Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil le Partái an Lucht Oibre as am a roinnt liom.

This is a despicable piece of legislation, ceann dena píosaí reachtaíochta is grána a chonacthas riamh. It attacks the incomes of the most vulnerable, those the Minister for Finance claims the Government is trying to protect. Widows, the disabled and carers are targeted for cuts, as are lone parents. Particularly savage cuts are targeted at young unemployed people. Ba mhaith liom a mheabhrú don Aire, gur Lá Cearta Daonna na Náisiún Aontaithe inniu, UN Human Rights Day. Smaoinigh ar an masla atá san reachtaíocht seo do chearta daoine óga agus a lán eile chun maireachtál.

Sinn Féin rejects in its entirety the thinking behind this Bill that the economic crisis can be addressed by in large part cutting the incomes of those who have the least rather than those who will remain comfortable at the very top. Token gestures of cuts to the salaries of Ministers and the Taoiseach are laughable when put into the context of how, on the flip side, cuts will impact people on €100 or €150 a week. Earlier, on Newstalk, the Minister referred to a €10 a week cut as minimal in the greater scheme of things. Such a cut can mean the difference between having food on the table day in, day out for many families. Such a reference highlights the disconnect and disparity between what is being experienced by those in Government and that being experienced by the normal worker or unemployed person in our country. It is arrogant, out of touch and nothing short of an insult to those struggling with the little they have to get by. In addition, the €8 reduction per week in most social welfare payments will make a huge difference to the household budgets of many people who are struggling to get by.

Deputy Cyprian Brady said earlier that only those who have had to survive on welfare can imagine what it is like. As somebody who survived for a number of years on social welfare, it is damn hard and I was young and single. I did not have a family and all that entails. The imaginations of Fianna Fáil Members cannot get to grips with exactly how hard it is to survive on social welfare. It is about time they learned. The only way to do so is to live on social welfare for six months, without the trappings of wealth and then they might begin to understand the hardship involved. It is not good enough for Deputy Brady to say, "I see it when I travel around my constituency". If he believes that, it is time to do something to end poverty. He should not vote for cuts in social welfare payments and a cut in the pay of lower paid public servants if he believes there is a way to address poverty and if he understands what it is to live in poverty, which he does not.

The budget and this Bill are brutal for the poor, the unemployed, the pensioners, the low paid workers in both private and public sectors, the disabled, carers and families or young couples struggling with massive mortgages. Real people are being hit and this is not about figures in an accounts book in the Department of Finance. A salary of more than €150,000 could be cut substantially. What many of us cannot abide is the injustice of making those most at risk of poverty bear the burden of the economic crisis and the sins of the speculators and their pals. People are also furious that, without any consideration of alternative proposals, the Government remained steadfast in protecting the wealthy, the banks and developers. Yesterday's budget was devoid of vision and this Bill reaffirms the absence of vision.

Cutting social welfare will further deflate the economy. Earlier, even the economist, Mr. Eddie Hobbs, declared on Newstalk that the Government's decision on cuts in social welfare would bear long-term catastrophic effects to the economy. With further deflation, more jobs will be lost and more people will be unemployed but the penny has still not dropped for the Government and it has not copped on. This is the wrong strategy at the wrong time.

Fr. Seán Healy, director of Social Justice Ireland, said that without social welfare payments, 43% of Ireland's population would be in poverty. The Minister's logic is warped. The contention that a decrease in social welfare payments will get people back to work is absolute and utter nonsense. Has she not noticed there are no jobs and every training scheme and education course is oversubscribed? PLC courses were five times oversubscribed. That reflects the scale of the problem. The Bill provides that if those seeking to better themselves in the hope of gaining a foothold on the employment ladder cannot access places or jobs, they are nothing better than welfare spongers. Shame on the Minister and the Government.

Rather than declaring war on poverty, the Minister is preparing to wage war on the poor. The people she has targeted gained little or nothing during the so-called Celtic tiger years. The Celtic tiger is now seen for the fraud it was. It was a Celtic scam for the developers and friends of Fianna Fáil. The Government should get off the backs of the people. It should represent them or resign. The cuts proposed will increase inequality in society, which continued to increase during the supposed Celtic tiger years.

Cuts to funding for educational disadvantage, drugs services, community support services, and family resource centres will all contribute to the hardship felt by the marginalised in society. The Minister is shaking her head.

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