Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)

I compliment my colleague for tabling this motion despite what members of the Government have to say, namely that we should be ashamed to table a motion or talk about any issue in the House. As I said before, the electorate has spoken. We are where we are and the Government is where it is. It has received a strong mandate based on election manifestoes. Both parties went in front of the people and promised one thing and another, and the Government was elected as a result of that. We are here as a result of the role we played over the past 14 years and we acknowledge that. The Government must acknowledge that our job as an Opposition party is to hold it to account and we make no apology for that.

For many years people on all sides of the House signed up to the agreement of spending more and taxing less. If the Government does not believe me all it has to do is look at the 2002 and 2007 manifestoes from all political parties, not just Fianna Fáil. In the amendment to the motion the Government states: "The Government in budget 2012 forms an important step in returning Ireland's economy to a sound footing and regaining our fiscal sovereignty." I compliment it on the job it has done so far.

There are 20,000 more people unemployed. In terms of getting people back to work, what it plans to do to CE schemes flies in the face of that. I have received numerous calls from throughout my constituency from CE schemes which told me they are not viable and will be unsustainable if the cut which has been voted upon is implemented. Both Government parties voted last Friday to reduce the grant to CE schemes by 66%. They then talked about having a review early in the new year. Why have a review in the new year when the cut has been announced? Why was a review not done prior to making an announcement?

I have met representatives from four or five different CE schemes in my constituency who will not be in a position to keep going if the cuts proceed. They would have been able to take cuts of 10%, 15% or 20% and would have helped the Government to achieve some of its targets. These schemes help people with disabilities, lone parents and the most marginalised in society. They give them a step up and an opportunity to return to work. Not only that, they provide much needed man hours for many community projects.

I am on the board of a community crèche and if it were not for a CE scheme providing it with three employees it would be closed. If it closed 15 jobs would be lost as well as a loss of service to the general area. Where would working parents in my area bring their children to be looked after? I would like to speak for longer on many other issues, especially the cuts proposed to rural schools.

The budget is discriminatory towards rural Ireland and the most marginalised in society. That was brought home to me when on the evening of the budget someone asked me how the budget had affected me. I said the 2% VAT hike affected me, which is a disgraceful result. People who are well paid were not hit in the budget. The Government chose to go after the most marginalised people in society and shame on it for that. It had choices to make and made the wrong ones. It said we did not propose any alternative. We did, but it choose not to listen.

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