Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)

I thank Deputy Naughten for tabling this motion. It is significant in its symbolism and a watershed in terms of the political period in which we find ourselves. People at the most vulnerable end of the spectrum are being targeted in the budget. This sets a dangerous precedent and we need a debate on the issue.

Deputy Kehoe hit the nail on the head in terms of people mobilising in some form of protest against these cuts. We as politicians are trying to gauge the mood of the people in response to the budget. I am detecting varying degrees of feeling, from ambivalence to betrayal. If this budget had come out six months ago, we would have had to contend with an angry public. We must question the lifespan of the public's anger. Six months ago we would have had demonstrations on the street. We must ask why this is not happening now. The danger is that we have entered a phase of ambivalence, apathy and disenchantment among society. This is something of which we must be cautious, but the Government has completely failed to realise it.

Anger can be mobilised through demonstrations and so on. It manifests itself in different ways. A vulnerable group is being targeted and that is a dangerous situation. From speaking to people in my constituency and trying to gauge the mood of people who are unemployed and in employment, I believe this sense of betrayal and apathy will, in the future, be manifested in a dangerous way. Young people who have graduated from college with skills and have been in employment are looking to Canada and Australia. Emigration is back on the agenda. We find ourselves at a dangerous crossroads.

Another thing I have heard in the last week, since the budget was announced, is that people who bought property at the high end of the market feel there was no hope offered to them in the budget. There was no way forward for those who find themselves in negative equity. This feeling is combined with the reaction to the proposed cuts to the incomes of the vulnerable. There are varying degrees of vulnerability, but, in addition, many groups are involved. There are people who have been let down by the Fianna Fáil-led Government that has been in power throughout my lifetime in politics and those who were let down by the banks. We can talk in political jargon, but what people cannot understand is how we can take from the vulnerable yet continually give to the banking sector. We heard about €6 billion being thrown out in the last week to recapitalise Anglo Irish Bank. That is what does not make sense to the public.

What the Fianna Fáil-led Government has done over the past ten years is to completely ignore and disregard the ordinary word on the street. This does not have to be uneducated; it is actually the most educated opinion. The word on the street over the past ten years was that the property boom could not last and was not sustainable. However, the word on the street is now silence. That is the danger in which the Government now finds itself. Silence is a very dangerous concoction in the field of politics and in terms of trying to get us out of the current situation. That is something we must be aware of and we on this side will help to devise and create a new script that is needed to bring this country into the future.

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