Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I would like to raise with the Taoiseach the consequences of last Wednesday's budget. Bearing in mind that the hype and big discussion are over, the consequences are becoming evident for a great many people. Politicians stated in the House that, in accepting the fact that there was a requirement to secure a reduction in current spending of approximately €4 billion, there should be a sense of fairness in the budget. I want to address this very issue.

Fine Gael has tabled a motion for Private Members' time dealing with the consequences for the disabled, blind and carers who cannot work because of their circumstances. The contacts made with me as a politician over the past weekend and the graphic descriptions given of the circumstances that apply in respect of these three categories suggest clearly that this budget is demonstrably unfair and mean. Let me outline why.

The pension for the blind is means tested. If a person who is blind has any means or is married to a person of means, he or she cannot draw the pension. Those who do qualify apply for the old age pension when they reach the qualifying age because it is of a higher value. There are only 1,500 people in this category nationally, yet the Minister has taken €8.60 off them every week. They cannot work and they have a very strict means test applied to them.

Carers provide over 3 million hours of care every year because of their love of kith and kin. Let me tell the House about Tom from Arklow, whose case is public. He looks after his loved one because she has had multiple sclerosis for 16 years. Tom was an IT consultant earning €400 per day, or €2,000 per week, and is now a full-time carer. The conditions specify that the care must be full-time. Tom's allowance has been cut by €8.60. His loved one is in a wheelchair. The house must be heated because she cannot move around, thus incurring a higher cost than would normally be the case. The carbon tax will result in their paying extra for travel. The woman's dietary requirements are such that the cost of living in the house is higher than normal.

The same applies to all the disabled. The Government, in seeking cuts in the order of €4 billion, has actually aimed the political gun at the most vulnerable, including the blind, carers and the disabled. The Taoiseach and I have been in houses and have seen people with dementia and incontinence and we have noted the pressure on those who look after these people on a full-time basis. These carers save the State an average of €40,000 each, which amounts to hundreds of millions of euro every year, yet the response of the Government has been to take €8.60 off each of them. It has pumped billions of euro into a black hole of banks and has allowed people with pensions of more than €100,000 to walk away untouched.

There can be nothing-----

See this speech in context