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

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate or, as referred to by the Mullingar Chamber of Commerce this morning, the launch pad for the 2016 general election.

Last Sunday morning, as I flicked through the Sunday papers, three stories caught my eye. They were about the Cabinet budget leaks, the by-election results and the water charges protest march. In regard to the Cabinet budget leaks, I could not help thinking that the only body with more leaks than the Cabinet is Irish Water. In regard to the by-election results, I asked myself why the people of Ireland - particularly the people I represent, most commonly known as the squeezed middle - have turned so much against the Government parties and political parties generally. Lest anyone does not know, the squeezed middle are the PAYE-, PRSI- and USC-paying workers of Ireland, small and medium-sized business owners, public and private employees, nurses, teachers, gardaí, soldiers and small farmers who have borne the brunt of the austerity cuts for the past seven years. Through their sacrifices they have carried this country through the recession and financed the civil protection measures for the poor and less fortunate of society.

If our hard-pressed people did not take to the streets in 2008, 2009 and 2010, when the bulk of the heavy lifting arising from the economic collapse was done by the then Fianna Fáil Government - the 2010 budget was described by Christine Lagarde as the most austere budget in the history of the State - why are they taking to the streets in such numbers now? They are taking to the streets because they see that the water charges, as introduced by the Government through the aegis of Irish Water, are fundamentally unfair and unjust. They see themselves once again shouldering an unreasonable portion of the burden.

Everybody knows that clean water does not come free, that dirty water cannot be treated for nothing and that we cannot preside over a situation in which there is continuous leakage. However, the cost of dealing with this situation must be distributed fairly and not piled onto the shoulders of the God-fearing, taxpaying citizens of the country while anarchists and their fellow travellers refuse to pay for anything. People are disgusted that these charges are being introduced before we have the proper infrastructure in place and before people in some parts of the country have an adequate, safe and clean supply of drinking water. They are disgusted that €180 million of their funds have been used to set up another quango. Will the drug dealers, the mobsters who control the illegal tobacco trade, the petrol stretchers, the diesel launderers and all the other parasites in the black economy be brought to book for their water charges, or will these charges all fall on the backs of the squeezed middle?

Irish Water has a director of communications who is perfectly clear on how staff bonuses will be paid, but cannot tell the hard-pressed taxpayers of this country how the water charges will be collected. The CEO of Irish Water is nearly as invisible as the Taoiseach at the time of an election debate. Now we have the farcical situation in which the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government said at lunchtime today that he had been personally working on easing the water burden for months. However, he was unable to say what support would be given to those people who cannot avail of the household benefits package and who do not pay tax. Does the Minister think the electorate is that gullible? The reliefs were cooked up over the weekend as a result of people protesting on the streets.

The Taoiseach often comes into the House and tells my party leader that he has a brass neck. The Taoiseach himself has a brass neck to come into the House and cast aspersions on members of my party - his predecessors - who had the courage of their convictions and put the national interest before party interest and self-preservation at a time when the current Government in opposition opposed everything. Now the Government, whose leaders cannot agree on an economic policy between them, have followed the Fianna Fáil strategy, and this has led to the satisfactory position the Minister for Finance finds himself in today.

It is worth noting that Christine Lagarde, an independent observer, stated that the 2010 budget, a budget so many people in this House opposed, was fundamental to the economic recovery we see today. However, the Taoiseach, like every other bully, tries to pick a ball of mud and hurl it at the nearest target. If Members do not believe me, let them ask Deputy Conlan or Deputy Shatter or one of the many others whom the Taoiseach has disposed of lately.

I have time for the Minister for Finance, who is gregarious and humorous at times. I recall a budget day when he likened the Irish economy to a stalled old car, with the Fianna Fáil Taoiseach of the day behind the wheel urging the then Minister for Finance to do a bit more tinkering with the economy with a view to buying the next election. I am disappointed that the wheel has gone full circle and that the moralist Deputy of those days is reduced to attempting to buy the next general election. He has reverted to the politics of old and is using borrowed money to buy votes at a time when we are currently spending the same amount on servicing our national debt as on our education budget.

This budget is about the choices that will shape the nature of society for many years. We believe it should emphasise the urgent need to improve services for citizens. After years of cuts, many of our core public services lie in tatters. We believe the focus of additional resources should be on the improvement of public services and the reversal of some of the most damaging cuts. At the same time, the budget should outline a pathway to reformed taxation over the next three years. We believe that spending on public resources such as education, health, social protection and child care is progressive in nature and benefits everyone, particularly those on lower incomes. In thinking of core services, I think of Tusla. It is a pity the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Reilly, is not in the Chamber. I find it amazing that Ministers expect everybody to remain in the Chamber to listen to them, but they do not want to listen to the comments or feedback of the Opposition. In its first year of existence, Tusla has had a budget overrun of €25 million.

The CEO of that new organisation, Gordon Jeyes, said it needed an additional €45 million just to stand still and a further €60 million to fill the vacant posts and finance essential new developments. What did the Minister, Deputy Reilly, come up with? He came up with just €26 million, which is 25% of what is needed.

What we are talking about here is the protection and welfare of children. There are social workers out there who are put to the pin of their collar. There are cases of family neglect and child neglect where social workers cannot intervene. Yet 160 posts are lying vacant and services are currently operating at 70% of their staffing level. I am bitterly disappointed that Deputy Reilly has failed in his first test as Minister for Children and Youth Affairs in regard to the provision of an adequate budget for Tusla, the Child and Family Agency.

We have listened to report after report talking about the issue of affordability of child care. While I welcome the proposed family dividend of €29.80 per week through the Minister for Social Protection, it is a far cry from the Scandinavian model she promised when she changed the eligibility criteria for the one-parent family allowance. We now have a situation in which parents are prevented from going to work because of the cost of child care. We made a costed budget submission which would have seen the extension of the second preschool year to all children with special educational needs, the extension of the community child care subvention scheme to all service providers and the provision of support to working families earning more than the family income supplement threshold but less than the average industrial wage.

I will finish with a story. I recently attended a performance of "Les Misérables" in Mullingar. When I saw the water charges protest on Saturday last, I could not help comparing the squeezed middle of Ireland today to "les misérables" depicted in the Victor Hugo novel of 19th century France, who were driven to revolt by the tyranny imposed on them by the French Government. Two numbers from the show resonated with me, "I Dreamed a Dream" and "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables". My thoughts were with all the young men and women, some friends and colleagues of my own and no doubt of people across the political divide, who, over the last three years, have seen their dreams of living, working and rearing a family in Ireland shattered. They have gone to the four corners of the world and have left their parents looking at empty chairs and empty tables.

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