Short summary of Pro Patria and Res Publica Union's election programme for 2007 - 2011

HEALTHY FAMILY, HEALTHY MIND, HEALTHY ESTONIA

HEALTHY FAMILY!

Tax exemption beginning with the first child!
We will grant an additional tax exemption in the amount of one minimum tax-exempt income for each child in the family starting with the first child.

Homes for families with at least one child!
We will start a state benefit programme to help to repay the housing loan for families with children who have taken a loan to buy or renovate their home.

Childcare available for every family! We will give the parents a real opportunity to choose between day care centres and at-home care.

Bigger family needs more support!
We will increase child support for the third child and every child thereafter to 2000 kroons per month. A parent of six or more children will receive a salary from the state.

Health Insurance Fund monies should be used for the medical treatment of people!
We will separate the payment of indemnities for sick leave from the current responsibilities of the Health Insurance Fund.

Healthy life – longer life!
The increase in the lifespan of the population during the term of a government should become a measure of that government’s success. We stand for a healthier lifestyle through more strict tobacco and alcohol policies. We will start a national programme for increasing traffic safety – we will bring common sense back to traffic!

Taking care of health should be profitable!
We support sports and will exempt employers from the fringe benefit tax on payments they make to compensate the costs of sports activities for their employees.

HEALTHY MIND!

Financing of research to the same level as that for state defence!
We will raise state expenditures for research and development to the same level as expenditures for state defence – up to 2 per cent of GDP.

We will double teachers’ salaries!
We will increase theminimum wage for beginning teachers to the average wage level in Estonia. We will adopt a parliamentary decision on increasing teachers’ wages by 15 per cent per year over the next five years. We will grant a 200 000 kroon seed capital for teachers with a pedagogical degree at the beginning of their first teaching position.

A computer for every child!
Nowadays computers are indispensable teaching aids for acquiring a general education. Many parents cannot afford to buy one for their children. We will launch a national programme that will equip every student in the final year of basic school (9th grade) with a free laptop.

The Estonian language must reach every inhabitant and every computer!
We will offer free Estonian language instruction to non-Estonians. We will develop the possibilities to use Estonian language software even in the most modern information technology. We will upgrade the Language Inspectorate into the Language Board and give the Board additional authority to improve the efficiency of language inspection and to plan language policy.

We support a knowledge based economy!
To guarantee better access to research and development for small enterprises, we will introduce innovation shares, which will enable them to buy services from scientific research establishments.

HEALTHY ESTONIA!

One per cent of income tax for the foundation of civil society!
We will promote participatory democracy by strengthening the role of citizens’ initiatives and non-governmental organisations in our society. We will give the taxpayer the right to direct one per cent of his paid income tax to an NGO or Foundation of his choice. Similarly to the Cultural Endowment we will establish a Non-Governmental Organisations’ Endowment.

We will end the politisation of institutions and executive agencies!
We will depoliticize the supervisory boards of state enterprises and terminate the supervisory board memberships of parliamentary politicians. We will guarantee the political impartiality of public broadcasting.

Power closer to people!
We will set a legal basis for creating advisory boards by municipalities and ministries, which will consist of representatives of interest groups. We will set the public service standards that will have to be guaranteed all over Estonia. We will also establish centres for public services.