FIANNA FAIL • THE REPUBLICAN PARTY  THE SlX-POINT PLAN FOR NATIONAL PROGRESS  WE CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN.  A MESSAGE FROM AN TAOISEACH  "Turn this election to our national advantage"  Voters can use this chance to give a strong mandate for effective  government in the difficult times ahead.  There are grave problems, at home and abroad. To address those  problems, the country needs a strong, stable government with a  clear vision along with the capability and the united  determination to bring the vision to reality.  Fianna Fail has that vision that capability, that determination.  Fianna Fail's 6-point plan for national progress will:  MAKE JOBS THE FIRST PRIORITY  -with a package of new jobs initiatives  INVEST FOR THE FUTURE  -in education, roads and transport  EXTEND SOCIAL PROGRESS  -protecting the weakest and reforming our laws  REFORM THE TAX SYSTEM  -cutting tax rates, broadening tax bands  IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF OUR LIVES  -preserving and enhancing the fabric of our nation  WORK FOR PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT  -in Ireland, Europe and the Third World  Voting for Fianna Fail is supporting that plan and turning this  unnecessary election to our national advantage.  Albert Reynolds  1. MAKING JOBS THE FIRST PRIORITY  Fianna Fail's first and over-riding aim is to create a substantial  number of new jobs, building on our existing policies. The  elements of our strategy to achieve this, in addition to our  present policies, are:  • Creating the right conditions for job-creation  Fianna Fail are creating and will continue to create the economic  conditions essential to attract investment and create sustainable  jobs. We will hold inflation down and maintain the value of the  Irish pound, so that over a longer period interest rates are lower.  We will keep Government borrowing at or below present levels-  and maintain as an over-riding objective the strict disciplines  required to ensure that we can take full part in Economic and  Monetary Union and the European Single Currency from the  outset. We will go on reducing the relative size of the national  debt.  • Strengthening social consensus  Fianna Fail will build on the consensus approach that we  pioneered-bringing together employers, trade unions and  farmers in an effective partnership to tackle unemployment. As  part of this, we will honour the pay commitments in the PESP.  We will continue to co-operate with all willing parties in the Dail  on unemployment. We agree with the trade unions and  employers that we should take steps to convert excessive over  time into jobs.  • Radical restructuring of Government  Fianna Fail will radically restructure the Government so that our  new team can implement with maximum effectiveness a fresh  approach. We will set up a new Department of Employment, to  create new jobs and to ensure that present jobs are maintained-  with a job protection unit to provide an early warning system  about firms that may need help. The Departments of Marine and  Transport will also be amalgamated. There will be a new  Department of Tourism. All Departments will evaluate their  proposals in the light of their impact on jobs.  • A new £750 million Fund for job creation  As an exciting new radical concept, Fianna Fail will set up by  immediate legislation, through the National Treasury  Management Agency, a new holding company to acquire funds  to invest in job-creation by accelerating public investment in  major planned projects over three years. The holdings in Irish  Life, Greencore, ICC and ACC will be transferred to this new  company, which will advance ~375 million on the strength of  the collateral. This will be matched by an equivalent amount of  new EC Cohesion funds, negotiated by Fianna Fail, and other  structural funds. Consequently, there will be no increase in State  borrowing. The fund will be used to speed up major infra  structure projects such as light rail in Dublin and modernisation  of the national rail network, the modernisation of our ports,  cleaning up Dublin Bay, and the building of a national  convention centre and a national sports stadium, as well as other  projects.  • Strengthening our industrial base  Fianna Fail, in line with the Culliton Report, will strengthen  Ireland's industrial, scientific and exporting base-developing the  skills of our workforce, and putting new emphasis on small  industry and indigenous resources. We will seek new  investment in environmentally-friendly industries, and make  maxi mum use of new technology. We will widen industrial  strategy to take in the key factors across all areas of public policy  that affect output and productivity.  • Harnessing the spirit of enterprise  Fianna Fail will harness the spirit of enterprise at national, local  and community level, in both private and public sectors. We will  put in place quickly the County Enterprise Partnership Boards  (complemented by Regional Enterprise Boards in Cork and  Dublin), to assist start-ups in small business. The new  boards will empower local communities to get funding to  develop their own areas, and this will include community-based  upgrading of the environment. Many people now unemployed,  especially the long-term unemployed, will be involved. We will  encourage State companies to grow on a commercial basis, on  their own account or in joint ventures.  • Concentrating on indigenous industry  Fianna Fail will give priority to building a solid base of Irish  companies with a viable future in world markets. We will set up  a jobs and competitiveness project, under the auspices of the  social partners, to disseminate to Irish companies the best  practices of high-employment countries-Austria, Switzerland,  Sweden, Norway and Japan-which enable them to be both good  employers and highly competitive at the same time.  • Focusing on key opportunities  Fianna Fail will maximise job-creation in the areas that offer the  most potential tourism:- consumer food-processing, financial  services, the arts, horticulture, the marine, forestry,  development of mineral and hydrocarbon resources.  Energy: Fianna Fail will implement an imaginative energy  policy. On the basis of a viable proposal being prepared, we will  build a new modern peat-fired station in the Midlands. We will  promote energy conservation and environmentally-friendly  renewable energy resources, including crops grown for energy  production.  Tourism: Having increased tourism earnings by 50'3~. since  1987, creating 23,500 extra jobs, we will put in place a new  programme to achieve over the next five years a further increase  of 50% and an equivalent number of further new jobs.  Marine: We will develop our marine resources and environment,  and create extra jobs especially in sea fishing, inland fisheries,  aquaculture, value-added processing and marine recreation.  We regard the improvement of Ireland's position under the  Common Fisheries Policy as a high national priority. Fianna  Fail will support a major programme of investment in Ireland's  ports and harbours at national and regional levels, including key  Dublin Bay and Shannon projects.  Culture:  We will complete the cultural quarter at Dublin's Temple Bar,  creating 5,000 construction jobs over five years and 2,000  permanent jobs. We will act quickly on the recommendations of  the film industry working group, where 1,000 jobs can be  created. We will set up a similar group for music, theatre, and  multi-media. We will create a new regulatory framework for  broadcasting, which will free up opportunities for the  independent production sector.  Education: We will also create jobs by developing international  training and consultancy services, targeted particularly at  opportunities in Central and Eastern Europe, including the  Russian Federation.  • Business incentives  The Business Expansion Scheme, which assists the raising of  capital by smaller companies in high-risk sectors with the  potential to create sustainable jobs, will be renewed. In that  context, provisions that may exclude certain investors will be  relaxed.  So as to ensure that the availability of equity finance for Irish  businesses is not adversely affected by the forthcoming 10%  DIRT rate for certain deposit interest, tax treatment on a broadly  similar basis will be extended to investments with a sufficiently  high component of Irish equities, including smaller companies.  These arrangements will also include a specific incentive for  investment through institutions in "venture capital".  • Agriculture  Fianna Fail will ensure that the new CAP will be implemented so  as to maintain the maximum number of farm families on the land  and create more jobs in agri-industry. We will guarantee to  protect fully the benefits of CAP reform for Irish farmers in any  GATT agreement. Priority categories, including new entrants to  farming, will receive priority under the Production Regulations  of the CAP.  In order to encourage the early transfer of farms, we will bring  forward the scheme of installation aid for young farmers to the  date of legal transfer. We will ensure that the new Farm  Retirement Scheme is geared towards maximising farm  transfers and land mobility.  • Food  Fianna Fail will ensure that the employment and wealth-creating  capacity of the food industry is maximised. We will ensure that,  in the re-organisation of the investment aid agencies, maximum  support will be given to an integrated programme for the food  industry. To this end we will adopt at an early stage a new  national food development programme. As part of this  programme Fianna Fail will ensure that the contribution of all  EC Structural Funds to the food industry will be used to the full  and applied in the most co-ordinated way.  • Rural development  We will give major priority to rural enterprise and development.  We will accelerate the implementation of schemes geared  towards rural renewal and rural job creation (Leader, Small and  Community-Based Enterprise Scheme, Operational Programme  for Rural Development). On and off farm alternative enter prises  will be encouraged and promoted, and increased funding will be  provided for the Environmentally Sensitive Areas Scheme. We  will ensure that particular emphasis is placed on marginalised  rural areas.  2. INVESTING FOR THE FUTURE  Fianna Fail will maintain a high level of capital investment, both  in the productive sectors of the economy and in creating the  basic framework for a prosperous Ireland in the 21st century.  To finance this, we are negotiating for a further doubling of EC  funds for cohesion.  • Education for a Changing World  Fianna Fail is fully committed to improving the quality, avail  ability and funding of education.  We will examine during 1993 the viability of extending free  education to all 3rd level students from September l994. This  examination will entail an assessment of the present level of  covenants and of future EC funding  We will allocate an increased amount in each of the next five  years to implement a planned programme of replacing or  refurbishing sub-standard school buildings.  We will review sympathetically the level of capitation grants to  our hard-pressed primary schools.  A special programme to tackle disadvantage will he launched,  and the current spending level of £120 million will be  progressively increased.  Fianna Fail will radically restructure the education system,  following the current Green Paper consultations, to achieve  better and more equitable access to the benefits of education for  all; more democracy and openness, with a genuine role for all  the partners in education, including parents; better training, both  initially and during their careers, for our teaching professionals.  There will be a new emphasis on developing fluency in  European languages.  Fianna Fail will set up immediately a National Education and  Training Certification Board whose awards will be recognised  internationally. This will help progression between courses in  the education and training system, and help Irish workers abroad  obtain jobs that are consistent with their qualifications.  Fianna Fail will finalise a programme to increase the skill levels  of those in employment so as to improve competitiveness.  Employers' spending on this training will be helped by EC  contributions. We will also rationalise the programmes provided  by F.A.S. and the education system, so as to respond better to  the needs of local employers, workers and job seekers. The  County Enterprise Partnership Boards will have a major role in  this.  We agree with the social partners on the principle of a national  apprenticeship scheme, which will give 2/3 years of certified  apprentice training to all leaving secondary education but not  going on to 3rd level. This means increasing the number of  occupations where statutory apprenticeship applies. This will  double the inflow to apprenticeships over the next five years.  • Roads  Fianna Fail will accelerate the modernisation of the national road  network, with more emphasis on the routes connecting the  regions.  We will expand the mileage of motorways and dual carriage  ways, complete the Dublin and Cork ring-roads, and provide an  environmentally-friendly and efficient access route to Dublin  Port-either by tunnel or dedicated truckway, together with a  marshalling yard on the ring-road for containers to be sent by  rail to and from the port. There will be no Eastern By-Pass. We  will put more resources into upgrading national secondary and  county roads, with priority for routes that are used heavily by  agriculture, industry or tourists.  Public transport  Fianna Fail will start building a modern environmentally-clean  public transport system in Dublin, serving the suburbs on the  North, West and South of the city-including Ballymun and  Tallaght and the old Harcourt Street line. Included in the plan  will be DART extensions to the airport, Greystones and  Malahide, with new stations at intermediate points like Fairview  and Grand Canal Street.  We will upgrade the mainline rail network with the help of EC  funds. This will include modern commuter services around  Dublin and Cork. Fianna Fail will provide better inter-city  connections outside of Dublin. We also aim to run economical  railbus passenger services on rural lines.  • International transport links  Fianna Fail will further develop modern, efficient transport links  with Britain and Europe. We will rebuild the port terminal at  Dun Laoghaire and continue modernising the country's main  ports-including Dublin, Rosslare, Waterford and Cork.  Fianna Fail will continue to support the national airline as part of  its overall transport policy. We will ensure that decisions on its  future will protect employment and the company's strategic role.  We have asked Aer Rianta to assess the feasibility of taking a  stake in Aer Lingus.  We propose to establish a new role for Shannon as a trading  bridgehead between Ireland, Europe, America and other third  countries for passengers, freight and other commercial traffic -  including data-based and other knowledge-based operations. We  will develop the deep-water harbour alongside the airport.  3. EXTENDING SOCIAL PROGRESS  • Social services  Fianna Fail will at least maintain the value of social welfare  payments.  We will continue to provide special increases for those on the  lower levels of payments, in line with the recommendations of  the Commission on Social Welfare. In particular, we will protect  the position of pensioners and further improve the broad range  of benefits which we have provided over the years. We will  enhance the position of families, particularly those at work on  low incomes, through the Child Benefit Scheme and the Family  Income Supplement Scheme.  We will provide further incentives for unemployed people to  take up opportunities for work and training. We will continue to  simplify the social welfare system and make it more accessible  to people, to promote greater awareness of their entitlements.  • Social housing programme  Fianna Fail will ensure a continued high level of housing output  and further promote owner-occupation. Total housing output has  progressively increased since 1988 and is set to reach 21,000 in  1992. We will extend the Stamp Duty exemption for new houses  from 125 to 150 square metres.  We are meeting the needs of over 6,000 households through the  social housing programme in 1992. In the next three years the  programme will cater for over 23,000 households. We will  provide a better social mix in housing areas, smaller and better  managed estates and more investment in upgrading local  authority houses. We will bring in a new tenant purchase  scheme, using the proceeds to finance up to 2,000 starts in local  authority housing schemes in 1993.  • Health  We will provide more resources, above and beyond inflation, to  improve our health services, with more emphasis on community  care, the mentally handicapped, the mentally ill, the disabled and  child health services. Reduction of waiting lists and the cutting  of queues at out-patient departments will be a priority. There will  be a special emphasis on programmes for women's health.  Tallaght Hospital will begin building in April 1993.  • National childcare facilities  The Health Boards will be enabled to expand nationwide their  day nurseries for children from disadvantaged families. The new  County Enterprise Partnership Boards will help organise  childcare facilities.  • Social reforms  Fianna Fail will continue our programme of progressive social  legislation and legal reform. We will hold a referendum on  divorce, following legislation on shared ownership of the family  home and other supportive legislation.  • Equality for women  We will act swiftly on the recommendations of the 2nd  Commission on the Status of Women. There will be a campaign  for gender equity in education. The number of women on state  boards will be doubled within four years. There will be  increased funding of the Rape Crisis Centre. We will reform  existing equality legislation in accordance with EC law to reflect  our changing labour market. We will introduce a code of practice  on sexual harassment.  • Law and order  Fianna Fail will provide the resources to fight crime and vandalism,  and to modernise and humanise our legal system. We will  ensure that the causes are tackled by a broadly-based approach.  We will strengthen the law, to tackle street violence and intimidation,  with stiffer sentences. We are putting extra Gardai on the  beat in Dublin.  In a comprehensive programme of criminal law reform, we will:  - Implement our legislative proposals to allow for the review of  unduly lenient sentences, and to give courts power to require  offenders to pay compensation to victims.  - Legislate to confiscate gains made from criminal activity.  - Strengthen the law on serious fraud.  - Introduce a comprehensive modern code for juvenile offenders  by amending the Children's Act.  - Bring in legislation to allow review of possible miscarriages of  justice.  Reform the prison system and make greater use, where possible,  of community-based service as an alternative to custodial sentences.  4. REFORMING THE TAX SYSTEM  Fianna Fail will accelerate the process of tax reform and reduce  the burden of personal taxation-with the resources resulting from  growth in the economy, prudent management of the economy,  and broadening the tax base. The Taoiseach began the process in  his 1989 Budget of reducing the standard rate of income tax  from 35% to 27%, and the top rate from 58% to 48%.  We will cut the standard rate of tax to 25%.  We will also cut the single higher rate of tax, from its present  48%.  Our main priority for the next Government will be to broaden the  tax bands. Our objective is to move towards a position where a  single person does not pay higher-rate tax on less than £20,000  a year and a married couple does not pay higher-rate tax on less  than £40,000.  We will continue to remove low-income families progressively  from the tax net altogether, so that there is a clear benefit  from working.  We will maintain the basic reliefs, such as mortgage interest and  VHI.  We will increase substantially the thresholds on gift and  inheritance tax (CAT) on family-owned businesses and family  farms.  5. IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF OUR LIVES  • Environment and rural life  Fianna Fail will speed up implementation of our 10-year  Environment action Programme. We will maintain high  investment in water supplies and sewage disposal, step up  heritage protection, and bring the Environmental Protection  Agency into operation next year. We will build on the success  of the urban renewal programme, with even more attention to  housing. We will maintain the fabric of rural life, including  post offices, transport and schools.  • Decentralisation  Fianna Fail will continue our decentralisation programme,  including the transfer of the Births, Marriages & Deaths Registry to  Roscommon, the Land Registry to Waterford and the  Environmental Protection Agency to Wexford. We will act to  devolve more powers to local authorities.  • Consumer protection Fianna Fail will phase in the Small  Claims Court procedure nationwide, to allow quick processing  of consumer claims. A new law on consumer credit will tackle  the problem of excessive loan charges and unlicenced money-  lending. We will strengthen the law on food labelling, product  safety and unfair contracts.  • An Ghaeilge agus an Ghaeltacht  Deanfaidh Fianna Fail gach is feidir leo chun an Ghaeilge a chur  chun cinn mar theanga labhartha. Bunofar seirbhis teilifise  Gaeilge i nGaeltacht na Gaillimhe chun freastal ar an tir ar fad.  Cuirfear i bhfeidhm na molta~ ata sa Phaipear Glas faoin  Oideachas faoi mharcanna breise do Ghaeilge labhartha sna scru  daithe meanscoile. Cuirfear le forbairt na Gaeltachta agus leanfar  leis an tacaiocht ata ar fail d'imeachtai Gaeilge. Chomh maith le  tacaiocht a thabhairt don Ghaeilge fein, ata mar chuid larnach dar  n-oidhreacht Ghaelach, deanfaimid gach is feidir chun an cultur  duchais, ar a n-airitear an ceol agus an dramaiocht Ghaeilge, a  chur chun cinn. Deanfaidh Fianna Fail deimhin de go mbeidh  serbhisi tri Ghaeilge ar fail don phobal on Stat.  • Arts, heritage and sport  Fianna Fail will maintain and extend arts funding, with more  emphasis on regional and local centres. We will improve support  for sport and recreation. We are bringing in a scheme to assist  amateur boxing clubs, and will build a national sports stadium  and a national indoor Olympic swimming pool.  • Open government Fianna Fail will pursue further Dail reform,  including extension of sitting hours, more Bills in committee, a  separate Taoiseach's Question Time, questions and answers on  estimates, revision of the subjudice rule, a committee on foreign  affairs and EC legislation, and a Register of Interests.  6. WORKING FOR PEACE AND DEVELOPMENT  Northern Ireland  Fianna Fail will continue the process of dialogue with the parties  in Northern Ireland and with the British Government, building  on progress already made-with the aim of achieving peace and  reconciling the legitimate rights and aspirations of both  communities.  Fianna Fail remains fully committed to a united Ireland achieved  by agreement and consent.  We will take further initiatives to step up the pace of  North/South economic co-operation.  • The Third World  Fianna Fail will increase Ireland's programme of Development  Aid from £43 million to £52 million next year (from 0.17'~ of  GNP to 0.2%).We will aim to increase it gradually thereafter to  meet our commitment.  • European integration  Fianna Fail is fully committed to European Union and to  ensuring that Ireland has a strong voice in the new Europe as it  evolves. We support the opening of negotiations on  enlargement, when the future financing of the Community is  agreed.  • European security  Fianna Fail will maintain Ireland's stance on military neutrality,  unless and until the Irish people decide otherwise in a  referendum -while supporting the search for a framework of  collective security in a Europe-wide context that covers the 52  CSCE countries.  • International peacekeeping  Fianna Fail will continue to support UN peacekeeping  operations. We will maintain and modernise the defence forces  for that purpose, as well as for their duties at home.  ISSUED BY FIANNA FAIL, THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, 13  UPPER MOUNT STREET, DUBLIN 2.