Dáil debates

Wednesday, 15 October 2008

Financial Resolution No. 15: (General) Resumed

 

4:00 pm

Photo of Róisín ShortallRóisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

In spite of all the spin in recent weeks about protecting the vulnerable — we heard a great deal about this today — the budget is a blatant attempt to ensure that ordinary working people will bear the brunt of clearing up the mess the Government has made of the economy.

The comments of the Minister for Finance yesterday to the effect that people should pull together and play their part according to their means are cynical in the extreme. The hallmark of the economic boom of recent years has been inequality. The past decade has seen most families working very hard just to survive. Welfare recipients were just about keeping their heads above water while the elite and high rollers were facilitated in making millions of euro hand over fist. These were the developers and landowners, bankers, financial institutions, auctioneers and professionals associated with buying and selling houses and lending money to people who could not afford to borrow it in many circumstances. I refer to all those vested interests who are so close to Fianna Fáil and who, when the going got tough, have been so well protected by that party. In many ways, this is the real legacy of the former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and the former Minister, Charlie McCreevy. This structural inequality is so deep-rooted that the junior partners in Government are either closing their eyes to its existence or have become so used to it they are not seeing it for what it is.

The people who are protected in this budget, far from being the vulnerable, are those who have always been the friends of Fianna Fáil and who have always done well out of budgets. Over the past ten years, it has always been the rich who have got the lion's share in budgets. This is exactly what occurred yesterday. I refer to special protection, which has facilitated the creation of so many millionaires, through ensuring there is as little Government interference as possible, with the lightest kind of regulation possible and the lightest demands possible in terms of taxation. That culture continues very clearly in the current budget.

Far from everyone playing their part, the budget targets those on low and average incomes and scandalously expects them to bail out the Government. Yet again, the rich, who have done so well out of the boom, are getting away with it when it comes to contributing to the recovery. The Minister, Deputy Brian Lenihan, has a downright cheek to call ordinary people to patriotic action while he allows the rich to avoid all responsibility. What about those high rollers showing some patriotism for a change? Yet again, they have got away with it.

The Government had many options available in regard to how it would balance the budget. The fair thing would have been to ensure that those who could afford it most and who have done so well in the good times would contribute the lion's share. The Taoiseach claimed this morning that the Government had no choice but to do what it did. This is clearly untrue. The Government had choices about where the axe would fall and it chose to spare the rich and instead inflict the cuts and pain on ordinary people. Why should anybody be patriotic in the face of blatant unfairness and inequality? Why did the Minister not seek patriotism from the very people who contributed to the economy's difficulties and who could afford to make sacrifices?

There are many areas where significant savings could have been made which would not have hurt the poor, if only there was the political will to do so, and my party leader, Deputy Eamon Gilmore, has already referred to a number of these. Lies are being peddled by Government representatives who say we had no choice but to do what we had to do because we had to balance the books. There were clear choices for the Government but it opted to let better-off people off the hook in respect of their responsibilities and instead targeted those who can least afford to make the sacrifice.

I wish to highlight a few of the areas where the Minister, Deputy Gormley, and his colleagues could have directed their attention in preparation for this budget. For example, they could have decided to do something about the high level of mortgage interest tax relief for landlords, which currently stands at over €500 million. While these people have done very well, have a steady income and in some cases own umpteen properties, the Government, through its policies, has decided to continue to facilitate them to become even better off. Although the economy is in difficulty, it has been decided to leave landlords alone, as untouchables in regard to tax, and to allow them tax breaks of over €500 million a year.

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