Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

This year and for the past eight years the Government has had at its disposal an unprecedented surplus. It had, if it really wanted, an opportunity to transform the Ireland in which we live. My party, Sinn Féin, argued that this year, in view of the unprecedented surplus in our economy, a historic and golden opportunity had been presented where quite literally and with the right political will, we had a real opportunity to lift children and their families out of poverty. An opportunity that no other generation had has been wasted.

Last week's budget regrettably continued down the well worn path of the well-off being rewarded at the expense of those on low and middle incomes. A fair and equitable redistribution of wealth failed to take place and a budget was delivered that will further exacerbate the gulf between the rich and the poor in today's society.

The fact remains that not everyone responsible for our economic growth is benefiting from it. Many people are being left further behind. By reducing the higher rate of tax by 1% down to 41%, the Government took a decision to once again reward those who have done well, making them even more well off, while ensuring that those on low incomes will continue to struggle to make ends meet. The tax reduction removed €186 million from State resources, money that could have transformed the lives of many people who live on the margins of society. For the same amount of money, the Government could have increased the State pension by €34.80 per week, with plenty of change left over. The fact the Minister, Deputy Cowen, choose to reward the well-off over the interests of the aged, struggling to cope on their pension, clearly reflects the Government's priorities.

Some 18.5% of the population in this State are at risk of poverty and 7% live in consistent poverty and suffer deprivation. Some 40% of lone parents are at risk of poverty while a similar number of unemployed endure poverty. These are among the highest poverty figures in the European Union in a so-called first world or developed country. I share the growing viewpoint that economic success should not be an end in itself but should create the conditions or be the launching pad to ensure that everyone has a decent standard of living. Some 100,000 children live in poverty. That is not a made up figure but comes from the Government's statistics. It is an appalling indictment of a Government obsessed with producing the inequities of wealth while turning a blind eye to exploitation, literally turning its back on and ignoring the vulnerable the most marginalised in our society.

As a society, we are continually peddled the image of success. New millionaires, we are told, are being made every day in this new Ireland. We are told that more money in one's pocket will solve everything, but it does not. If we want a first class health service, someone must pay for it. If we want a first class public transport service, it must be funded. If we want our homeless off the streets, we must build accommodation for them. If we want young people from the most marginalised of society to stay in school, we need to create the places and the necessary supports for them. If we want people to move from welfare to work, we need to support and create a safety net for that transition.

We are told by those in the leadership of one party in Government that inequities are necessary and even help drive the economy. However, for many of us and particularly those from my political background, the reality of any child, Irish or non-Irish, having had his or her life crushed and strangled by poverty while surrounded by enormous wealth is an abomination.

Children in some of the poorest one-parent families will benefit from the budget changes but not to the extent the Minister implied in an earlier speech. The increases will be seen by many as nothing more than a token gesture and will not be effective in tackling or removing any child from abject poverty.

The majority of the €20 increase in the lone parent allowance will be swallowed up by rising fuel and food costs. While Ministers continue to pat themselves on the back for their budget efforts, the reality is that trying to raise, feed and clothe a child and put them through school on €185.80 a week is no easy task. While I welcome the increase in the back to school clothing and footwear allowance, it must increase further to reflect the true costs of sending children to school. I am also conscious of the low take-up rates of this payment and others such as family income supplement mean many of the families most in need fail to receive those vital reliefs.

Ireland is one of the most unequal societies in the world. The top 10% of earners have incomes on average five times greater than the bottom 10%. The foundation blocks of the Celtic tiger were created by the hard work of ordinary workers, a significant proportion of whom are now pensioners. The proposed increase in State pensions will ensure that many of those elderly people will remain in or on the edge of poverty. Electricity and gas price increases will ensure that social welfare increases are swallowed up, preventing people on low incomes from adequately heating their homes.

Some 44,000 families are on local authority housing lists, thousands of families cannot afford to purchase homes and more than 5,000 people are homeless. This budget has done little to ease their plight. To meet the NESC's recommendation of 10,000 social housing units per annum, Government expenditure would have to be increased to €2 billion. With an increase of just over €100 million in the budget, total Government output still lags behind the target of €1.27 billion. The 10% of households in this State living in private rented accommodation were ignored in the budget, as increases in tax relief for private renters were miserly.

There has still been no dedicated effort to improve affordable high quality child care throughout the State. Families are still obliged to fork out more than €800 per month per child on child care costs and have to use child benefit to subsidise such costs. The €1,000 early child care supplement covers only a month an half of child care costs. This was another missed opportunity to reduce the economic burden on young families.

Some 30% of adults who have only primary level education are at risk of poverty, one in three children in a disadvantaged area cannot read and write properly and 1,000 children fail to make the transition from primary to secondary school each year. This budget has done little to address the inequalities in the State and is a long way from securing Sinn Féin's vision of an Ireland of equals.

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