Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Workers and Unemployed Action Group) | Oireachtas source

This budget targets the sickest and poorest in our society, the young, the squeezed middle, the elderly and even the dead. Some 20,000 families will lose the bereavement grant in 2014 as a result of this budget. During the 2011 general election campaign the Labour Party and Fine Gael sought a mandate to burn the bondholders, not to give another cent to the banks, said it would be Labour's way, not Frankfurt's way and that the vulnerable would be protected. They broke all those promises long ago and robbed the clothes of Fianna Fáil and the Green Party. They have cynically and deliberately reneged on those commitments and targeted the most vulnerable in our society. This budget takes from those on low and middle incomes here and gives to the very rich at home and abroad. Next year €9 billion will be paid out to service the debt on borrowed money to bail out rich investors on the one hand and to subsidise the low-taxed rich here at home.

As the Government regularly says, somebody has to pay. Why must the poor, and low-income and middle-income families always pay? Why do the rich and powerful always get away scot free? Not long ago then Minister Deputy Joe Costello told us here that Ireland was the seventh wealthiest country in the world. Not long ago the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan told me the top 10,000 earners in this country earn €595,000 each per year and that the top 20,000 earn €437,000 each per year. Why is there no higher rate of income tax for these people who are not paying their fair share of taxation? Why is there no wealth tax to ensure they pay their fair share? The wealthiest 10% of people in this society have increased both their incomes and assets during this recession.

The only thing this budget does for jobs is to guarantee that jobs in the public service would be eliminated and that the money taken out of the pockets of those on low and middle incomes will depress demand and eliminate jobs in the private sector. The only way to create sustainable jobs is for the State to invest in publicly-owned modern industry, but the Government is ideologically opposed to that. Over-dependence on foreign direct investment has placed our people at the mercy of others. This budget has a raft of broken promises. One was made by the Labour Party at every door during the last general election campaign when they knocked and said they would not touch child benefit. They reversed that last year with savage cuts on child benefit. From 1 January 2014 there will be more child benefit cuts. Fourth and subsequent children will lose €10 per month.

I specifically refer to the savage attack on the sick and elderly, the cuts to medical card holders. There are €666 million of cuts in the health budget. Some €149 million of those are cuts to medical card holders. This is social vandalism. It is shameful. It is an attack on the ill and the elderly, the most vulnerable in our society, and the Labour Party should be ashamed of itself. Its founder, James Connolly, is turning in his grave, as are Brendan Corish and Frank Closkey, because they would not have countenanced such attacks on ill and elderly people. When will this Government stop attacking and terrorising sick and elderly people? It has targeted them this year with the withdrawal of their medical cards.

It is not possible to overstate the fact that sick and elderly people are traumatised and in daily fear of losing their medical cards. This budget will make matters worse. The postman or postwoman, who was always a welcome sight for elderly people, will become a source of anxiety as people wonder if he or she is bringing the white letter notifying them that their medical card is under review and will be withdrawn. Sick and elderly people are being targeted in this budget to pay banks and bondholders and protect the very wealthy in this society. Elderly and sick people were always able to get discretionary medical cards, particularly when they needed ongoing medical treatment. Even before these cuts come in, people with such serious illnesses as cancer and motor neuron disease and children with very difficult illnesses do not qualify for medical cards or are having them withdrawn. This must stop. This serious attack on sick and elderly people is unworthy of this Government and the Labour Party. I call up on all civil society organisations to organise to force this Government to reverse this despicable decision and policy to target sick and elderly people.

See this speech in context