P J Sheehan (Cork South West, Fine Gael)

The only person with a smirk on his face last week was the former Deputy and Minister of State who now wears a hard hat. He may need a full-face helmet by the time of the next budget not only to hide his face but to protect his neck.

The fishing industry is faced with serious difficulties. I am reminded of the saying, "A rising tide raises all boats". The fishing boats are rising and falling with every tide but they are tethered to the quay side, being unable to fish for half of the year. The budget did nothing for fishermen, who are left with less money than they had before. Where will the funding come from to assist them in repaying their huge borrowings for their super-trawlers?

The Government took the soft option of introducing 30 stealth taxes and doubling the borrowing requirement in nine months. I take this opportunity to remind them of the old saying: "Borrowing, like scratching, is only good for a while". The Government has been found out and its days are numbered.

I am particularly concerned by the suspension of care of the elderly schemes due to a lack of finance. Will elderly citizens be left to die in their homes this winter? Cork County Council alone is processing 5,000 applications for the scheme, which must now be set aside pending funding allocation. The scheme that was introduced six months ago amid much fanfare offered assurances to every senior citizen that grants would be available to assist them in upgrading their homes. Now, however, they are being left to shiver in the cold. The Government's conduct in this matter is disgraceful.

There are many stings in the tail of this budget which will not be fully unravelled until the various Ministers have introduced all measures in the House. The increase in the pupil-teacher ratio will lead to the loss of 400 teaching jobs, 200 at primary level and 200 at secondary level. At my clinic in Skibbereen last Saturday, five constituents told me about the difficulties they have encountered in securing speech therapy for their children. Thirty minutes per week is inadequate. I spoke to the parents of a young person who had a serious palate operation and who was told by the surgeon that she needed additional therapeutic care in the school she is attending. She was allocated 30 minutes of speech therapy per fortnight. There is no evidence here of the caring Government about which we hear so much.

The Government has lost the confidence of the public throughout the State. One had only to stand on the plinth outside Leinster House yesterday to see the anger of the 15,000 elderly people who came to protest against the serious disadvantages they face as a result of the introduction of means testing of over 70s for the medical card. The Government cannot stand over its policy, a policy which was responsible for me losing my seat in 2002. The introduction of a universal entitlement to a medical card for over 70s was announced six months before that election. It achieved its objective of ensuring a majority for Fianna Fáil, but it kept me out of Dáil Éireann for another five years.

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