Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

With regard to education, I welcome the fact there is a retention of the pupil-teacher ratio, which is another very positive development. I compliment the INTO, the parents and the staff of the many schools who came out and held public meetings to demonstrate their concerns and worries. It is positive that the Minister took those concerns and worries on board.

In my area of responsibility concerning the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, I welcome the positive developments, albeit small, in particular the additional funding for the implementation of the preschool quality agenda and for reforming child protection. However, while in one breath the Minister, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, highlights the increase in this regard, she fails to highlight there is to be €8 million in savings in another arm of her budget. Here, we see a €2 million reduction in youth programmes, which are extremely important across the length and breadth of Ireland in supporting vulnerable young children. Moreover, we see a cut of €1.7 million in the area of school completion.

Commentators are saying this is a Labour budget and that Labour Deputies have got their way. If Labour Deputies are happy with this budget, it raises more questions than it answers. This is a regressive budget where the burden of adjustment disproportionately falls on those who can least afford it and which targets the old, the disabled and the vulnerable. It is a budget which targets working women who decide to have a family and young people who, through no fault of their own, are out of work. It is a budget which targets people who are clinically and chronically ill and who will lose their medical cards. It is a budget which reneges on the commitment given in the programme for Government to provide €35 million per annum for the area of community mental health. If this pleases Labour Deputies, they are a lot more similar to Fine Gael than even I had thought.

With regard to the cuts to young people's social welfare, the Labour Party made a promise to protect core payments but it never once mentioned that this would depend on the age of the recipient. What happened to the Equal Status Act 2000, which outlaws discrimination in employment, vocational training, advertisement, collective agreements or the provision of goods and services and other opportunities to which the public generally have access on nine distinct grounds, one of which is age? The Taoiseach and various Ministers have highlighted this as a labour activation measure. What an insult to the intelligence of our young people. Some people in this age bracket are highly educated and have degrees and master's degrees, but they cannot get a job.

We witnessed in last year's budget an increase in the pupil-teacher ratio from 17:1 to 19:1 for PLC and VEC courses, which meant there was a reduction in the number of courses and places on offer for young adults who wished to retrain. Following the recent changes to third level grants and the increase in the student registration fees, we must remember the promise that they were not going to increase. All of those increases act as a barrier to young people who wish to return to education.

Please do not insult the intelligence of our young people. Say it as it is. This is a discriminatory cut to young people in order to save €32 million per annum. It is telling the young people of Ireland, "You are not welcome here. You are not valued here. Join the 170,000 other young people who have emigrated in the last two years".

See this speech in context