Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)

I wish to share time with Deputy Frank Fahey.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this issue. To judge by the commentary inside and outside the House the Punch and Judy school of politics is alive and well.

I take umbrage at some of Deputy Burton's comments on child benefit to the effect that some people are incapable of representing families or people with young children because they are male. I find that offensive. I am the father of three young children and have a view that should be taken into account in any discussions about children or child benefit. I received child benefit and the early childhood supplement until recently. It has been always said that Ministers and Ministers of State are well remunerated for their work, and the Government has decided to reduce our salaries by 10%. If the public and the Opposition feel I am well paid and can take a 10% pay cut, one could ask why I receive child benefit when my wife and I have decent salaries. If we are to have a fair and serious debate on equity in our society we should at least be honest and accept that some people can afford to live, to rear and provide for their children without receiving State supports such as child benefit. Deputy Burton cannot deny that.

This leads to the supplementary budget, the Minister for Finance's announcements and their implementation in this Bill. We know that we face a challenging economic outlook. The commentary from some quarters in this House suggests that it is all of our own making. This is a simplistic view proffered primarily by the Labour Party as if the crisis in the sub-prime market in the United States, the downturn in the global economy and the depreciation of sterling-euro exchange rate had nothing to do with our difficulties. Everybody accepts that there was an over-reliance on the property market. The Government and the Minister for Finance have said this.

In 2007 the Labour Party and others put forward their projections in their election manifestos but I do not see in any part of the Labour Party's manifesto that it forewarned the Irish people or the Government of the day of the over-reliance on the property market. I am sure Deputy Burton had a major part in its drafting.

See this speech in context