The following is an edited version of the Review of the Action Programme for the New Millennium:
Economic policy
The programme sets out "Eight key concerns of the Irish People":
To maintain dynamic, sustainable, low inflation economic growth and spread the benefits of increased prosperity to people of all parts of our towns and cities and to every region of the country;
To achieve full employment, by reducing the rate of unemployment well below 5 per cent.
To effectively eliminate long-term unemployment by 2002;
To implement the Government's Social Inclusion Strategy, which updates and extends the National Anti-Poverty Strategy and to establish new social inclusion targets in consultation with the social partners;
To abide by existing agreements and to work with the social partners to negotiate a satisfactory successor programme to Partnership 2000, including responsible wage growth that will improve real living standards to the maximum extent without jeopardising competitiveness or the growth in jobs consistent with an increasing labour force;
To tackle in the National Development Plan the bottlenecks in transport, housing and other environmental infrastructure, and to ensure the provision of modern and efficient education, health and social services;
To increase the level of productive expenditure, whilst keeping down the proportion of national resources pre-empted by the State;
To close, if possible by the middle of the next decade, the gap in average real living standards between Ireland and the EU, where Ireland's income level was an estimated 87 per cent of EU GNP per capita in 1998;
These aims are based on the budgetary parameters of maintaining the 4 per cent ceiling on the average annual increase in net current expenditure; the maintenance of a healthy budget surplus in keeping with the spirit of the EU Growth and Stability Pact; and the reduction of the general Government debt (GGD) from 56 per cent of GDP at the end of 1998 to under 40 per cent of GDP by the end of 2002.
Northern Ireland
The overriding priority is the consolidation of peace and of a new democratic dispensation, by securing the full implementation of the Belfast Agreement.
The Government will support the radical reform of policing, as recommended by the Patten Commission Report; work for a complete end to all forms of violence from whatever source; and, seek to achieve the decommissioning of all paramilitary weapons, as is required by the Good Friday agreement, and which is a vital means of underpinning the democratic process and democratic institutions.
Crime
Review promising to accelerate recruitment to bring Garda force to 12,000; invest in new state-of-the-art telecommunications for gardai; introduce juvenile justice legislation; and Drugs Courts system in line with the proposals of the Drugs Courts Planning Committee.
Other measures include modernising laws relating to white collar crime, fraud and corruption; establishing a sex offenders register; proceed with the Prison Building Programme for additional 1,000 spaces; and implement separate legal representation in certain circumstances for victims in rape and serious sexual assault cases.
Drugs
Promising to develop, as a pilot project, a secure residential drug treatment centre to cope with the needs of serious drug abusers in the Dublin area. Also commitment that all Government Departments and public bodies will pursue an integrated approach to the drugs problem as a result of mainstreaming of drugs programmes into their work.
Support measures aimed at helping people in recovery from drug addiction to find jobs.
Provide drug-free units within each prison in the State.
Taxation
Commitment to implement election promises, through a balanced strategy of removing more of the low-paid from the tax net altogether, by reducing tax rates, by ensuring that a large majority of taxpayers are subject to no more than the standard rate, and by completing the transition to a more progressive system of tax credits. They will also bring down corporation tax to 12 1/2 per cent by the year 2003.
The Government will take all necessary measures to enable the designated authorities to collect all taxes due, to pursue tax evaders past and present, and to recover unpaid tax liabilities with the appropriate penalties and disclosures, in accordance with law.
Social inclusion
Government to prioritise a system of life-long learning for all; new targets for pensions, taxation, health and care services for older people; a co-ordinated approach on carers and to combat homelessness.
Family
Government commitment to address child support needs of all families; to encourage family-friendly employment policies and to put Family Mediation Service on a statutory footing.
Children
Having examined the various reports available to them, commitment to develop a comprehensive childcare policy and bring forward significant initiatives in Budget 2000 and subsequent Budgets to respond to the childcare/child support needs in this society. Other key priorities will include: the establishment of an Ombudsman for Children; the development of a National Children's Strategy; commitment to prompt availability of services for children at risk; early publication of the White Paper on Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse and urgent implementation of its recommendations; and an examination of further measures to speed up adoption procedures.
Education
White Paper with proposals on adult education services; White Paper on Early Education; and initiative to improve literacy and numeracy attainment.
Caring for our Older People
Advancing the goal of bringing the old age (contributory) pension to 100 and by extending the 100 commitment to all social welfare old age pensioners by 2002.
People with Disabilities
Key priorities to include a National Disability Authority and the preparation of a Disability Bill.
Homelessness
Commitment to provide transitional accommodation for resettlement programmes and designate a proportion of local authority houses for homeless persons and emergency hostel accommodation to overcome the need for any homeless person to sleep on the street.
Travellers
To provide housing authorities with the necessary resources to implement their five-year Traveller accommodation programmes, which will be adopted by the end of March 2000.