Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

Has the Government any plans to introduce a supplementary or emergency budget early next year, as happened last year, before this budget has even been passed? I ask because Deputy Gogarty stated earlier that he believed pensioners could afford to take a cut in their pension. That is what he should have apologised to the House for saying; it was a disgraceful comment. He should apologise to pensioners across the State for telling them they could afford to take a cut in his view. It is easy to say that when he is bringing home a Deputy's salary and the devil knows what else income. It was downright disgraceful.

The cut in jobseeker's allowance being introduced for under 25s is significantly more severe than was even proposed by an bord snip nua. The McCarthy report did not go that far.

A number of Members referred to the lack of a job stimulus packages. All three Opposition parties put forward packages. I do not agree with everything in the Fine Gael or Labour Party packages, but there are many viable parts in both of them. The Government could have looked at the Sinn Féin package, which was 100% viable.

It will be difficult to find jobs but unless the Government addresses that critical problem when trying to fix this mess, it will not be repaired. Why not take €2 billion from the National Pensions Reserve Fund and put it into critical infrastructure, particularly a school building programme? As a former Minister for Education and Science, the Minister is all too familiar with the need to develop that infrastructure and to get children out of those damp, cold, draughty portakabins that many of them must endure currently. In doing that, the tradesmen, brickies, plasterers and electricians, engineers and architects will get back to work, jobs will be created and that critical social welfare bill will be reduced.

Did the Government even consider such a move? If not, would the Minister mind sharing her views on the idea that was put to her four weeks ago by Sinn Féin? Did the Government consider any of the Opposition parties' proposals? Clearly none of them was taken on board. At least the Minister cannot say she was not told as it is a matter of record that some innovative proposals were put to her.

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