Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Government could have brought forward a fair budget. This, however, was not a fair budget. Tá a fhios ag an Taoiseach nach raibh sé deacair na roghanna cearta a dhéanamh. Rinne an Rialtas na roghanna míchearta arís, áfach. Cén fáth? Sinn Féin has shown how in our fully costed alternative budget, yet the Taoiseach chose to ignore this. Instead, yesterday, he produced a regressive, anti-family, cruel budget, one that is neither fair nor just. The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade spoke about a fairness agenda. However, fairness demands equality and justice. Fairness means increasing taxes for those who can afford to pay more while protecting working families, citizens on low and middle incomes and those struggling to make ends meet. It means protecting front-line services. This budget does none of this. There is not even a whisper of a jobs plan.

Neither can we pretend it imposes any real burden on the wealthy. That is a sham argument by a Labour leadership desperate to escape criticism for introducing an anti-working class, anti-children and anti-jobs budget. Yesterday, the Labour Party leadership abandoned all pretence of leading at being the party of James Connolly. The truth is that this budget disproportionately targets hard-pressed families and will slash front-line services.

This budget will undermine any possibility of growth in the economy. Hundreds of thousands of families have been hit by a family home tax, more PRSI payments, cuts to child benefit, hikes in college registration fees and increases in motor tax. Sinn Féin is opposed to the Government's tax on the family home. It calls it a property tax. It is a tax on the family home, sin é. It is clear the Government is prepared to use all means to take this tax from struggling families.

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