Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

The Minister's party with Fianna Fáil and with what is left of the Progressive Democrats has presided over an absolutely disgraceful budget. The Minister of State should have used his influence to make this budget more progressive and effective for the people, but he failed to do so. I am happy to allow him to heckle me because I will call it as it is and I will hold him and the Government to account regardless of whether he likes it.

This budget provides no funding to solve the problem of classroom overcrowding. The programme for Government commits the Government to:

Increase the number of primary teachers by at least 4,000. This will enable us to reduce class sizes.

The Minister of State should tell the children of Mell that. The aim is to reduce class sizes to 24 by 2010-11. There is little chance of this happening, given the attitude of the Government this afternoon. Yet, almost 100,000 children remain in classes of 30 pupils or more. The lack of funding in this sector has also had detrimental effects on the identification of children with special needs and has failed to solve the issue of illiteracy. An estimated 500,000 Irish adults have literacy difficulties. This is an educational crisis. To have any hope of developing the economy, we need to eradicate illiteracy, introduce paid educational leave as a statutory entitlement and make work-based learning and training available to all workers. In yet another budget, the Government has failed to identify the potential for education development and the return it will bring, not just for the next generation but for ourselves.

Given the public finance shortfall, we knew this budget would be tough. I have talked about what has got us into this mess and I have had a go at the Government for decisions it has taken and those they have failed to take. However, when all is said and done, the Sinn Féin Deputies were prepared to come into this Chamber and support measures which we believed offered responsible solutions to the current mess created by the Government.

I appreciate the pressure the Minister for Finance labours under in delivering this budget, but this budget will not turn around the economy. It contains short-sighted and, in many cases, irresponsible measures.

This budget needed to look to the future. It had to deliver a new value for money ethos. It needed to contain a vision for the creation of jobs. It had to deliver funding to those Departments that will help the economy in the long term, namely, the Department of Education and Science and those dealing with the fallout from years of underfunding, such as the Department of Health and Children. Instead, it tinkers at the edges of the crisis, makes cuts where they will hurt the most and displays no real political leadership to get this State back on its feet. We needed a brave budget but instead we have been presented with a blinkered one.

I look forward to continuing the debate on this matter. I also look forward to continuing to hold the Government to account because, by God, that needs to happen.

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