Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)

It is not necessary for Government Deputies to leave the House when I rise. I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important legislation. Looking across the Chamber yesterday, the faces of Cabinet members brought to mind the recession. They were tired and had a look of hopelessness about them. Sadly, the Minister for Finance's budget was devoid of ideas. The attitude of the Government is to fumble from one budget to another and yesterday's budget had no direction and did not make reference to jobs.

Normally, at this stage in the debate on the day after the budget, the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment makes a contribution on the impact of the budget on jobs. Regrettably, rather than debating the issue of job creation, we are discussing the impact the budget is having on the most vulnerable people in society. Job creation is no longer a priority for the Government. Instead, the House is debating cuts in payments to the blind, the disabled, carers, widows and children. The new mantra of the Government is to cut supports for those who cannot work, remove opportunity from those who want to work and force those on low pay out of employment. That is its priority. It is afraid even to allow backbench Deputies home for the weekend in case they have to face the disabled, the blind, carers and mothers who have had their income slashed in the budget. So much for being the voices of the people.

Budget 2010 is not fair. Half of the McCarthy report recommendations on cuts in social welfare were implemented in the budget, whereas only one quarter of the recommendations pertaining to other Departments were implemented. On pay and taxation, measures worth only €55 million have been directed at the rich. This figure is one twelfth of the money the changes proposed by the Fine Gael Party in this area last Friday would have generated. We proposed changes in the social welfare budget which would achieve savings of €400 million net of job activation measures. While we also proposed to cut adult working age supports, we excluded pensioners, carers, the disabled and the blind. Crucially, we also published detailed proposals on how we would create jobs and training opportunities.

The Fine Gael Party also made proposals on fraud, an issue to which I will return. We proposed measures on the rent supplement scheme where significant savings could be made on the basis of trends and market rates and by expediting the transfer of people from the rent supplement scheme to the rental accommodation scheme. The Minister gave no indication that her Department will focus on this issue.

The main tenet of the Fine Gael Party proposals is the protection of the most vulnerable and to enable as many people as possible, particularly young people and the unemployed, to return to work or upskill through education and training. We want to reduce current spending on large bureaucracies such as the Health Service Executive, FÁS and CIE and eliminate or merge 150 of the quangos established in the past 12 or 13 years. Cutting professional and third party fees would also have delivered savings, as would the implementation of certain aspects of the McCarthy report.

What we see in the budget is a focus on the most vulnerable. Widows, carers, people with disabilities and the blind are being hammered by Government cuts. It is unfair that the Government is turning a blind eye to those who are robbing the State through social welfare fraud. While I accept the Minister has announced proposals and changes in this area, regrettably they do not go far enough to address the fraud issue once and for all. The Department will fall far short of its targeted savings of €616 million from anti-fraud measures. The shortfall of one fifth or €123 million would have protected payments to carers, people with disabiities, widows and the visually impaired. Cuts in benefits for these groups would not have been necessary if the Department had reached the savings target set by the Minister for anti-fraud measures.

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