Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I asked a question on the consultation there had been with social groups to gain a full understanding of the reality of the impact of the cut to the respite grant for people on the ground. Has the Taoiseach met the Carers' Association recently?

Did the Taoiseach meet with the federation of organisations involved in disability for example? We learned in the past week that the Economic Management Council did not even consult with other Ministers on the budget, never mind consulting with the whole range and plethora of outside groups. What we have been told is that the last two Ministers to be told were the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Burton, and the Minister for Health, Deputy Reilly. Everything was going smoothly until they were consulted and other issues were put on the table such as the cutting of welfare rates across 31 schemes.

The National Economic and Social Council is there to facilitate dialogue. The Government is meant to be putting it on a statutory footing and getting rid of NESDO, the National Economic and Social Development Office. It seems, however, the Taoiseach is not having any proper sense or measure of the impact his Government's decisions are having on a variety of groups across society. That is why, for example, in August representatives of the Centre for Independent Living had to picket overnight outside Government Buildings. We have reached a sorry pass when people with significant physical disabilities who require assistance to live independently had to camp outside Government Buildings to get their point across. It is a sad state of affairs when we have representatives of carers outside Leinster House today complaining about an unnecessary cut to the respite grant. That cut does not have to go ahead as there are plenty of alternatives to find the €26 million involved. All of this speaks of an inadequate structure of dialogue that is not giving the Government any sense of the impact on the ground that these decisions are having. Otherwise, the Government would not have proceeded with these cuts.

It must be remembered the ESRI stated the last budget was the most unfair of the previous five. This budget is perceived as extraordinarily unfair. It taxes low incomes more than higher incomes. It cuts child benefit and, as a result, larger families on low incomes will suffer badly. It hits the jobseeker with a benefit cut after six months. It cuts prescription charges. I met a pensioner last week who told me the Government has hit him for an extra €20 a month with this particular cut. He has prescriptions for seven items and his wife is on other medication. That is the equivalent of a cut in the old age pension when the Taoiseach claims the Government has not cut old age pensions.

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