Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail)

Senator Barrett noted that the Finance Bill 2012 comprises 324 pages. It will cost each household in this country €2.50 per page, or €800 per year. That has not been mentioned in the succession of praise for all the great things we are doing for job creation. Let us compare the cost of these measures to the €1.3 billion bill for Irish households. The special assignee relief programme is a tax break costing €5 million. The foreign earning deduction is worth €1.5 million. The renewable energy deduction is worth €1 million. New start-up companies will get corporation tax breaks worth €5 million. The research and development tax credit is worth €5 million, as is the stock relief. While I agree with Senator Barrett that many of these credits are probably unnecessary, even a supporter of them should question their value in the overall scheme of things if, as the Senator noted, they only serve to complicate the tax code.

I welcome the €52 million that families will be allowed in mortgage interest relief but the €570 million bill for VAT has not been mentioned. Only Senators Darragh O'Brien and Zappone referred to the ESRI study which found that the greatest reduction in income is a fall of 2% and 2.5% for the poorest 40% of households. This compares with a fall of close to 1% for the next 40% and only 0.8% for the top 20%. I hope the Labour Party is proud. We were constantly accused of pandering to the wealthy and looking after our so-called friends but our budgets have been shown to be progressive. Those who could afford it paid the most but the opposite is now the case. Every household will be paying €800 per year. I include the household charge in this figure but that tax is only a sideshow compared to the increases in VAT, petrol and diesel prices and inheritance tax for ordinary families.

The ESRI has stated this is a regressive budget. VAT is the most regressive tax one can levy. People will pay larger bills for ordinary purchases. Last year, the Government reduced VAT on a small range of services as part of its jobs initiative. It paid in part for a VAT reduction in newspapers. The fact that on the anniversary of the Moriarty report no reporter drew attention to the Taoiseach appearing in the company of Denis O'Brien on numerous occasions during his visit to America suggests that the Government got a good deal on its VAT reduction. Let us call a spade a spade. Ordinary families are facing a 2% increase instead of a break.

Some families may benefit from the mortgage reliefs. Other speakers referred to the Keane report but progress has not even been made on the proposals on spilt mortgages contained in a report released three months before the previous Government left office. Senator Barrett is correct that various sectors are getting something small out of the budget so that the Government and lobbyists can pretend it is great for the economy. It is only good for the lobbyists and advisers who can claim they achieved something big, but it is peanuts in the overall scheme of things.

There was a great deal of boasting about the universal service charge but what was given to part-time workers was taken away in social welfare. It is all spin and the families of Ireland are seeing the effect on their pockets, if not in their pay packets. I accept that the Government has to increase taxes but why does it not do so on a fair basis? We cannot continue to allow the rich to get away with it. The only breaks in this Bill are for businesses, aircraft leasing and the sale of commercial property. Why not give the ordinary family a bit of a break? Come up with something that benefits families rather than the vested interests that seem to have more control over this country than they had before.

We will be opposing this Bill and we will examine it section by section to find out why certain measures were included, what effect they will have and why the ordinary family is not getting a break.