Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)

Though I do not agree with the saying, politics is often all about perception. In budget 2009 the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Lenihan, wanted to create the perception that they were in control and were in possession of the wisdom to guide Irish society and this economy through the current turmoil and position us correctly for the future. The Minister concluded his budget speech with a call for patriotic action and asserted that we were all in this together. As is customary, he received a standing ovation from the opposite side of this House but that ovation rather quickly turned into something else. There is a very short distance between a pat on the back and a kick on the backside.

I always become suspicious when I hear somebody invoking patriotism. It brings to mind the words of Samuel Johnson who said that patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel. We are now at the last refuge stage for a Government that has been reckless in its stewardship of the economy. The first draft of history seems to indicate that this Government has blown the greatest opportunity the country has ever had to establish its mature economic identity around the world.

It is the sheer hypocrisy of this budget that I find galling. We may take some of the measures in agriculture as an example. In disadvantaged areas 40,000 farmers will lose over €1,000 per year. This cut is a direct attack on rural communities on the west coast and attacks farmers in my constituency in County Clare, where 6,120 will be directly affected. The disadvantaged area payment was introduced to give farmers some respite because the land they farm is poor. It is much harder to make a living from it. The application of the 1% income levy on gross income for farmers and the self-employed is unfair and goes against all principles of a fair and equitable tax system. The suspension of installation aid for young farmers and the early retirement scheme from midnight on the day budget 2009 was presented places the future of farming in jeopardy. The farming sector is being hit disproportionately in this budget. Hitting farmers by amounts in excess of €2,000 is simply not right. The measures are unfair, unjust and clearly need to be revisited. I appeal to the Minister to think again about the harshness of suspending the young farmers' installation aid scheme, the early retirement scheme and the disadvantaged area payments.

The throngs of pensioners who came to Dublin from the four corners of Ireland illustrated forcefully that the Government got it wrong when it removed the automatic right to a medical card for those over 70 years of age.

This budget is a missed opportunity to bring about real public service reform. It has hit the old, the sick, the disabled and the young, the most vulnerable sectors of our society. By hitting these groups and by omitting to bring about any serious public sector reform the Minister for Finance ignored the real underlying problem with this country's finances.

The 32 cuts proposed in the budget for education have a slash and burn feel about them and will have a devastating effect on every student. The class size issue was a central part of the 2007 Fianna Fáil election manifesto. That Ireland is consistently near the bottom of OECD leagues on this issue should be a source of shame and embarrassment to the Government. The lack of investment in education in recent years has resulted in Ireland having the second largest class sizes in Europe. With these cuts, Ireland will be placed bottom of the OECD league — so much for the concept of developing a knowledge-based economy. These savage cuts will place our four and five year olds at a disadvantage in the early years of their education. How are these children supposed to attain their full potential in overcrowded, dilapidated classrooms? Ennis national school in County Clare is a prime example of this problem.

I object to the fact that schools in County Clare will lose many teachers. In Ennis, for example, St. Flannan's College, of which I am a past pupil, will lose five teachers, Coláiste Muire will lose four teachers and Ennis national school will lose five teachers, consisting of two mainstream teachers, two English support teachers and one Traveller support teacher. Other primary schools such as Tulla national school and Tumgraney national school will not receive the vital additional teacher they dearly need. Every school in County Clare will be affected and students will suffer.

The €2 and €10 travel tax is ill-considered in its application. In the context of Shannon Airport in my constituency of Clare, it undermines the principle of having a proper and balanced approach to regional development. The tax sends out the wrong message and undermines this Government's supposed commitment to the regions.

Shannon Airport has been kicked repeatedly by the Fianna Fáil Party for the past two years. The loss of the Shannon to Heathrow route has been followed by the proposed shedding of 280 jobs in Aer Lingus. The Government claims it is not able to intervene in Aer Lingus affairs and cannot answer the fundamental question as to the reason it holds a 25% shareholding in the company but is unable to influence its direction.

With the introduction of a new travel tax, the Minister for Finance, in his wisdom, is trying to tax the airline industry out of recession. Why is the Fianna Fáil-led Government hitting Shannon Airport hardest? Why will a tax of only €2 apply to flights from Dublin Airport to Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow and East Midlands airports while a €10 tax will apply to flights from Shannon to all these destinations?

In recent days, Ryanair has indicated that its €400 million investment in Shannon Airport is in jeopardy. The company accounts for 60% of traffic in Shannon Airport, flying to 35 different routes and accommodating almost 2 million passengers, with an average fare of €10 per flight in the winter months. At the stroke of a pen the Minister has imposed on passengers a tax which will increase the cost of flights by 100%. In response to a parliamentary question I tabled on this matter, he acknowledged that no analysis was carried out on how a travel tax would impact on the tourism and business sectors before the measure was introduced. He then justified its introduction on the basis that three other European Union countries have a similar tax in place. This is a short-sighted approach because Ireland is an island nation whose economy is dependent on air travel.

The Minister's travel tax is anti-tourism and anti-business and will result in further job losses in my region. The outrageous measure must not be introduced and I demand again that the Minister for Finance and the Fianna Fáil-led Government urgently scrap it as it will have a devastating effect on Shannon Airport and the mid-west.

As I stated, politics, unfortunately, is about perception. This Government, with its enslavement to spin and public relations, has forgotten that ultimately politics is about people. With this budget, it has forgotten about people, sidestepped and refused to tackle the real difficulties and, contrary to what the Minister said, failed to spread the burden. This is not a surprise because gross mismanagement of the public finances by successive Fianna Fáil-led Governments has put us in this position in which we find ourselves. The parties on the benches opposite will not chart a course out of it.

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