Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Acting Chairman must give me extra time for my courtesy.

On budget day, the spin from the Government benches was that the Department of Social Protection had "escaped" with net cuts limited to €226 million, rather than the €440 million that had been bruited in the media for many weeks. In fact, adjustments of €290 million are set out in the 2014 expenditure reports, including a savage cut of €44 million from the abolition of the telephone allowance, the €32 million slashed from jobseeker's allowance payments to those under 26 in a really savage attack on our upcoming generation, the €30 million cut to maternity benefit, the €22 million cut resulting from the new six-day waiting condition for illness benefit and the disgraceful cut of €70 million from the cancellation of the long-standing bereavement grant of €850. One must remember that the Bill before Members is the latest in a sequence of shocking attacks on the most vulnerable citizens since 2008. As I stated with great sadness during the budget debate last week, the Minister's credibility evaporates each time she is associated with a Bill of this nature. I estimate the cumulative effect of cuts to the social welfare budget from the supplementary budget of 2009 up to budget 2014 to be of the order of €3.7 billion. In other words, €3.7 billion has been taken from the most vulnerable citizens.

As Deputy Nulty mentioned, Labour Party members and a number of independent left Deputies came out with a modest proposal last week that would have obviated any cuts. There would have been no cuts whatsoever in the social welfare budget. I am aware of the recent report to Deputy Shortall with regard to the wealth tax agenda of last year, which unfortunately has not been delivered. However, even had the Minister asked for that, Members know what would have happened. Fine Gael would have refused absolutely and would not have allowed her to do it. Instead, she would have been invited to go ahead and attack the social welfare budget. This is the reality and the problem and is the reason I urged the Labour Party not to join the present Administration. I did so because there would be nights like tonight, which people would regret deeply. As the Society of St. Vincent de Paul has noted, families still are reeling from cuts in previous years and, in particular, older people and young people believe they were targeted for 2014. Over the past five years, there has been an entire sequence of cuts. I can remember Deputy Stagg - I believe it was in the run-up to the 1992 election-----

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