all go to college. Moreover, we have real problems in literacy and numeracy in this country which must be a priority in our education system.

How To Fund Third Level Irish universities need to ensure that graduates are getting high quality degrees that prepare them for that highly competitive jobs market they

are entering. It is therefore imperative that Irish universities make progress in international league tables and perform at the highest level possible.

When in opposition, Fine Gael proposed (and YFG supported) the proposal of a graduate tax as an alternative to increased fees.

Unfortunately, since the day that the EU/IMF came into Ireland, our country has had no access to international funding, which has rendered this option unworkable because the graduate tax proposal could only work when the State could afford to borrow funding up front.

An important target for both government parties was to avoid increasing third level fees.

Previous studies show that, in order to maintain standards in third level education for the increasing numbers of students annually, more and more funding will be required by the thirdlevel education sector, even at a time of large cutbacks by the government. We do not want any potential increases in fees to be the only way in which this funding gap is filled and if fees increase, they cannot be increased straight across the board because this treats every student and their families the same.

YFG would support a system where students pay back a major part of the cost of putting them through third level after they graduate. However, we do not know if the country can afford to implement such a system at present, as we are currently in receivership and have no access to funding on the market. Like other countries, the government could implement a student loan scheme, but the question still remains as to whether we can afford it.

The Elephant in the Room The pay levels of all employed in the third level system are frozen under the Croke Park Agreement. We must recognise that lecturers employed in Irish universities are some of the best paid in Europe and benefit from some of the best conditions of employment.

There must be greater focus on the rationalisation of internal universities structures so as to provide the most effective service for students, and the best possible value for the investment each student and their families make.

For example, there are currently five Colleges of Education for primary teachers in Ireland and four of these are concentrated in Dublin. We believe that the Dublin colleges should be consolidated to get better value for money, reduce the overlap between the colleges and the administrative cost of running separate institutions, which is substantial.

We believe that the pay and conditions of employees of the third level sector needs to be benchmarked against similar posts in Europe.

Increasing the up-front graduate contribution as a stand-alone action will not solve the funding gap for third level because, the more the government charge in fees, the fewer that will be able to afford to attend third level education.

Private Funding There is a continuing need for universities to generate funding independent of Government support. Cooperation with private industry provides an avenue to develop new markets and new jobs for graduates while also providing opportunities for universities to gain research and development funding.

Further to this, universities need to help ensure greater availability of the financial support through providing organised financing at affordable levels for students. This is a common measure among universities in the UK, Northern Ireland and the US and needs to be more broadly available among universities here.

Quality There is a continuing need for greater focus by universities on specific sectors so as to be able to provide relevant support to students and graduates. This will provide those interested in starting businesses with the most relevant expertise for the sector they wish to focus on.

There is also a need for greater emphasis on the provision of relevant working experience to be incorporated into degree programmes prior to graduation.

Enterprise as a Second Level Subject Curriculum reform must take into account what our economy needs in future generations. Our future entrepreneurs and business creators must be facilitated and educated to foster and grow talent in business and job creation. YFG believes that second level subjects like Business Studies at Junior Certificate level, Business Organisation and Accountancy at Leaving Certificate level are not adequate to develop the skills entrepreneurs need in our society and our economy.

Special Needs Assessment in our Education System The ongoing delays and waiting lists for children to be assessed for special needs within our education system has created a two-tier education system. Some parents can afford assessment and can get the assistance their children need, while other families have to watch their children fall behind on basic skills, waiting to be assessed. Valuable time is lost for these children and this should not be acceptable. YFG suggests

that the appropriate number of psychologists are hired on temporary contracts for 2012 to clear this backlog, so that all children get the help they need without having to wait for the assessment process to take its long course.

New teachers YFG supports all moves by the government to prioritise newly qualified teachers for temporary, relief, maternity leave and sick-leave work, rather than using retired teachers for these roles.

Department of ENVIRONMENT, COMMUNITY AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

council, the National Roads Authority or other statutory bodies. In many historic towns, the area for which the town council has had responsibility is now too small to warrant their existence.

As it currently stands, all but three Town Councils have 9 elected members (three Town Councils have 12 members, the same number as the five Borough councils). This has led to the situation where very large towns (like Naas or Ennis) elect the same number of Town Councillors as small towns (like Bundoran or Granard).

In reality, many town councillors are elected to both town council and county council. We believe that area committees on the relevant county councils can perform the functions of town councils more effectively and in a more cost effective way – delivering value for money, without duplication of role.

We believe that as part of the reform of local government, all Town Councils should be abolished.

Local Government Reform – Abolish Town Councils The Government has commenced a long overdue review of how local government is organised and run, which has led to the amalgamation of some county councils.

YFG are heartened by these moves and encourages the government to continue with these reforms.

The work carried out by local authorities on a daily basis has a huge impact on people’s quality of life and it is incumbent on us to design the most efficient local government service.

The structure of local government has changed very little since the foundation of the state and in the case of local town councils, many were founded on the basis of demographics that are now centuries out-of-date. The priorities and responsibilities of local government have radically changed since this system was originally designed.

We believe that town councils are an anachronism which are no longer needed in modern Ireland and so we believe that the government should abolish many of these councils and merge their functions into the relevant county or city council.

Over time, many of the powers and responsibilities of town councils have been stripped away and granted to the county

Department of HEALTH Cystic Fibrosis We call for Cystic Fibrosis (CF) care to be improved. Recent developments in CF care in Ireland are positive, like the introduction of universal screening of newborns to diagnose CF as early as possible.

However, great strides in the supports and services for Cystic Fibrosis patients must continue to be a priority in our healthcare system.

Recent reports that Cork University Hospital’s CF unit now treats 100% more patients than the capacity original planned proves the need for improved services. With a 10 year gap in life expectation for CF patients in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, we must look carefully about how to improve our system. The moratorium on recruitment of physiotherapists has prevented CF patients from getting the essential physiotherapy they need and this must be rectified. Single bedrooms for inpatients in hospitals must be available rather than beds on children’s wards or adult’s wards to prevent CF patients becoming more ill while in hospital.

Mental Health YFG call on the government to implement the commitment to spend 8.4% of the health budget on mental health as part of the “Vision for Change” strategy. We oppose any reduction in the proportion of the health budget that is spent on mental health.

Underinvestment in mental health resulted, according the Mental Health Commission, in 200 young people under 18 being admitted to adult units in 2009. The most recent research has found that a suicide attempt is made every 45 minutes in Ireland.

In 2009 we saw a 25% increase in the rate of suicide in Ireland from 424 deaths in 2008 to 527. Yet given these frightening statistics, government spending on mental health services has decreased by nearly 25% in that last five years, standing at 5.3% of the total health budget, down from 6.9% in 2005.

An increase in awareness of digital technology in schools is important and a similar structure to the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition should be introduced to encourage students to study in the field. The aim of a policy initiative like this must be to further Ireland’s reputation as a worldrenowned innovator in digital technology and specifically in digital gaming.

We must ensure that we create an environment where creativity as well as entrepreneurship is encouraged and maintained.

Sugar Tax

Cloud Computing

We believe the introduction of a sugar tax is an important measure to deal with the growing levels of obesity in Ireland. In the Growing Up in Ireland report launched by Ministers Reilly and Fitzgerald this month, statistics show that 26% of 9-year-olds have a body-mass index classed as unhealthy. This is one of the biggest crises facing our healthcare system in the future, and introducing a sugar tax can help to change behaviour and eating habits so that this epidemic is avoided.

Ireland is particularly suited to cloud computing because of the low variance in our climate. The government should work with technology firms to invest in server space.

Department of JOBS, ENTERPRISE AND INNOVATION Digital Gaming Digital gaming as an industry is growing and given Ireland’s attractiveness as a digital hub we believe that this should be fostered by making Ireland a market leader in this industry. The key to success in the digital gaming industry is innovation, we believe that by encouraging and supporting entrepreneurs in this field we can become a market leader in digital gaming.

The location of the European headquarters of Google, Facebook and Twitter further show that Ireland is becoming a centre of excellence when it comes to digital technology. In order to become a world leader in digital gaming, Ireland must produce an environment in which innovation and creativity is fostered. We believe this will be possible through a number of avenues such as: an Innovation Fund to invest in start-up gaming companies; a presence on a University campus to encourage and foster innovation in this area; an increase in awareness of the Digital Hub and an enlargement of this project to allow entrepreneurs and innovators to start a business in a centre of excellence.

Start-Ups This government must support start-ups of new business and must put in place the necessary supports for new business and small business to survive and create jobs in the future.

Sick leave We oppose any proposal that employers, rather than the state, would be responsible for paying for sick leave. This would be an unfair burden on employers that does not recognise the considerable amount paid in PRSI for each employee.

Department of PUBLIC EXPENDITURES AND REFORM Public Sector Reform and the Croke Park Agreement As a result of the previous government’s complete incompetence, this country and the current government are chained to the constraints of the EU/IMF agreement. This government is also constrained by the conditions laid down under the Croke Park Agreement. Both Fine Gael and Labour went into the last election stating they were in favour of implementing the Agreement.

Public Service Pay and Entitlements The Agreement states that the pay or conditions of employment of all public servants shall not be changed during the term of the Agreement (2010–2014).The agreement also provides that the position of public service pay is reviewed in the spring of each year of the Agreement. In the event of a change in public service pay, the first priority should be to preserve the pay levels of this on €35,000 or less.

Under Section 28 of the agreement, the government has the right to re-negotiate the Agreement if the country’s fiscal position deteriorates.

The fiscal position of the State has patently deteriorated since the last government signed off on the Agreement in 2010.

YFG believes that the pay and pension entitlements of those at the upper tier of the public service is unacceptable. We also do not believe that the pension levy can be considered as a pay-cut, but simply as a contribution towards the most generous of pensions that public servants receive when they retire. We believe that there should be a review of pay and pension entitlements for all public servants and retired public servants earning in excess of â‚Ź100,000.

We believe that one of the most important commitments made is that to drive down the costs of other benefits and entitlements relating to sick leave, flexitime and in allowances and expenses.

Public Service Performance We believe that one of the most important elements of the Government’s plan for public service reform is the design of a system to tackle underperformance in the public service by mid-2012. We believe that this must include a radical and fundamental change to the system of performance evaluation within the entire public service. Recent reports show that the performance evaluation system used in the civil service grants comparatively generous reviews of employee performance when compared to the private sector.

The system whereby managers and senior public servants evaluate their employees must be completely transparent and all increments should be tied to these reviews and these reviews alone. The current system whereby increments are granted based on years of service runs completely contrary to the idea of an efficient and well organised public service. We believe that only those who have demonstrated an ability to provide a service to the State and the people should be entitled to increments.

E-Government The efficiency and value offered by E-Government has been ignored by successive governments over a number of years. Fine Gael has proposed, and YFG supports, the importance of a One Stop Shop in dealing with income, means testing, and entitlements. Using E-Government for this One Stop Shop will be

essential and systems similar to PAYE online systems should be introduced for all government departments.

Quangos The government must focus energy on rationalising Quangos in Ireland, which do not deliver value for money for taxpayers.

Procurement Centralised procurement for the Department of Health and the public sector in general should be pursued and it must be a priority to follow proper procurement procedures at all times.

Absenteeism Levels of absenteeism within the public service have been a considerable concern to public service management and must be tackled as part of a revised Croke Park Agreement. Recent reports from the HSE that changes to the procedures around absentee days have seen improvements in Donegal and these changed procedures should be rolled out across the HSE and public service.

Department of SOCIAL PROTECTION Pensions We acknowledge that the society has an interest in encouraging private pensions through the tax system. However, the tax expenditure for pension contributions is the costliest to the state in terms of revenue not collected.

Reducing the credit to apply at the standard rate of 20% rather than the marginal rate of 41% would be a considerable saving to the state, while still providing an incentive to save for a pension of up to e50,000. This would not prevent people from contributing for a higher sum, it would simply not be specifically encouraged by the state.

Welfare and Taxes Over the next two years, the functions of Revenue and the Department of Social Protection in relation to taxation and benefits should be coordinated, and merged if possible. This would allow system to be put in place to prevent welfare traps by paying benefits through the tax code.

Accumulated benefits currently mean that someone could be better off on benefits than working. It would also allow for the taxation of child benefit, treating it as income divided between both parents. It is a clear example of a needless inefficiency in government administration that these functions are duplicated.