This document is Young Fine Gael's pre-budget submission for 2016. It proposes several measures to address issues affecting young people in Ireland such as unemployment, mental health, and third level accommodation. The key recommendations are to increase funding for mental health services, address the lack of student accommodation through incentives for student housing and tax relief for purpose-built accommodation, establish an independent budgetary office to cost opposition proposals, increase employment among graduates through mandatory work placements, standardize the minimum wage, remove certain business taxes, and introduce a recycling levy on bottles and cans. The submission aims to provide "a bright future for young Ireland."

1. OCTOBER2015
PRE BUDGET
SUBMISSION 2016
Young Fine Gael
‘A BRIGHT FUTURE FOR YOUNG IRELAND’

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A
s we approach the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Rising, we can once
more envisage a bright future for young Ireland.We are living in the
fastest growing economy in Europe, with our domestic economy
growing by more than 6% over the course of 2015.The size of the Irish
economy now exceeds its pre-crisis peak, and unemployment has dropped
from a peak of 15% to 9.5%.This change in our economic fortunes may
look as if it was inevitable now, but it has only come about because the right
course of action has been taken by Fine Gael and Labour in government.We
need only look to the political and economic chaos that has befallen Greece
for an insight into how Ireland would look if the reckless policies espoused by
opposition parties were introduced here.
Instead, our government are in a position to decrease taxation and increase
expenditure by €1.5 billion in the 2016 budget. This budget presents an
opportunity to reduce unnecessary taxation on business, give something back
to hard pressed workers, and tackle issues affecting young people such as
unemployment, mental health and third level accommodation. The budget
is also the last opportunity before the election to bring further reforms to our
system of governance, including changes to the overall budgetary process.
Young Fine Gael are proposing a set of measures which we feel can address
these concerns and provide a bright future for young Ireland. I would like to
thank those who assisted in putting together this document and contributed
to the ideas put forward in the pre-budget submission.
Padraig O’Sullivan
President ofYoung Fine Gael
FOREWORD

3. Young Fine Gael PRE BUDGET SUBMISSION
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1 Increase Mental Health Funding
-The Department of Finance should ring fence additional money to the Department of Health for Mental
Health.
-The Department of Health should increase the overall budget allocation to mental health from 6% to 10%.
2 Address the lack of StudentAccommodation
- Incentivise 9 month contracts for third level students to encourage landlords to rent to students.
- Encourage the building of more purpose built student accommodation by introducing a tax relief scheme to
incentivise the building of purpose built student accommodation (similar to the premise of the Section 50
tax relief scheme without its weaknesses and avoiding the situations that lead to the property bubble).
3 Introduction of an Independent Budgetary Office
-An Independent Budgetary Office (IBO) should be established to cost pre-budget submissions put forward
by opposition groupings in the Oireachtas and by lobby groups.
4 Increasing employment among third level graduates
- MandatoryWork Placements for third-level students
5 Standard MinimumWage for all age groups
-Amend the Minimum Wage Act to bridge the parity between the minimum wage afforded to experienced
adults and those under 18.
6 Removal of CarbonTax for commercial enterprises
- Remove carbon tax for agricultural purposes as well as for haulage and transport companies.
7 Introduction of a Recycling Levy on bottles and cans
- Introduce a small refundable recycling levy to bottles and cans.
KEY RECOMMENDATIONS

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1. INCREASE FUNDING FOR MENTAL HEALTH
Background:
Non-capital expenditure on mental health services has fallen significantly since the economic crash.This expenditure has fallen
from €1.1billion in 2008 to €770million in 2009, and further to €711million in 2012. While we welcome the estimated
provision in 2015 of €791.8million, this falls far below the required funding for mental health services (8.4% of health budget
as outlined inAVision for Change1
).
In Ireland, spending on mental health has dropped from 13% of the overall health budget in 1986 to 6.4% in 2009 and 5.3%
in 2010. While AVision for Change recommends 8.4%, the equivalent rate in other countries is significantly higher at 12% in
England and 18% in Scotland; and other European countries allocate over 20% of their total health spend on mental health
service and support. 2
Addressing this funding shortage will ensure that the direct economic cost of annual poor mental health
is reduced and we have better quality and access to mental health services.
Recommendation:
The Department of Finance should ring fence additional money to the Department of Health for Mental Health.
The Department of Health should increase the overall budget allocation to mental health from 6% to 10%.
Sources:
1) HSE (2006) available: http://www.hse.ie/eng/services/Publications/Mentalhealth/VisionforChange.html.
2) Mental Health Reform (2015) available: https://www.mentalhealthreform.ie/home/mental-health-in-ireland/
OUR PROPOSALS

5. Young Fine Gael PRE BUDGET SUBMISSION
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2. ADDRESSING THE LACK OF STUDENT ACCOMMODATION
Background:
This summer saw the full extent of the lack of student accommodation in Ireland with the problem at an acute and critical
level in Dublin. The difficulties in securing student accommodation can be attributed to a combination of rental market
conditions (e.g.increase in demand landlords choosing young professionals over students) and a lack of purpose built student
accommodation. It is estimated that there is an unmet demand of 25,000 bed spaces nationally1
.The recently published HEA
report projected that this will still be a problem in 2024 unless the government tackles it immediately.
Young Fine Gael believes there are a number of measures which should be taken to remedy the current situation and have
outlined further proposals in our policy document‘Building a Better Future’.
Recommendation:
Incentivise 9 month contracts for third level students to encourage landlords to rent to students.
Encourage the building of more purpose built student accommodation by introducing a tax relief scheme to incentivise the
building of purpose built student accommodation (similar to the premise of the Section 50 tax relief scheme without its
weaknesses and avoiding the situations that lead to the property bubble).
Sources
1) HEA (2015) available: www.hea.ie/sites/default/.../student_accommodation_report_310815.pdf

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3. INTRODUCTION OF AN INDEPENDENT BUDGETARY OFFICE
Background:
At present pre-budget submissions produced by lobby groups and opposition parties are not costed through a structured
mechanism.ThecurrentprocessbywhichoppositionproposalsarecostedthroughtheDepartmentofFinancelackstransparency
and does not take account of second round, or economic effects.1
In the Spring Economic Statement for 2015, the government
announced plans to establish an Independent Budgetary Office (IBO) to cost alternative budgets put forward by opposition
groupings.This should be included to encompass pre-budget submissions put forward by lobby groups, recognising the unique
role these organisations play in the social partnership process.
This process could encompass measures of best practice which have been utilised by the Central Planning Bureau (CPB) in the
Netherlands.Using economic modelling,the CPB costs proposals put forward by opposition parties in advance of elections.2
This
accounts for the economic effects of such measures, ensuring that the political parties are held accountable for the measures
put forward.
Recommendation:
An Independent Budgetary Office (IBO) should be established to cost pre-budget submissions put forward by opposition
groupings in the Oireachtas and by lobby groups.
• This IBO should first focus on enacting measures suggested by the Director of the CPB, such as producing four years
forecasts which form the basis of future costings. Overtime, this will allow the IBO to build up experience, expertise and a
solid reputation for costing pre-budget submissions.
Sources
1) Coakley, J., Gallagher, M. (2010), Politics in the Republic of Ireland, 5th ed., London: Routledge.
2) Bos, F. and Teulings, C.N. (2011) “Evaluating Election Platforms: a Task for Fiscal Councils? Scope and Rules of the Game in View of 25 years of
Dutch Practice”, available: http://www.voxeu.org/taxonomy/term/2913?qt-tabbed_recent_articles_block=1/.
3)Van Geest, L. (2015)‘Costing Election Manifestos:The Dutch Experience’, available:
http://www.iiea.com/events/costing-election-manifestos-the-dutch-experience.

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4. INCREASING EMPLOYMENT AMONG THIRD LEVEL GRADUATES
Background:
One of the major concerns amongst foreign business owners who have invested in Ireland, along with domestic employers is
the lack of work experience among students upon exiting third level education.In a survey by GradIreland 52.3% of employers
believed that applicants for graduate positions did not have the right skills for these positions.1
Mandatory work placements
exist for all courses through the University of Limerick’s (UL) Co-operative work placement programmes and for many courses
under Dublin City University’s (DCU) INTRA work placement programme.
However, such programmes are only in their infancy in most other Irish universities. In today’s competitive job market it is
imperative that students gain practical experience in order to compete with experienced workers and gain employment relative
to their degree.Work placement is the first experience many students have of working full-time within an organisation. This
experience is vital in gaining employment after finishing third level education. Work placements bring a clear benefit for the
employment prospects of third-level students.This is clear given that UL has an employment rate which is 22% higher than the
national average at undergraduate level.2
Recommendations:
The government should work towards the introduction of mandatory work placements as a means of increasing employment
among third level graduates,
• These work placements should last between 6 - 9 months,and would effectively be considered a semester at third level.As
this is an essential part of the students’ course, payment would be at the discretion of the employer.
• A dedicated work placement office should exist in third level institutes with the sole purpose of assisting and securing work
placements for students, both in Ireland and abroad. Students would also have the option to find their own placement if
they so choose. It would be the onus of the institute to send out an individual to assess the student in their place of work.
The work placement should be a mandatory requirement in the completion of a degree and should be marked on a pass/
fail basis.
• Toassistinthedevelopmentofworkplacements,thegovernmentshouldintroducefinancialincentivesforthedevelopment
of dedicated offices within the universities.These offices should follow the model set out by UL’s Co-operative Education
Office and DCU’s INTRA office.
Sources:
1) GradIreland (2015)‘Graduate salary and graduate recruitments trend survey 2015’, available:
http://cdn.thejournal.ie/media/2015/06/salary-survey-2015-0406.pdf.
2) University of Limerick (2015)’ UL Graduates are 22% more likely than others to be employed after Graduation’, available:
www.ul.ie/news-centre/news/ul-graduates-are-22-more-likely-than-others-to-be-employed-after-graduation.

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5. STANDARD MINIMUM WAGE FOR ALL AGE GROUPS
Background:
Under the National Minimum Wage Act 2000, the minimum wage for an experienced adult is currently €8.65 an hour. An
experienced adult is an employee who has an employment of any kind in any two years over the age of 18. An employee who
is under 18 must be paid at least €6.06 per hour. An employee who is in the first year of employment since the age of 18 is
entitled to €6.92 per hour. An employee who is in the second year of employment since the date of first employment over the
age of 18 is entitled to €7.79 per hour. 1
Recommendation:
Amend the Minimum Wage Act to bridge the parity between the minimum wage afforded to experienced adults and those
under 18.
Benefit
If an individual - who works 2 eight hour shifts per week like many part time working young people - were to be granted the
minimum wage of their adult co-workers, they would incur the following increases:
• €20.80 Daily
• €41.60Weekly
• €166.40 Monthly
• €1,996.80Yearly
Over two years this sum just shy of €4,000 could be used to reduce the burden on parents for college fees and would increase
the incentives to work rather than receive funding from the Government through the tax-payer.
Sources:
1) Citizens Information (2015) available:
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employment/employment_rights_and_conditions/pay_and_employment/pay_inc_min_wage.html.

9. Young Fine Gael PRE BUDGET SUBMISSION
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6. REMOVAL OF CARBON TAX FOR COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISES
Background
Solid Fuel Carbon is an excise duty introduced in Ireland in 2010,and applied on solid fuel supplied in the state since 2013.1
The
rate of tax, with effect from May 2014, is quantified through a charge of €20 per tonne of CO2 emitted by the fuel concerned,
having risen from €10 in 2013.
This means that the following charges apply:2
• Coal €52.67 per tonne
• Peat briquettes €36.67 per tonne
• Milled peat €17.99 per tonne
• Other peat €27.25 per tonne
Recommendation:
Remove carbon tax for agricultural purposes as well as for haulage and transport companies.
Sources:
1) Citizens Information (2015) available:
www.citizensinformation.ie/en/money_and_tax/tax/motor_carbon_other_taxes/carbon_tax.html.
2) Revenue (2015) available: www.revenue.ie/en/tax/excise/leaflets/solid-fuel-carbon-tax-guidance.

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7. INTRODUCTION OF A RECYCLING LEVY ON BOTTLES AND CANS
Background
Container-deposit legislation,or a recycling levy,requires collection of a monetary deposit on reusable packaging such as bottles
and cans at the point of sale.When such containers are returned to an authorised centre or the original seller, this deposit is
either partially or fully refunded to the redeemer.This system exists in countries such as Germany,Denmark and Canada among
others.1
This arrangement encourages recycling, and reduces litter, therefore providing a positive environmental impact.
Recommendation
Introduce a small refundable recycling levy to bottles and cans.
This levy is based on similar systems in Germany, Denmark and most of Canada and would help keep our streets and public
areas clean as well as increasing the levels of recycling in the country.This forms part ofYFG’s commitment to the protection
of the environment.
We propose that a small refundable levy be added to bottles and cans which would be redeemable upon the correct recycling
of the item.
Proposed rates:
- Large glass bottles: €0.50
- Small glass bottle/jar and large plastic bottle: €0.20
- Cans and small plastic bottles: €0.10
Sources:
1) MS2 (2011) Preliminary Report:Best Practice International PackagingApproaches’,available:http://www.scew.gov.au/system/files/
consultations/c299407e-3cdf-8fd4-d94d-6181f096abc8/files/att-b-appendix-b-best-practice-intl-packaging-approaches.pdf.

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Phone: 01 619 8444 Fax: 01 662 5046
Email: yfg@yfg.ie Web: www.yfg.ie