I would like to raise a point, hon members, while hon Sogoni is making his way here. The level of noise is unbearable. Please, I am not saying that you shouldn't talk, but we must be able to hear the speaker.
Deputy Speaker, colleagues, again the tabling of the Adjustments Appropriation Bill affords Parliament and the people of South Africa the opportunity to reflect and build on the progress that has been made to change the lives of ordinary people, specifically the poorest of the poor. The Bill is tabled in the context of a devastating recession that led to a declining budget, when a number of firms had to close shop and thousands of workers lost their jobs.
The economic situation has resulted in the slowing down of economic growth and obviously reduced fiscal space. However, we take solace from the fact that the ANC-led government voluntarily maintained sound financial management and prudent fiscal financial choices that should caution us against the worst effects of the recession.
The national Adjustment Budget is tabled in line with section 12 of the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act, Act 9 of 2009, and section 13 of the Public Finance Management Act, Act 1 of 1999. The Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act enjoins the Minister to present the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, MTBPS, and the Adjustment Appropriation Bill to a joint sitting of the finance committees of Parliament, which was done. I will not go into the rest of the procedures of the Act. It is safe to say that the committees held hearings with a few departments.
The first department to be worked with... in fact, I will just go through a few departments. My colleagues will cover the other departments. The Department of Public Works received, amongst others, R353 million, intended for the implementation of the devolution of the Local Government: Municipal Property Rates Act. The monies will be passed on to the provinces which will, in turn, allocate it to municipalities to evaluate all properties in their jurisdiction, so that they can finally charge levies or give exemption for certain properties that do not qualify. Members need to support this process in their constituencies, because communities resist, because they receive notices that do not explain the purpose of those notices.
The first challenge the department faces is the roll-out of the Re Kgabisa Tshwane project, which is supposed to be extended to other cities. The roll- over requested has been accepted by the committee, but the department needs to spend this money, as this roll-over is being approved for the second time. We propose that the Portfolio Committee on Public Works engages the department on their clear plans of spending these funds. Their second challenge is to address the capacity challenges in the department, to deliver on the expectations of their client departments, as their client departments seriously underspend in capital projects. We discovered that there are no service level agreements between the departments. Many departments underspend on capital expenditure, because the department lacks the necessary capacity.
The other department that was visited was the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, which has also been allocated over R500 million to assist with provisional free basic services for the poor households. Despite major achievements since 1994, many communities and households still remain trapped in poverty. This should go a long way towards achieving a better life for all.
The department also applied, that is the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, for a roll-over of R287 million of the Municipal Infrastructure Grant, MIG. We were informed that 33 municipalities underspent. However, the department wants to reallocate this money to 50 other municipalities that have capacity to spend. This is in contradiction with the Public Finance Management Act, Act 1 of 1999. Section 43(4)(a) of that Act says it "does not authorise the utilisation of a saving in (a) an amount specifically and exclusively appropriated for a purpose mentioned under a main vote". Clause 6.1.4(a) of the Treasury Regulations on roll-overs states that unspent funds on payments for capital assets may only be rolled over to finalise projects or assets acquisitions still in progress.
So, the objective of the MIG is to address backlogs with regard to infrastructure. In fact, we were informed by the official of the department that they want to redirect this money, as indicated, to these 50 municipalities. But the objective of MIG is to address backlogs with regard to infrastructure. Now, if you take this money away, it means that the poor communities of those municipalities will remain deprived of the necessary infrastructure development. In many cases, those officials do not understand the situation in different municipalities. At the end of the year, people get bonuses for not having delivered. Section 154(1) of the Constitution states - no, I am just ... it is all parties - and I quote, "The national and provincial governments, by legislative and other measures, must support and strengthen the capacity of municipalities to manage their own affairs, to exercise their powers and to perform their functions". Section 34(1) of the Local Government: Municipal Finance Management Act, Act 56 of 2003, states that, "the national and provincial governments must by agreement assist municipalities for efficient, effective and transparent financial management". So, the Department of Co- perative Governance and Traditional Affairs must co-ordinate provincial and local departments and Treasury, to establish support committees for municipalities. The 50 well-spending municipalities should actually be assisted to access the Expanded Public Works Programme incentive scheme.
We also met with the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, which informed us that they are unable to accelerate land restitution, as they have run out of funds. At the end of the second quarter, they were at 91%. I think the Minister indicated that in the House one day. Treasury has not made any adjustments towards land restitution. It is difficult to understand why. The biggest challenge of this department is the price they have to pay for land, which is three times the market value. So, clearly, the willing-buyer and willing-seller approach does not work. In fact, the department refers to this willing buyer and willing seller approach as a willing buyer and unwilling seller approach. So, the alternative for government is the legal expropriation route. The ANC's Polokwane resolution says, amongst others, "where necessary, expropriate property in the public interest or for public purpose in accordance with the Constitution to achieve equity, redress, social justice and sustainable development. All legislation pertaining to expropriation must be aligned with the Constitution". So, we are not talking about wholesale expropriation. We are talking about expropriation in line with the Constitution. [Interjections.] Yes! [Laughter.]
Also, the request by the Department of Home Affairs for a roll-over of R150 million, to acquire the advanced passenger processing system, and also the "Who am I Online" project, should be granted, as these programmes are necessary for both the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup and the smartcard identity documents. However, the Department of Home Affairs need to move fast in resolving the tender issues associated with these projects. During the hearings of the first quarterly reports, the department indicated to the committee that they would like to take over the responsibility of this tender from the State Information Technology Agency, Sita. The committee agreed with that. The process needs to be fast-tracked as the 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup is just around the corner.
I would like to take this opportunity to again thank the members of the committee and the staff, for the long hours they spent in compiling their reports. So, the African National Congress supports the Adjustments Appropriation Bill. I thank you. [Applause.]
Deputy Speaker, the worldwide recession affected South Africa much more than we expected. Economic recovery will be slow and uneven, and the recession has resulted in job losses, business closures, reduced consumer spending and, therefore, much reduced income for the state. The expected revenue shortfall of some R70 billion plus will have a serious impact on the spending ability of government and discipline is required in this regard.
I would like to ask the hon Dubazana to listen to this, and when looking at the appropriations, one finds considerable spending by government on social security, which the DA welcomes, hon Dubazana. It remains a matter of concern, however, that provision is made once more to bail out poor performing and poorly managed state-owned enterprises such as the SABC and the Land Bank. How long will government persist in using taxpayers' money to hide poor management, ascribable mainly to affirmative action and cadre deployment?
Considering the expected shortfall in revenue, the Minister had to do a fine balancing act when compiling the appropriations. Thought had to be given to ways of financing the shortfall. The decision to initially do so by way of loans is acceptable, but it will be necessary to bring expenditure into line with revenue as soon as possible. The main options open to the Minister are to either cut spending or raise taxes or both. If government manages taxpayer money wisely, however, tax increases can be avoided. Major financial losses occur by way of corruption, as presented to us by the Public Service Commission.
In this regard, they said that 868 cases of financial misconduct by public servants were reported to them in the 2007-08 financial year. The total cost reported emanates from unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure, as well as losses resulting from criminal conduct amounting to R21,77 million in that year. Employees were found guilty in 709 of the 868 finalised cases of financial misconduct. However, only 163, which is 22,75%, of the employees found guilty were dismissed and an amount of just R8,8 million could be recouped. Criminal proceedings were instituted against only 210 of the employees found guilty.
During that same financial year, 249 senior managers in the Public Service failed to submit financial disclosures to the Public Service Commission. This leads one to believe that they might have something to hide and that we may have seen only the tip of the corruption iceberg in the Public Service. The Auditor-General's finding then is, therefore, not surprising, that as many as 2 300 public servants benefited from contracts valued at R615 million. Mr Minister, we know that you, personally, are serious about rooting out corruption. You have stressed that, as Members of Parliament, we should all assist in the fight against and disclosing of any form of corruption, irrespective of political affiliation. We agree with you on this, Mr Minister, and we will disclose corruption wherever possible.
You have also asked, just now, that corruption be depoliticised. Once again, we agree with the principle, as corruption affects everybody, especially the poor. Corruption, after all, is stealing money from those who need it most. As parliamentarians, however, it is difficult to claim the moral high ground, when we sit here with colleagues guilty of corruption in Travelgate and in all likelihood many other shady deals. [Interjections.] It becomes even more difficult when we learn of taxpayers' money being wasted on the protection of political officials outside of government, such as Julius Malema. [Interjections.]
Little or no action has been taken on these issues, other than protecting comrades in the ANC. The question then is whether we, as parliamentarians, are setting the right example. The answer is clearly no. Politics will, therefore, unfortunately remain the name of the game until such time as we have cleaned up our own act right here in Parliament. I thank you. [Applause.]
Deputy Speaker, let me just say, on behalf of Cope, that we will take up the challenge, together with the Minister, to fight corruption. We won't be found wanting. We will join that campaign to fight corruption. Whenever corruption is unveiled, it is me talking. Whenever we see and unravel that, we believe that the Ministers will take action on it. So, we take that call very seriously, and we will bring it to your attention.
Deputy Speaker, dealing with the Appropriation Budget is basically to deal with the Budget and also address departments on unforeseen expenditure which departments have to budget for and the shifting of programmes. But what we have seen in this Adjustments Appropriation Bill is basically a new trend, on a scale that has not been seen before, of departments using the words "unforeseen expenditure" and "unavoidable expenditure" when talking about huge amounts of money. This, actually, isn't necessarily due to "unforeseen expenditure", but bad planning.
The second thing that we are worried about is a trend that we have seen in this department of a shift towards and building up of top-heavy Ministries. We wonder whether this is not the necessary management of political divergence and the management of various political interests in the party. Actually, we are worried about the bloating and top-heavy structures. We are worried about the fact that some of these shifts are creating top-heavy structures - the shift of money from functions. The last thing that we want to say, Minister, is that it is not everything about the shift and the creation of the new departments or the unbundling thereof is wrong. For example, one can look at education. It is good that in education the issue of post-school skills is going to be transferred. The 23 Sector Education and Training Authorities, Setas, are going to be transferred from the Department of Labour to the Department of Higher Education and Training. That's good. We need to support that, because it is about addressing the challenges that we have.
Then, the period ahead of us is going to be bumpy, because we are going to make sure that there is accountability. In heeding the call of the Minister, there will be oversight to ensure that the department actually sticks to its plans, sticks to its programmes and that Ministers be held accountable, by appearing before the committees when they are called and not hide behind the Public Finance Management Act. The Public Finance Management Act afforded us the presence of department officials or accounting officers, not Ministers. Accountability means you appear; you take political responsibility, because the buck stops with the Minister.
Therefore, as Cope, we want to say we are going to stand up and rise to those particular challenges, Minister. We want to come to your committee. I am sure you are going to listen to that. Thank you. [Applause.]
Madam Deputy Speaker, the IFP carries in the Adjustments Appropriation Bill its misgivings about the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, MTBPS, as this Bill reflects the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement's missed opportunities and lack of urgency.
The Bill should have been the tool to begin bringing about the required structural adjustments which we feel are necessary. This would have been the time to begin merging the many senior government institutions, providing essentially the same services to Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises, SMMEs, thereby avoiding committing R1,7 billion in the future for the Khula Direct when, effectively, the National Empowerment Fund can provide the same services, and all their agencies can be assembled in a matter of weeks or, perhaps, months, as commercial entities do when merged into a single entity.
This would be the time to shut down the commercially nonviable aero- manufacturing division of Denel, to avoid recapitalising something that continues to lose money. It would be the time to privatise South African Airways, SAA, SAA entities and older state-owned enterprises, SOEs, as an alternative to rising public debt, wherever it is possible.
It would be the time to transform the Land Bank into a specialised division of the Industrial Development Corporation, IDC, rather than recapitalising it with R1 billion, to perpetrate its 20 year management crises and corruption track record. It is really a matter, at this point, of putting good money after bad money, rather than providing it with the management it needs.
This would be the time to relook government-assisted economical sectors, which are not viable in the global market place, rather than increasing their subsidies, and focus it, as it had to be, on social services. Since 1994, South Africa has not undertaken a structural transformation of its parastatals and of government's industrial policies, with the end result that the pre-1994 mould is being kept alive, in fear that anything replacing it may be worse. More suggestions, as the Minister asked, will be coming by letters. Thank you very much. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Deputy Speaker and members, the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, MTBPS, which we are debating here today is a statement of courage and hope in the most turbulent time in recent economic history. We must look beyond this crisis and encourage the expansion of public services, especially in the areas of education and health. It is in this spirit that we welcome the MTBPS within the current difficulties we face.
In this regard, the ANC has set up a programme to improve education by: progressively expanding the nutrition programme to include high school learners in poorer communities; improving the national norms and standards in teaching and learning including providing learner-support material and adequate education infrastructure; reviewing our curriculum to best suit the needs of the developmental state; reviewing Adult Basic Education and Training to ensure that it better responds to the skills demands of the country; establishing a National Education Evaluation and Development Unit for purposes of monitoring, evaluation and support; expanding the number of no-fee schools and progressively introducing free education for the poor up to undergraduate level; improving the conditions of service of teachers; fast-tracking early childhood development to ensure universal access to Grade R by 2010 and doubling the number of facilities available for 0 to 4- year-old children by 2014; and to enhance the quality of education and skills development focusing on improving the foundation phase literacy and numeracy and on increasing the number of learners that pass Grade 12, particularly in mathematics and science.
We welcome the additional adjustment of R524 million allocated for workloads on literacy and numeracy for Grade 1 to 6 in Quintile 1-3 schools, and the total adjustment of R561,6 million. An adjustment of R12 billion for salaries to provinces has been given, however, this is not specifically for education.
One of the critical areas of spending that will require more resources over the medium-term is our health care system. We therefore welcome the department's ten-point plan and hope that this will lay the foundation for the universal access to free quality health care supported by the National Health System, and revitalisation of hospitals.
We recommend that our spending on health care over the medium-term must focus on developing a reliable single health information system; intervention to reduce the high cost of health provision; developing recruitment and human resource development strategy for health professionals and preventing the exodus of health professionals to other countries; accelerating the roll-out of the comprehensive health care programme, such as provision of antiretroviral treatment which will be dispensed at all health facilities; and accelerating the programme for hospital recapitalisation and revitalisation including innovative solutions that will accommodate private public partnership.
The adjusted estimates reflect that the total increase for the department amounts to R1,3 billion, which includes 17% roll-over funds from 2008-09.
One of the biggest challenges facing our health care system and which poses a significant threat to our future is HIV and Aids. The current death rate from HIV and Aids-related deaths is becoming higher than that of the birth rate. We must urgently address this matter with a focus on prevention and treatment.
Adjusted estimates include R900 million for antiretroviral treatment and Comprehensive HIV and Aids Care Management and Treatment; R160 million for H1N1 influenza; R20 million for countrywide measles and polio mass immunisation campaign; R30 million for 2010 Fifa Soccer World Cup Health preparation strategy grant; general salary adjustments for the national Department of Health is R11 million; and for the public entities National Health Laboratory Service and Medical Research Council, R7,3 and R5,8 million respectively.
We support the adjusted appropriation of R18 billion for health care. We welcome the MTBPS and wish to congratulate the Minister of Finance on achieving his tasks under these difficult conditions. We further welcome the reallocation of resources towards our five key priorities and look forward to a government that spends more effectively without cutting back on service delivery. The ANC supports the MTBPS. Thank you. [Applause.]
Chairperson, the UCDP accepts the adjustments made in the Adjustments Appropriation Bill. We, however, would like to highlight the following: Very few departments do get a clean bill on audit opinion, which means that most of the units in financial managements are still wanting. I could give an example of the Department of Science and Technology, which has received a clean audit opinion for the previous financial year. Well done! However, eleven departments still received a qualified audit opinion.
Of serious concern is the Department of Defence, which received a qualified audit opinion for seven consecutive years followed by the Department of Labour, which has four years of qualified audit opinion and the Department of Public Works had an irregular expenditure of R5,4 billion.
Underspending by departments is another concern which has resulted into roll-overs of R1,5 billion for infrastructure and building projects, and it spells out that work has not been done.
There are major strides taken to improve the Department of Home Affairs which still has to pay attention to the following: Its revenue collections - about R356 million revenue couldn't be supported by documents in this department; there was an irregular expenditure of R198,2 million; and corruption is still the main challenge in the Department of Home Affairs. With these remarks, we support the Adjustments Appropriation Bill. I thank you. [Applause.]
Hon Chairperson, hon Ministers, hon Members of Parliament, the brief of the appropriations committee is that of parliamentary oversight. Allow me to mention that the committee had a number of public hearings with all government departments, the Human Science Research Council, the Financial and Fiscal Commission and a number of independent economists.
Before I discuss appropriations within a number of departments, allow me to mention the following - and it has been mentioned before - the tax revenue has declined and what we need is a leaner and more efficient Public Service. The downturn in the economy has adversely affected millions of South Africans and is estimated that by 2009-10 9,7 million, almost 10 million, South Africans, will depend upon social grants.
I agree with the hon Minister of Finance that our present social welfare system places a heavy burden upon a relatively narrow tax base. Hon members, be assured that the DA is very much in favour of our present welfare system. The question, however, is, will we be able to afford this in future? I think, therefore, that it is extremely important that we encourage sustained future economic growth if we want to alleviate the plight of the poor. What we need is a holistic growth strategy which will represent the public and the private sectors, and will have to take proactive decisions to address irregularities regarding corruption, fraud, factors which inhibit service delivery and growth. This came to the fore during the public hearings.
In an excellent submission to the Portfolio Committee on Appropriations, the Human Sciences Research Council reported that 50% of all households in rural areas experience hunger on a daily basis and that 50% to 80% could not afford minimum nutrition prices. It was also reported that rural households spend 9% to 15% more than urban ones for the same basket of food. What was extremely worrying is that 51% of all severely hungry rural households qualified for grants, but they did not receive them according to Human Sciences Research Council. The DA concurs with the committee that rural development, household food production and food security need serious re-examination seen in the light of the steep rise in the price of basic food.
I represent a rural constituency. Rural economic development must become a key priority over the next three years. To illustrate the plight of the rural areas, the Human Sciences Research Council submitted that of the 18 Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development projects, only two are still in place. All the others have collapsed. Now, the question is why? Somebody must account for that. I think it is of utmost importance that we address this.
Forty per cent of all South Africans live in rural areas, but less than 10% are economically active. This untenable state of affairs cannot be allowed to continue.
Education and higher education will have to address the fact that more than 50% of the youth leaving school today are unemployed. The Human Sciences Research Council suggested in this regard that we must discuss the possibility of a youth transitional job scheme and rethink the present school curriculum.
A number of issues regarding the Department of Health are the alarming exodus of doctors, dentists, nurses, pharmacists and emergency personnel. It's always also mentioned to us that the campaign against HIV is important and it is expected that more than 900 000 people will receive antiretroviral treatment by the year 2012.
It is also indicated that for the past eight years there has been an underfunding of the public health sector, which has led to deterioration in the Public Health Service. The proposed new health insurance will have to be properly costed in the forthcoming financial year ... Thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Chairperson, hon Ministers and members of the House, we are indeed living in exciting times with a lot of change and renewal taking place, also in our government and society at large. I share the sentiments of all who are grateful for the hard work that went into the preparation of the Adjustments Appropriation Bill. This was done in a difficult time where we have to cut, save and shave in order to tighten our belts.
Many of the so-called adjustments we saw in the Bill - I will mention but three - provided for the shifting of money to the new departments to continue uninterruptedly with their functions. This was, in particular, the case for the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries that replaced the old Department of Agriculture, which will cease to exist due to the reorganisation, and a total of almost R2,8 billion had to be shifted from Vote 23 to Vote 35. A further R487,6 million is shifted to this new department from the old Department of Water Affairs and Forestry for the same reason as the funding follows the function.
The new Department of Water and Environmental Affairs under Vote 43 get R7,4 million from the old department's Vote 34. For the same reason, due to function shift, R2,3 million shifted from the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs - the old Provincial and Local Government department - to the new Department of Rural Development and Land Reform. The whole of the former Department of Land Affairs is part of the dowry of its successor.
We welcome the changeover to the new model where essential services are clumped together under agriculture, where water had to shed forestry to agriculture, and land took over the new function. Most will continue their tasks without problems.
Under the strains of the current economic climate, we, together with our officials, have to work smarter with the money allocated in order to derive the maximum benefit for our people.
As Parliament and the relevant committees, we will have to keep an eye on developments and make sure targets are adhered to when we get to the quarterly reports.
On the roll-overs, an amount of R227 million for the construction of the De Hoop Dam was necessary. This is to be welcomed as water is such a precious commodity and we have to provide for future use under increasingly challenging conditions.
Water and the availability of high quality drinking water stay a priority and we should not run into any problems in future. Therefore, it is prudent for us to invest now in water infrastructure, not only to stimulate economic development, but to also supply those that still do not have sufficient clean running water and to prevent our country from running into any tight corners. We all know of the changes our climate undergoes. We also know how much we are dependent on this precious resource to sustain life and future growth. There are also vast sums of money rolled over to keep the agricultural sector healthy. This is vital for food security and sustainability.
A major point of focus for the future of our country is rural development. Agriculture and water will play a very important role in this. We are happy as the ANC that vast amounts of money had been contributed to the reform of agriculture. Let me remind this House that in the state of the nation address, the hon President Zuma said:
People in the rural areas also have a right to electricity and water, flush toilets, roads, entertainment and sport centres as well as better shopping centres like those in the cities. They, too, have a right to be helped in farming so that they can grow vegetables and other things; and raise livestock so that they can feed themselves.
We have developed strategic thinking around rural development, but we also have to consider many practical directions and new thinking of how we will take on this challenge against the complex background of land reform and transformation. It has to address the injustices of the past, foster reconciliation and stability, stimulate economic growth and alleviate poverty by improving household welfare.
We need all South Africans to revise their approach to rural reform. We need innovative thinking as to how we go about acquiring land, settling people with a view to succeed and be sustainable, but most important, it is vital to do it in such a way that we arrive at harmonious and sustainable solutions.
We do not need people who employ resistance tactics, but progressive ways of solving problems. In this regard there is enough expertise available to assist in negotiations and concluding the many outstanding matters. We have to work together to improve our output in this regard. This is where we should employ the innovative thinking I mentioned earlier.
From our side of the House, that is now the ANC side, we will stay on course to the goals set out in our founding documents that also followed its historic course through Polokwane into a modern and exciting state, gearing for the future that we all long for. A joint future that brings hope and a better life for all who live in South Africa. As South Africans, we are a people full of optimism and working together we can do more to stay relevant in the global village through discipline, dedication and hard work. We support the Bill. Thank you. [Applause.]
Chairperson, we need to, firstly, remind ourselves that the Adjustment Budget merely allows for unavoidable and unforeseeable expenditure to be taken account of.
Let me, firstly, give an assurance to those members who raised concerns about whether this provision has been applied correctly. I want to say that it has, that we have been very careful, and that, in fact, a number of requisitions for funds to be allocated through this mechanism were turned down, because the Treasury committee, not any individual, was unconvinced that it amounted to unforeseen and unavoidable expenditure. There were also a large number of applications for roll-overs. Not all of them were approved. Only those that had legitimate reasons given, which is largely about long-term commitments to projects, were actually allowed.
Secondly, let us also give credit where it is due. Many years ago, underspending was a serious problem in many areas, at provincial and at national level. Today, underspending in the old form is no longer a problem. Now the question is the quality of spending and the quality of outcomes, and whether we are getting the value for money that we would actually require.
Some colleagues have raised issues about the Municipal Infrastructure Grant, MIG, during the course of these hearings and the speeches made today. We are in agreement that this is something that we need to look at more carefully, given that we want better and more effective delivery at a local government sphere level. My colleagues from the Department for Co- operative Governance and Traditional Affairs will be engaging with us in further discussions on that.
Land restitution, rural development and agricultural development have been mentioned by several hon members as well. Minister Nkwinti and we are very mindful of the necessity for more money to be allocated to land restitution. Let us be frank. We have reached a point in this process where it is totally unaffordable to carry on on the old basis. Some new basis has been found, and I am going to leave it to Minister Nkwinti to address those issues when he interacts with Parliament again. Let us be assured that the focus of government, as a whole, on agricultural development and rural development is a very profound one, and, as we move on, we will see a lot more reserves coming from these two areas. Many of the thoughts that have been expressed at the podium today will see fruition I am sure, as we find our feet in these areas. So, there is a very profound commitment to ensuring that we do create better work opportunities for our people in the rural areas.
Several colleagues have addressed the issue of bail-outs. Again, let's be quite emphatic: Bail-outs are not going to be an endless mechanism of funding for foolishness, mismanagement, poor judgment, poor strategic leadership or no leadership at all. We are absolutely clear about that. So, all of the colleagues on this side of the House to whom I have responsibilities for state-owned enterprises, SOEs, it is quite clear that over the next period and, already, for the last few months, we have imposed very tough terms on SOEs that require state assistance. Those terms mean that this assistance is not an endless process. It has a very finite purpose. We expect finite things to be done. We expect the right things to happen within SOEs. Otherwise, the SOEs, themselves, must actually review the purpose for their existence.
Cabinet has also decided that there will be a review process for all of the SOEs, together with the relevant Cabinet colleagues, to decide whether they still have a purpose, whether they operate as effectively as they can do, whether they duplicate some of their functions, and whether there can be greater efficiency in the way they operate. Minister Hogan and I, amongst others, are responsible for initiating this process.
We also agree with colleagues that greater productivity is required from the Public Service. Here again, we have to emphasise that we have to do more with less. Once again, some of our colleagues have come back to the question of corruption, and are equivocating. Corruption cannot be qualified. I think we must be quite unequivocal and quite unqualified about the necessity to root it out. Now, there are all sorts of ifs and buts that all of us can put forward. The one message we need to be absolutely categorical and unequivocal about is that it is not going to be tolerated in any form, anywhere, by anybody, on any side of this House. [Applause.] That is the message that we need to get through.
We agree with Dr Rabie, for example, that we want to get the right balance between welfare and work, between those who are supported by social grants and the tax base that they actually depend upon. That is why, over the next while, we are going to have a lot more emphasis on enterprise creation, entrepreneurship and job creation, so that we can actually widen our tax base and have, not just for the purposes of supplying more grants to people but rather to ensure that people have the dignity of their own income and the ability to make decisions about their own welfare, on the basis of what they get. A wider tax base will also enable us, as government and as society, to take on many more challenges that we have, in respect of both our legacy and our future challenges.
So, let me thank everyone concerned for their contributions and for their positive support of the Adjustments Appropriation Bill. Thank you. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.
Bill read a first time.