Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

We no longer control monetary policy. It is therefore incumbent on the Minister for Finance to bring forward a different type of budget. That is the point I wished to make if the Minister of State had only waited to hear it. To use Mr. McCreevy's parlance, the Government is turning the corner into the straight. It is approaching the end. It is the mass of PAYE workers and the approximately 1 million citizens living on social welfare benefits who inevitably will have to pick up the pieces from the Government's fiscal failures in the past eight years.

Many commentators have referred this week to the archaic nature of the presentation of the budget. Mr. Vincent Browne, among others, called for budget day in its current format to be abolished and I strongly support that position. As our party leader said this morning, we must finally become like other European democracies in terms of the budgetary process. During the course of 2006, we should discuss the Estimates in detail for every Department and make our suggestions. Deputies and Senators should take the primary role in this rather than well-intentioned interest groups outside the House. By autumn 2006 and in subsequent years, we should be able to make a presentation to the Minister which could become the format of the budget in the future.

Such a process has never happened. Both the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance said they will lean in this direction next year but it is almost certain that the reforms proposed by the Committee of Public Accounts and other serious commentators will not happen. Most important, the budget day anachronism prevents a transparent, informed and reasonably lengthy debate on the grotesque unfairness of Irish society, which is as bad today, and will be tomorrow and next month, as it was yesterday and last month. Yesterday's budget did little or nothing for the 50,000 Irish citizens, 5,000 of whom are in my constituency, who are on the housing waiting list. It did little or nothing to resolve the crisis in accident and emergency services. It made no specific proposals to deal with the substantial problems in the health sector.

When the Minister for Finance gave the House some waffle about third level education yesterday, I was surprised that he had the brass neck to speak about PhDs in light of the recent debacle in respect of the chief science adviser to the Government. He spoke about the need to provide resources for fourth level education, but I remind him that just 10% of the children in many parishes in my constituency complete second level education and go on to third level education.

The Minister for Social and Family Affairs has left the Chamber before listening to the conclusion of my contribution. This country's meagre rates of social welfare continue to be a national disgrace. According to the forecasts of The Economist, Ireland will be the second wealthiest country in the world next year, with an average per capita income of €52,000. The Minister for Finance was thrilled with himself yesterday when he increased the level of unemployment assistance — the basic social welfare rate — to €165 per week, or a miserly €7,500 per annum. It is disgraceful that it is even lower —€5,000 — in the case of an adult dependant. Deputy Stagg was quite right to interrupt the Minister yesterday to ask him what he was talking about. It is an appalling disgrace that nothing is being done in this area. I note that a former Minister for Social and Family Affairs is in attendance.

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