John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)

We were promised a budget that would look down over the next two or three years and explain to people what kind of money they would have in their pockets. The Minister for Finance was right. It can be said they will have the same amount in 2012 as they had in 2011. However, the cost of what they spend their money on will be different. The increases in VAT and in all the other areas announced in the budget remain. Out of fear for the future, they will not spend their money because they are paying increased costs and are watching every cent they spend.

Deputy Perry, more than most people in the House, knows one cannot address a budget without looking at the cost of employment. We cannot continue to look at budgets in the context of the Croke Park deal. I am not talking about front-line workers. They are the band-aid that is holding the public sector together. I am talking about people who are on big salaries and expenses. We should start from the to down. The Government promised that too and it did not happen.

On the Government side of the House we now have a very poor whisper from the Labour Party, which is unfortunate because Labour has a big contribution to make in government in maintaining that balance.

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