Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

The other day, Goldman Sachs circulated a note about the Irish budget which referred to the remarkable degree of consensus in Ireland about the necessity for budget adjustments. I will cite one sentence from the document. It states: "Although the government, the opposition and the trade unions continue to debate where and how the knife should fall, there is little or no dispute about when and how much the budget should be cut". The Minister had a remarkable consensus available to him, from the Fine Gael Party and Labour Party as well as the trade union movement. One could never have imagined one's party giving such an advantageous start to any Government. This could have been a consensus budget as it was a classic "all jump together" moment, an opportunity for burden sharing by everyone but the Minister blew it. The budget is straight out of the Leona Helmsley school of thought in which burden sharing, like taxation, is only for the little people. Social welfare payments have been reduced by €8.30 per week for carers, widows and widowers aged under 66 years, lone parents, people on disability and even blind people.

The Minister has some nerve quoting Ted Kennedy, the champion of the poor and fairness in America who, like Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, was not afraid to say that rich people in a republic should pay their fair share of tax. He estimates the contribution from the wealthy will be €55 million or approximately 1.5% of the total budget adjustment package of €4 billion. That is the fairness and burden sharing in the budget. It is the cleaner with two children working in the public services who will carry the bulk of the burden, although she will undoubtedly be delighted to have a job, as I am sure the Minister will not stop reminding her.

The Minister barely mentioned the National Asset Management Agency or banks. Last month, we had the establishment of NAMA which was, in many ways, the bailout of the guilty who, aided and abetted by the Fianna Fáil Party, drove the economy to ruin. Today, we have the slaughter of the innocents. This morning, I heard Ryan Tubridy ask listeners to suggest titles for a Christmas hit single. Fianna Fáil's hit single for Christmas will be, "I saw NAMA killing Santa Claus". Parents should know that child benefit is being cut to pay for the bailout of the banks and developers. That is where the hole is in the budget. The Government had to borrow €7 billion extra this year, €4 billion of which was given to Anglo Irish Bank while €3 billion from the National Pensions Reserve Fund was given to the two largest banks. Let us not be under any illusion; the ghost at the feast, the unmentionable, is the bailout of the banks and developers.

I am glad the Minister came into the House with his tail between his legs and reversed the 0.5% increase in VAT, the single most disastrous action he took in the early budget for 2009. His half point VAT mistake sent shoppers scurrying over the Border to queue in ASDA in Enniskillen and Sainsburys in Newry.

The Minister also reduced excise on alcohol and introduced a scrappage scheme for cars. Reading the leaked details of the budget in newspaper reports, I concluded that the Minister's decision to cut the cost of drink and cars makes his budget a kind of "Top Gear" budget for lads, of which Jeremy Clarkson would approve.

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