Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

I support the remarks of my party leader and Deputy Higgins. The story of the budget has been one of a savage attack on the incomes of working people in particular and on people who live on social welfare benefits. That is its fundamental impact.

There is major anger which is now boiling over in people and we have heard it on the phones and in e-mails. I met a person who was weeping thinking about the kind of threats and implementation in the social welfare budget today. It is something the Tánaiste should be profoundly aware of because the tumbril is coming for her and the Government. This budget marks a watershed and the public will feel the need for vengeance on 5 June and on any other date the Government decides to seek a mandate.

I did not have the opportunity over the six or seven months of this intense financial crisis to make the point that this Government has no mandate. When people voted two years ago, if they voted for anything they made a last minute decision to stick with the then Taoiseach, for whatever reason. They were not happy with who they thought might be the alternative Taoiseach. They stuck with the then Taoiseach and we then got a Government nobody had voted for, led by Deputy Cowen, the Tánaiste and a number of senior Ministers. The Government has no mandate whatsoever to introduce these fundamental changes. It is a Government that has an air almost of illegitimacy about it because people have not had a chance to vote on these matters and take decisions about where the country should go. If a general election was held, no matter what the outcome, people would be prepared to consider all the options prepared by such a Government. However, the Government does not have that backing, as our spokesperson said, and that is a fundamental problem for our democracy.

It is a pity we do not have the report of the Commission on Taxation in assessing the resolutions. It must be said that the resolutions on capital gains propose relatively minor changes. It is striking that the most important change to capital taxation was made by former Deputy McCreevy, who slashed the rate. Due to the massive property bubble the resulting gains to the Exchequer were considerable, although that was not predicted by the Department of Finance. Looking at the overall figures put forward on the capital side by the Department, one can see that for the rest of this year a return of €61 million is predicted, but who can believe the predictions of the Department of Finance? I have a fundamental problem with the management of our economy by that Department over the past 12 years. I have raised the issue of forecasting by the Department at the Committee of Public Accounts, of which I am a member, and I will be delighted to raise it in two or three weeks' time when the Secretary General and his staff come before us again. I will ask them to provide an account for the whole financial system over the past 12 years. What on earth happened to the senior Department of State when casino banking took over our banking system, wrecked this economy-----

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