John Perry (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fine Gael)

We often get the impression that it is the Government's money, but the people of Ireland paid in this money. Literally speaking, it is a totally taxed economy and everybody is taxed indirectly to such an extent. When one looks at how the €19 billion is spent, one must consider the level of tax taken from welfare benefits.

There is no imagination evident in the budget on how to take people away from a dependency on social welfare payments and back into work. This has been the real missed opportunity. There is very little difference between welfare and the minimum wage. There is a 1% increase given to 2.1 million workers and pensioners with non-pension income, child benefit for 18 year olds will be halved in 2009, child care supplement will also be cut and new claimants of jobseeker's benefit will need 104 paid contributions. These measures, together with the U-turn in the eligibility criteria for entitlement to disability allowance will have an impact on people on very low incomes.

The higher VAT rate will have a direct impact. The high rate of VAT is the biggest contributor to Revenue. It is also one of the reasons people are travelling to America and Northern Ireland. The cost of doing business in this country is prohibitive. Those living in a Border county know that the level of VAT is considerably different on the other side of the Border, as are excise duties.

With regard to the role of FÁS and the back to work schemes, there is work to be done in reskilling people so that they can go back into the workforce. The higher rates of VAT and capital gains tax and the reduction of tax relief on medical expenses are all noted. The Government was given advice about medical card entitlement in 2001. The medical card entitlement and its reversal has been a fiasco.

I compliment the staff of the Department of Social and Family Affairs for their excellent work. They are clearly people who react quickly to any representation made.

I wish to speak about the issue of fuel poverty as it impacts on the older people in the community. The Government's budget social welfare provisions for fuel allowance for this coming year are completely inadequate to meet the real needs of low income households and older people in particular. Budget 2009 provides for an increase of €2.20 a week in the fuel allowance with an extension of the winter months to 32 weeks. That is €640, which is minimal when considering the cost of a tank of oil.

The back to education allowance was discussed by other speakers. The minimum wage is €17,000 a year, which is €346 a week and the social welfare ceiling is €18,000, which is €347 a week, one euro greater. This difference of €1.21 creates huge disparity in education support for a full-time three-year degree course and it should be reconsidered. We have no official register of energy poverty so that we do not know the extent of the problem but it is serious. A total of 227,000 households experience some degree of fuel poverty.

This Bill has failed to deliver to the most vulnerable in society, the very young and the very old. Other Deputies have spoken about the inadequacy of the family income support. People are expected to live on €200 a week. The cost of living is rising every day and this has an impact on the weekly shopping bill. The inflationary increases in the price of oil and increases in electricity charges have a direct impact on people's ability to manage their household budget. The Combat Poverty Agency has been amalgamated with another body and this will also have a direct impact. An opportunity has been missed. The sum of €19 billion is a huge amount of money. I note the Comptroller and Auditor General's report and his special reports on certain aspects of the budget.

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