Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)

Over 12 months ago the current Minister spoke on the Finance Bill of the outgoing Fianna Fáil Government, saying the Bill "contains virtually no proposals to encourage economic growth and job creation and in fact certain provisions of the Bill have a very severe impact on the most vulnerable in society". His opposition to the provisions of the Fianna Fáil Bill were correct, detailed and forceful. Another Minister, Deputy Joan Burton, said, "We have had enough of the tired old mantras, namely, that there is no alternative" and called for a plan B.

It was on that basis that Fine Gael and the Labour Party went to the people. They promised change, they promised a new approach and promised to put the needs of the people to the fore. The actions of this Government to date could be construed as "under new management but business as usual". It is hard to identify a period when parties put forward their manifestoes and then moved so quickly to reverse so many policy positions after entering government.

The decisions taken by this Government have undermined the Irish economy, have without embarrassment continued the bank bailout and have maintained excessive unemployment, increased long-term unemployment and accelerated business closures. There is a severe and significant cost to this policy and our businesses, our main streets, our communities and our young people are paying the cost.

On top of the economic impact the decisions of the Government have undermined the political process. It was not elected to deliver austerity or to continue to hand Irish money over to bankers, bondholders and developers. It was not elected to agree a treaty that would hand over more sovereignty to Europe and then try to sneak it through by denying the people of Ireland their say. It is astounding that the Government only a year in office is already living in fear of the electorate. We now have Ministers mangling the meaning of words by stating that such a referendum would be undemocratic. Such are the contortions of a cornered and confused Fine Gael Party and Labour Party.

We were told that austerity was required to regain our economic sovereignty and build growth but time has laid this rhetoric bare. We were told the bailout was necessary to ensure that credit started to flow around the economy but with time this lie also has become clear. The budget and subsequent Finance Bill are in many ways a declaration of dependence. This Bill will be seen by future generations as the point when the new Government threw off the pretence of the slogan "Yes we can" and started instead with the mantra "No, we cannot do anything else".

The Finance Bill outlines a pathway to a weaker less effective health service, to a threadbare social welfare safety net, to a withered and shrunken capital investment programme and to a third rate education system for a first class generation. The Bill also outlines a pathway to emigration for hundreds of thousands of people in this State, much of it forced and not, as the Minister blundered, "a lifestyle choice".

The worst aspect of this is that many in the Government parties know what is required. They know the damage that this budget and economic policy will do to the country but they do not have the courage to follow their convictions. Government Deputies and Ministers are risk averse. They are weighed down with undue deference to the austerity evangelists in Germany and France. The Government has been captured by the Civil Service and its role is to now front press statements and conferences and let others do the thinking.

Last year in the debate on the Finance Bill, the Minister put down a number of criteria by which the worth of a Finance Bill could be judged. He said that budgetary measures should be "examined politically and socially, and economically proofed so that the social consequences of each proposal are known and we do not enter blindly into proposals that would hurt vulnerable people". This is a common sense and workable proposition but the Minister has not followed his own advice. No proofing of his Bill is evident.

It is clear that the proposals contained in budget and Finance Bill target the most disadvantaged and vulnerable. The cuts to rural schools and education will affect those who are most disadvantaged, following the lead of the last Government. Teachers for the children from the Traveller community were cut, because the thinking was Travellers would not make a big deal about the issue and the settled community would not campaign against it. Special needs assistants were then attacked, along with English as an acquired language teachers and home-school liaison teachers. Now small rural schools and DEIS schools are having resources cut, with career guidance counsellors, who often work with children who can turn to no other adult. Communities are being attacked with the imposition of septic tank charges and household charges, broadcast charges, water charges, increases in VAT and increases in third level fees, part of an attack on the education system in a state that already spends below the OECD average on education.

The Government then has the cheek to spin its desire to build a knowledge economy. It wants to do that but it will not spend any money to do it. At the same time the Government has offered huge tax incentives to property developers through reductions in stamp duty and commercial gains tax holidays and through the SARP scheme offer tax write offs to the highest paid.

In his contribution to the debate on last year's Finance Bill, Deputy Noonan put forward a principle for assessing such a Bill when he state, "The economic consequences of each proposal should be measured to ensure it does not have an adverse effect on growth and job creation and preferably, that it has a positive impact in these areas". Applying these tests to this Finance Bill throws up a number of contradictions. The Government spins job creation and growth on a daily basis but behind the spin there is no substance. The State will spend less than €0.5 billion on all enterprise development agencies while spending €4.3 billion on bailing out banks and their bondholders. This shows clearly where the priorities of the Government really lie.

This week the Government unveiled an action plan for jobs which was free of funds and targets. At the press conference, a confused Taoiseach said there would be 100,000 net jobs created. The Minister of State in the Department of Education and Skills then went on the "Prime Time" programme and was asked how many gross jobs would be necessary to achieve that level of net job creation and he replied 300,000 or 400,000. Which is it? It cannot be both, or if it is both it indicates there is no planning or direction. The Government is skilled in delivering scripted soundbites but when it comes to the detail that makes a difference to the hundreds of thousands of people who are unemployed, it is completely lacking in knowledge.

Since 2009 Enterprise Ireland, the IDA and county enterprise boards have had their funding reduced. The European micro-finance facility has been available since last March and put down €200 million to leverage up to €500 million in order to offer funding to all the states involved so they could channel it to small enterprises. It is shocking that while 11 countries have drawn down their funding, the Irish Government has drawn down none. Bulgaria has managed to draw down funds but this Government sat on its hands. Money from the European globalisation fund is supposed to be spent on unemployed individuals who are at the end of their tether, yet the Government cannot get it together so that these people can be properly trained and educated.

VAT increases will hit low and middle-income earners disproportionately, pushing many into poverty. In addition, there are hundreds of thousands of working poor. People are foregoing meals so that their children can eat. Parents must decide which child can visit the doctor or dentist, while others are selling their cars because they cannot afford petrol. Some people are buying five-gallon drums of heating oil to heat their homes because they cannot fill the oil tank. Meanwhile, the Government increases the VAT rate which will have negative economic consequences.

The struggling retail sector has lost about 50,000 jobs in recent years. That sector was promised an end to upward-only rents, but that has not happened. The Government has decided to create a competitive disadvantage for retailers south of the Border. The Minister says that a 3% VAT rate differential will not make much difference. It will not make a difference for someone earning €170,000 per annum but every penny counts for the thousands of working poor in this State. Similarly, increases in VAT and carbon taxes mean that jobs will be lost, businesses will close and tax receipts will fall. That is nothing new, however, because we have seen exactly the same policies for the last four years, with the same results - tax receipts declining, investment falling and unemployment remaining static or rising.

Last year, 76,000 people left the State, which means that over 1,400 people were forced to emigrate every week. Sinn Féin has said it will try to work with the Government to relieve this situation but the only way to do so is to synchronise VAT levels North and South. The Government has said it cannot do that but it would have a willing ear from Sinn Féin in the administration in the North. The Government's "No, we can't" statement reflects a parochially-minded Administration that lacks ambition.

We welcome some parts of the Finance Bill, which should be enhanced, such as tax incentives for R&D and export supports. However, it is unclear how some businesses - especially ones which are not making a profit - could avail of such incentives in practice. Last year, the Minister said the objectives of the Finance Bill must be to do no harm to growth or creation, yet capital investment will be reduced by €700 million, making 9,000 people unemployed in one fell swoop. The reduction in public services will add an additional 6,000 people to the number of jobs lost. As a result of this Minister's decision, thousands of families will make their way to Australia and Canada where they will settle down. Grandchildren will build relationships with their grandparents via Skype. Thousands of families will be broken due to these decisions.

The budget was good for property speculators who constitute the least productive element in the economy. It reduced stamp duty on commercial property by 4% and gave a seven-year capital gains tax holiday to new commercial property purchases. I challenge the Minister for Finance to detail the cost of these budgetary measures and the exact number of jobs that these tax incentives will create. Will he bring the same level of clear definition that the sound-bite Taoiseach brought to the announcement of 100,000 jobs on Monday?

Despite promises by Fine Gael Deputies in my own county of Meath, the Finance Bill did nothing to reverse the Government's cuts to pensions of former Tara Mines workers. Tara Mines' pensioners had 10% of their annual income cut by the Government in the last so-called jobs initiative through the pension levy. This is symbolic of the deep inequality created by Government policy. On one level, the Government gives property speculators - who were very much at home in the Galway tent - a tax break. On the other hand, it cuts the pensions of those who did dangerous work to the best of their ability in a mine in County Meath. This is central to the inequity involved.

Last week, the Sunday Independent reported that the Government's policies are doubling the amount of tax on individuals earning between €15,000 and €17,500 per year. The next category was from €20,000 to €25,000, which also saw an increase.

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