Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)

I join with my colleagues in telling the Minister that the Government got the budget wrong. The biggest challenge facing this country is the number of people who are unemployed. This Government conceded last week that another 75,000 people will end up on the dole queues next year and that is the biggest problem with the budget. The Government made no effort to deal with that problem. This slash and burn budget targets the people who are vulnerable such as carers, people on disability benefit and the blind. Imposing a cut of €8 is a massive blow for people who are dependent on their payment.

As we end this decade, one of the more memorable images is that of the current Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Deputy Mary Hanafin, the then Minister for Finance and current Taoiseach, Deputy Brian Cowen, and the former Taoiseach, Deputy Bertie Ahern, strolling along the beach in Inchydoney with their sandals in their hands and their coats thrown over their shoulders. They had been converted to socialism and were thinking about the people who were vulnerable, having received a presentation from Fr. Seán Healy at the think-in there.

In terms of Fr. Seán Healy's reflection on the budget, he said it is an unfair and unjust budget which fails the vulnerable and damages the economy. He further stated that budget 2010 lacks vision, fails to provide leadership and raises serious questions concerning competence. I agree wholeheartedly with that statement.

Many people were shocked by the recent "Prime Time Investigates" programme which focused on social welfare fraud. It showed PPS scams using false identities and a person falsely claiming the pension of a woman who had been dead for four years. It also showed child benefit fraud being committed by non-nationals. In total, the programme focused on nine people who have defrauded this State to the tune of €1 million, but that is only the tip of the iceberg. The same programme claimed that between 10% and 15% of all social welfare claims are fraudulent. When one considers that the total budget for social welfare is €22 billion, 10% of that - a proven estimate - is a saving that could be made of €2.2 billion. If the Minister, Deputy Hanafin, was doing her job right the carers, the people on disability payments and the blind would not have to take the burden of her cuts. I agree with Deputy Denis Naughten. The Minister is soft on fraud but she has been very hard on people who are on the margins.

The Minister for Finance had choices. Fine Gael produced an alternative budget that was much fairer than what was presented last week. Why did the Minister not take that on board? Why did the Government put down the challenge to Fine Gael and to other parties in this Dáil and blatantly ignore them? Why did it ignore the interest groups? Why did it ignore people like Caring for Carers and the disability support groups and cut their payments?

I recall some years ago one of the terrible twins - I do not know if it was Dempsey or Cullen - saying that €100 million was only a drop in the ocean. They should say that to the people whose payments have been cut by €108 million, which will hurt them.

See this speech in context