James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)

This supplementary budget will close down Ireland Inc. It is totally out of step with best practice in Europe and globally. There are no job creation measures in this budget. It is strongly anti-business, anti-competitive, anti-worker and anti-family. It will drive people out of work and I am hearing that message all day. The Minister for Finance opened his contribution blaming everyone and everything he could think of to explain away the economic deficit, while overlooking the obvious but while there may be no escape for the taxpayer, there will also be no escape for the Government.

Far from suffering a global problem, last week's Central Bank statistics indicate that the bulk of this year's unbelievable €23 billion deficit is down to the Government. This confirmed what we have known all along. This country was ideally placed to withstand a global downturn but the Government's mismanagement of our heretofore strong financial position has left us vulnerable and struggling. The Government is incapable of governing and incapable of learning from or taking advice. It is known across the world that there is nothing to be gained from trying to tax a country out of trouble. This ill-conceived budget will drive the economy deeper into recession and into depression. Confidence will not be restored and the business and commercial sector will not stabilise, let alone recover. Our health sector will continue to experience unnecessary deaths and our unemployed will continue to suffer from a lack of retraining or further education.

The Minister hit out yet again at the middle income earner who will bear the brunt of his savage unjustified tax impositions and cutbacks. This supplementary budget will close down Ireland Inc. Business and families will suffer savage cutbacks to give the Government another blank cheque to squander. The taxpayer has been forced to bail out the banks with an additional burden on every family as a result of the increased levies. What are the legal implications of removing tax relief on mortgages, which were entered into on the understanding that this would be in place? This issue needs to be clarified and it is, perhaps, open to legal challenge.

Clarification is urgently needed regarding the scheme the Minister announced for public sector staff aged over 50 to retire without "actuarial reduction of pension entitlements they have accrued to date". Does this mean those who avail of this offer will merely get a pension on entitlements up to the age of 50 and will have to forego the additional entitlements they would have built up if they worked to 60 or 65 years of age? Does it mean that the balance is assured? This is a grey area. What about the provision for payment of 10% of the relevant lump sum immediately with the balance paid later? This sets alarm bells ringing, as this will be paid without actuarial reduction and subject to current tax law provisions. Essentially, the 90% remaining of the pension taken at 50 years of age could be wiped out by tax in ten or 15 years. What sort of a deal is that? I will be interested in the Minister's explanation.

Despite the imposition of increased VAT rates last October, he failed abysmally to take the opportunity yesterday to stem the crossing of the Border, which has resulted in a €700 million loss to our retail trade or the exit tax with has destroyed our tourism industry. Farmers were badly let down in the budget with more cuts on top of those imposed last October. The cuts in the REPS payments and so on are disgraceful. Where is the input of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government into this? He has let down farmers and the people he is supposed to represent in this debate. The only glimmer of hope in a dark day for the country is the fact that the Government benches did not rise as one as they did last October to applaud the Minister for Finance. Even Fianna Fáil and Green Party Members know when they are being sold a pig in a poke. They kept their heads down, hanging in shame. The electorate will hang them further on 5 June.

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