Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

The most obvious lack in the Social Welfare Bill and the budget in general is that of fairness. In the two and half years since this Government came into office, members of the general public have expressed to us at every level that they realise there is a problem in the country and that sacrifices must be made. All they want is that it be done fairly. If it is done fairly, people will accept it, although perhaps reluctantly, but nevertheless they will do so. The problem, however, is that is it not seen to have been done fairly. This is the case when performance-related incentives have been offered to the banking sector at this time. I know this is a hackneyed expression but that is what the people see and they would not recognise that measure as being fair. It is wrong that the sector that is seen to be one of the major players in the downfall of this economy should be rewarded in the run up to Christmas and that the ordinary people who are burdened and hammered by the system are being told they have to take the punishment. A series of punishment beatings - I referred to this last year and the year before - is being administered to the ordinary people, the helpless people, one after the other, and it is not only one beating but a multiplicity of beatings. The cross-cutting nature of cuts that affect them in a multiplicity of ways does not reflect a sense of fairness.

It may sound great in some quarters to say, "Look at that lads; was it not great how we got away with it? At a time when they are wallowing in this above in the Dáil, how did we manage it? Was it not great?" The artful dodgers and cute codgers who managed to circumnavigate the system for the last number of years continue to do so. I blame the Government for that as it had the power to do something about it. In this House, we speak about it - this is the Parliament, not the Executive - we talk, we condemn and we complain. It is a matter for the Government to take action and its members are the only people who can do so.

I read in a newspaper yesterday that auditors are now being instructed to initial, sign off and date their reports. Under the Companies Act, that is the way it was supposed to have been done. It is incredible that it is only now, given that this is provided for under the Companies Act 1990, that auditors are being asked to sign off and initial reports, according to an article in yesterday's edition of The Irish Times. I never saw the likes of that. When the DIRT inquiry was conducted approximately ten years ago, one of its findings was that audits were dealt with in a slipshod and haphazard way. If we think back to the predictions in recent years, certain firms of financial experts use to say of a morning, "The economic fundamentals are good. There is a bright future for the country. Everything is still solid. We are on the right road." Then another report, obviously produced by a friend of theirs, stated the same thing and after another while, another report was produced supporting what was stated in the first two reports to the effect that, "Yes, you are on the road, lads, you cannot go wrong; this is great, let us go to it once again".

They were all wrong but, unfortunately, they are not paying the price. They are standing around and wringing their hands now and blaming the political system. They are not blaming the people who were in the system; they are not blaming themselves but they are punishing the people. The Government was instrumental in that in that it is allowing them to get away with it. What we have witnessed is appalling.

Reference was made by Deputy Sherlock and others to the case of a widower or a widow with a few children in school who gets hammered in every direction in terms of his or her pension and in getting access to supplementary welfare. They are not only subject to one cut. They fail to qualify under new guidelines. The problem for those people is that they are here; they are remaining here and they are now selected as suitable victims in all this charade. It is appalling. We all know people who are in that category - those who do not have any more resources. They would not mind making a sacrifice provided it is done fairly.

What is fair about what we have seen unfold in the past few days? What is fair about this budget? The most unfair part of it is that it is deceitful. It will not achieve its targets and that will be the saddest point of all.

Much was made of the fact that the respite grant has been retained. That is great but nobody has said there are only half the number of respite beds available to meet requirements - some 697 when 1,400 should be available. Nobody on the Government side apologised for that. Nobody said, "We are very sorry about that but there is a little bit of a problem there". If the Government does not get the people one way, it will get them another way. Some people will not get respite care.

Another issue is the number of applicants whose applications are the subject of an appeal, or even the subject of an appeal for a second or third time, whose appeals have been disregarded and who get the same old story back and forth. This applies to all payments but particularly to illness or disability benefits or allowances. We all know money is scarce at present but, as I have often said in the past, lack of funds is not sufficient or a legal reason for depriving somebody of a payment.

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