Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

If one walks down any street in the country one meets unemployed people, students, housewives, small business people and shopkeepers. These people all want to live in a country where they can go about their business as best they can within the rule of law. The Government has introduced a savage and blunt instrument. For the first time, every person who earns a bob is drawn into the tax net.

The point was made earlier today that we have moved from having a €6 billion surplus to a €15 billion deficit inside two years, which is staggering. The Government has shown no imagination or initiative in the budget to give hope and opportunity to business, small business, retailers and young people and to collect this money — after borrowing €11 billion — it has introduced a sledge hammer to crucify every person who shows initiative by taking a part-time job for three or five hours and earns €2, €10 or €20.

The Government has brought every person into this. In the past, Fianna Fáil always had some modicum of care for people earning low wages and would tell those earning below €25,000 or €30,000 that it would protect them and we were told in the run up to this budget that the vulnerable would be protected. In any town in the country or in any part of Dublin a woman who works five or six hours stacking shelves in a supermarket at the weekend because she wants a few bob to buy material for her family or children will have to pay the 1% levy introduced in this budget. After exhaustive conversations at the social partnership talks, low-wage earners were given 0.5% of a pay increase only to have it wiped out entirely by this 1% levy. The Government has used a savage and crude economic instrument to do down every single person who shows any initiative. Most particularly, those who will feel this most are those in the low-wage earning group who go out of their way to find some little job by which they can raise a few extra quid. The Government has pointed the finger at them, telling them they must pay for the way it has mismanaged the economy and wasted hundreds of millions of euro. Now that the Government is flailing around in desperation, it finds an instrument to bring in €1.18 billion in the year.

Those who are able-bodied and high earners will also take the hit. However, for the middle-income and low-income groups, this levy will nail them to an economic cross. This, and all the other stealth taxes and increases in charges that have been introduced in the budget, will make Ireland in 2009 a most unhappy place for people to live in. The levy is savage, crude, blunt and way over the top. It smacks of complete desperation from a Government that has shown no initiative, inspiration or hope in this budget.

The mortgage interest relief measurem, with which I do not object, speaks for itself. The increase in specified rates for preferential home and other loans is simply another revenue raising mechanism which I will not support.

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