Patrick Nulty (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am disappointed that the Minister, Deputy Joan Burton, is not accompanied by the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, today. After all, this is a Fine Gael budget. I have no doubt that if the Labour Party had framed it, the measures that we are discussing would not have been included. It is the Fine Gael Party that is driving economic policy and putting us in a situation where these measures have to be brought forward. I have no interest in what Fianna Fáil has to say. I am not a part of that political tradition, nor am I part of the political tradition of Sinn Féin. I am part of the tradition of the labour movement. I joined a trade union when I was old enough to work and the Labour Party when I was old enough to vote. In fact, I voted for the Minister, Deputy Burton. I was a socialist as soon as I was old enough to reflect on the inequalities that exist in our society.

We have been told that there are no alternatives to the measures set out in this Bill. If I could accept that as truth, I would vote for the legislation. The reality, however, is that there are plenty of alternatives. As Susan George, the great American writer, observed, the world is full of alternatives. Proposals in this regard have been made by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Claiming Our Future and TASC. My colleagues, Deputy Thomas Broughan and Ms Nessa Childers, MEP, and I have presented options. Alternatives have been offered by virtually every progressive voice in Irish society, pleading with the Government to reverse the cut in the respite care grant and child benefit and instead to impose higher taxes on people earning more than €100,000 per year. In response to a recent parliamentary question by Deputy Michael Conaghan, it was revealed that a tax rate of 48% on incomes above that threshold would bring in €365 million per annum. That cannot be done, however, because Fine Gael will not allow it. The Labour Party has a choice, therefore, either to agree to a compromise which is not sufficient or to stand up to its partner in government.

Last year the Minister, Deputy Burton, and others disagreed with my decision to vote against an austerity budget. I respect their position. However, I do not accept that a single voter sent me into this House to cut the respite grant for carers and take €10 from the allowance paid to every mother in this country. These decisions are shameful. It is even more shameful that outstanding members of my party will be forced to vote for this measure out of some blind faith and loyalty to an archaic 19th century Whip system which demands adherence to the party line irrespective of personal convictions. It is my conviction that these cuts are wrong and alternatives could have been chosen. For God's sake, let us stand together to effect their reversal, no matter what the consequences. I urge the Minister to accept the amendments to this end.

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