Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)

This budget has been a long time coming and people were right to be fearful of the tax increases and spending cuts enforced by Government in an effort to find €15 billion worth of savings. At this time of great anger and worry, we need to be calm. The Taoiseach shouting across the Chamber does not solve the country's problems but instead only adds to them and makes people more fearful. What is needed is a general election. We need to focus on giving people hope and giving young people the necessary education and skills to breathe new life into families and communities which were forgotten in the Celtic tiger years.

Yesterday's Budget Statement by the Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Lenihan, did not inspire us, nor did it offer us any hope that the Government will bring this country out of recession and get people back to work. Instead, the Minister for Finance doled out a brutal list of cuts to social welfare which will cause great financial hardship for the lower paid and those who rely on social welfare supports to survive. I listened in disbelief as the Minister said yesterday that over the past two years the Government had worked hard to get its spending back under control. This is a joke. Up until a few weeks ago, the Government wanted us to believe there was no problem and that the public finances were well. Now that the Government has finally admitted there is a problem, the taxpayer, the low paid and the unemployed, are being asked to fix it.

People who were previously earning too little to be considered for tax have suddenly found themselves in the tax net and more people will be paying both the standard rate of tax of 20% and the higher rate of 41%. A reduction in tax credits and the new universal charge means even further cuts to income. The abolition of tax reliefs is a necessary evil. However, reliefs such as those for child care will put more pressure on young parents who are struggling to meet all their household bills, mortgage and child care costs.

I am pleased to hear that this budget will not inflict a cut to the State pension. In recent months, there was a genuine fear among the elderly that their pensions would be cut. I hear this regularly on the doorsteps. While the Minister avoided cutting the old age pension, he did not spare their children or their grandchildren. He will be remembered as the Minister who took the widow's mite and cut the widow's pension.

Social welfare payments are to be reduced by 4%. This means that most payments will see a cut of €8 per week. Those in receipt of widow's pension, invalidity pension, blind pension, one-parent family payment, disability allowance, will all receive a reduced payment. I am in a state of disbelief that the Minister has decided to cut carer's benefit and carer's allowance by €8 for people under 66 years of age. This was a mean decision. These people are the backbone of their families. They provide care 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They may have given up employment to look after their loved ones at home. There are no Christmas holidays for carers. They have devoted their entire lives to care for their loved ones, young and old. They have sacrificed a lot to provide around-the-clock care, which saves the State millions of euro each year.

The Minister has decided to make a €10 euro cut across the board in child benefit. I do not believe that this is a sensible approach because it means that high earners still retain the payment. The budget refers to savings of €30 million in the area of energy and communications in the household benefits package, but no further detail is available. This is a real worry for people who rely on social welfare credits for their electricity and their phone bill. We urgently need clarification on changes in this scheme.

The one positive element in the area of social welfare is the increase in the fuel allowance. An extra €14 million has been allocated to this payment which means households will now receive €40. While this is a welcome change, we should not forget that fuel is expensive and in this bitterly cold weather, our fuel consumption will increase dramatically and €40 will barely cover the cost of a sack of coal.

The introduction of a new community work placement scheme is too little, too late, for the growing number of young people who are unemployed. This budget does not provide for any new initiatives to get young people back to work. There is a big gap in the so-called national recovery plan. We need to support enterprise and small business and to create new jobs. We need to look after the many thousands of apprentices who are unable to finish their FÁS courses because they are unable to find work placements.

The budget also cut funding for social housing provision and supports by 36%. Does this mean that people will have to stay on local authority housing lists forever? As we all know, there are thousands of empty properties littering the Irish landscape, yet there is no initiative from the Government to use these properties to facilitate those in urgent need of housing and the homeless.

Another group of vulnerable people who will suffer as a result of this budget are those with addiction problems. These people have been forgotten. Funding to drugs initiatives in the Department of Community, Equality and Gaeltacht Affairs is to be cut by 7%. There will be further cuts of 63% from the Department of Education and Skills. This will have a devastating impact on local services. There have been cuts in the areas of family support and counselling services. The effects of the cuts are visible in the closure of methadone clinics and needle exchange programmes and among the community workers who help young families and grandparents to deal with the addiction in their homes and communities.

The budget will put enormous pressure on charitable organisations such as the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. The Minister has practically made that society a semi-State body because of the number of people who will be forced to turn to it for help this Christmas and in the coming year. The future of this country needs to be placed in the safe hands of people who will form policies to protect the weak and the poor. Yesterday's budget showed the Government up for what it is - out of touch with people and consumed by thoughts of its own self-preservation. The Minister for Finance and his fellow Cabinet members should hang their heads in shame. This is not a budget of fairness but a budget of injustice which totally lacks any sense of solidarity with those in need of help. I do not support the budget and the cruel, heartless measures it has introduced that will affect the many people living in poverty.

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