Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

This is the first time Sinn Féin, as a party in our own right, has had the opportunity to table a motion for Private Members' business - it was a long time awaiting - and to have it debated in the Dáil. It is a measure of our progress at the general election that this debate is taking place. It is a welcome development.

Sinn Féin has pledged to stand with those in Irish society who are being made to bear the brunt of this recession - those on low to middle incomes. We are fulfilling that pledge and we will continue to do so in this Dáil, in our constituencies and in communities across the State.

In every one of those constituencies the people delivered a resounding verdict on the disastrous misrule of Fianna Fáil and the Greens and, before that, Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats. One of the chief results of that gross misrule, and one that reaches into nearly every household and into the pockets of the vast majority of workers, is the universal social charge. People are acutely conscious of the fact that they are being made to pay for the folly of a Government that refuses to require gamblers to pay their own debts.

Sadly, that folly is being continued by the new Fine Gael-Labour Party Government. We pointed out before, during and after the general election that Fine Gael and Labour accept the basics of the Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government economic strategy. Despite their rhetoric, they are fundamentally no different.

The parties now in government were careful to give the people a very different impression. Both Fine Gael and Labour poured no end of condemnation on the Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government – all deserved. They slammed the IMF-ECB deal, the budget and, in particular, the universal social charge. Let us remind ourselves of some of what Labour voices said. Deputy Burton, now the Minister for Social Protection, stated in January:

...the little people will carry the burden, as always, and will be squeezed under every possible heading. They are being squeezed by the universal social charge and the reductions in tax credits and the minimum wage.

Deputy Róisín Shortall, now Minister of State at the Department of Health and Children, said, "The universal social charge is little more than a working poor tax", and a blatant and unjustifiable attack on the poor.

The electorate were clearly labouring - no pun intended - under the impression that the so-called parties of change, Labour and Fine Gael, had the universal social charge in their sights. They were going to blow it out of the water, or maybe not. When the smoke of the general election cleared, the programme for Government did not propose to abolish the charge. It proposes a review.

A review is not good enough. The universal social charge is an attack on the poor. It squeezes those least able to afford it and is regressive. Why not scrap it instead of wasting time on a review? What are the timeframe and terms of reference of this review? That has never been explained. The Government could have indicated the terms of reference and the timeframe for the review in its amendment to the Sinn Féin motion. Instead this minimalist amendment states, quite unbelievably, that the reinstatement of the income and health levies would bring poverty traps into the system. Surely the universal social charge is one big poverty trap.

An economist who is, I believe, close to the Labour Party has shown that if the previous levies were reinstated, low income earners could benefit by up to €10 per week while higher income groups would lose out. This would help economic growth since low-income earners spend their additional income, while high-income earners have the option to save. As we clearly state in our motion, the reintroduction of the former levies would be an interim measure, pending root and branch reform of taxation.

This debate again exposes the consensus for cuts. The phoney Opposition party, Fianna Fáil, will troop in behind Fine Gael and Labour when the division is called tomorrow evening. That may provide political ammunition for the rest of us but, be assured, we would much rather see the universal social charge removed. That should happen now. If it does not happen now, then it can be the only just and fair outcome of the so-called review taking place. As my colleagues did earlier, I appeal to all Deputies to recognise that the substantive motion presented by Sinn Féin is worthy of their support.

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