Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

All of the political point-scoring - the jibes about Fianna Fáil, about what happens in the North and about the Labour Party - has to be set aside at this juncture, frankly. Notwithstanding the ideological differences we might have or where we might stand on the left-wing spectrum, I appeal to the Labour Party Deputies to think hard about what they will do tonight and tomorrow. If these measures had been introduced two years ago, they would have been screaming in denunciation of them and rightly so. These measures will drive people who are on the edge over the edge. It is as simple as that. The statistics make it clear. I am sure all Deputies are hearing about this on every street corner and in their clinics. People cannot take what the Government is planning to impose on them. There is no justification for it.

The Labour Party knows there are alternatives. Fine Gael does not believe there are alternatives. The idea of imposing higher taxes on the rich is anathema to Fine Gael Deputies because they represent that section of society. The Labour Party Deputies do not represent it, however. They know there is a just alternative to this budget. It would require the imposition of modest increases in income tax on those earning over €100,000. It would eliminate the need to impose these measures on the poorest people in our society. I assure the Deputies in question that the people who voted for them will never forgive them for this breach of trust. They must know it. We are getting it all over the place. The leader of the Labour Party, who cannot be pinned on many things, was pinned on one thing three days before last year's general election. He said solemnly that the Labour Party would not participate in a Government that would cut child benefit, but he has breached that line. He has crossed the Rubicon. That is a betrayal for which he will not be forgiven. I remind the House of the price Fine Gael paid for its attempt to impose VAT on shoes.

I would like to put a political point to the Labour Party. If there is one thing that could rehabilitate the fortunes of Fianna Fáil, which destroyed this country's economy and plunged us into this crisis, it is what the Labour Party is doing tonight. Those who represent the Labour Party in this House could be responsible for the return to power of Fianna Fáil when this Government is swept out of office, which is going to happen sooner or later as a result of what is going on. That would be a terrible testimony to the betrayal they are engaging in now. I appeal to the comrades of the Labour Party not to do this. I urge them to stand with the people who voted for them by defending working people, the vulnerable, the families of people with disabilities and the unemployed. I plead with them not to do this to the ordinary people who are the innocent victims of this crisis.

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