Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Bhuel, éist agus foghlaim. The Taoiseach has cut €325 from more than 77,000 families. Some 20,000 of those families receive no other support from the State for providing full-time care for a family member. How low can one get? That is scandalous and shameful and certainly not a fair measure in a budget that was trumpeted as fair. Before the last general election, Labour and Fine Gael vehemently opposed prescription charges for medical card holders imposed by Mary Harney. In this budget, the Government has trebled the charges and increased the monthly maximum payment from €10 per month to €19.50 per month. It is only the tip of the iceberg and is building up for working people. The health system, under the millionaire Minister, Deputy James Reilly, has staggered from one crisis to another, with each more damaging than the last. The Minister has failed to deliver promised reductions in the price of medicines. Instead, he is passing the cost on to patients with higher prescription charges and the increase of the threshold for the drugs payment scheme. Older people, in particular, are attacked in this budget. People over 70 with an income of €600 to €700 per week will lose their medical card and will receive the GP-only card. They will have to bear the full cost of medication.

The Taoiseach keeps talking about the North and it is heartening for the people in the North to hear about what Sinn Féin is doing in government. Sinn Féin insisted that prescriptions would be free in the North. The Taoiseach can trumpet that. In response to questions tabled by me, we were told there would be no supplementary health budget but, because the Government completely mismanaged the health budget, which is almost €400 million in deficit, on Tuesday the Government was forced to bring in an emergency supplementary health budget. Yesterday, the Government announced further cuts of over €1 billion in health. The health service cannot bear this. How could it? One day, extra funding is allocated, the next day there are more cuts. It is a recipe for disaster and for deeper poverty and poorer health care, especially for low to middle income families with children, and for older people. It will mean job losses in the health service and greater risk to patient care. Leaving aside the philosophy that underpins these decisions, it is bad economics.

While the cuts in education are less severe their impact is nonetheless significant. 

The €23 million cut in the education budget will have a disproportionate impact on learners from the more disadvantaged sections of Irish society. The millions of euro to be cut from higher education will seriously impede opportunities for people to upskill and diversify. Funding for higher education institutions has taken a significant hit with a €25 million reduction being imposed in 2013 and a €13.2 reduction in the allocations of the VECs. The reduction of income thresholds for eligibility for student grants by 3% is a continuation of Fianna Fáil's policy and will prevent even more students from low and middle income families from pursuing higher level courses. The cut being imposed by the Department of Social Protection in relation to the back-to-education allowance and the estimated saving of €17 million will impact greatest on the less well-off who wish to return to education.

Do we remember the Minister, Deputy Ruairí Quinn’s public flourish before the last election in signing up to opposition to any increase in student fees? It is another U-turn. Yesterday, the same Minister announced another increase of €250 to the third level contribution. Students will now have to pay €2,500 in fees. So much for the claim that third level education is free.

The negative impact of Government policy imposes the greatest burden on those who have least and can least afford further burdens being imposed on them. There is also a negative impact on the economy. This is evident in the 20,000 net job losses and the 14.6% of citizens on the live register. We can see it in the overworked voluntary sector where organisations like the Society of St. Vincent de Paul cannot cope with the demands being made on it. Demands are, incidentally, being made on the society by Government Departments. The Government is asking a voluntary charity to help it.

The Government claims that after this budget we are 85% of the way there, but it does not tell us to where. We hear it parroted that we will be the best small country in which to do business. What about being the best small State to live in?

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