Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

From day one, the Government has put politics before substance. It has seen every problem in terms of how to spin it. After an enormous defeat in May’s local elections, after rising discontent on the doorsteps and in the streets, and after a forced reshuffle, following an uprising in the Labour Party and disquiet in Fine Gael, the Government still does not get it. It still does not understand the anger, frustration and basic everyday struggle of families throughout the country.

This debate has been framed as a new start, the moment when the Government gets its act together and starts communicating its message. The Taoiseach set it off yesterday with his launch of Fine Gael’s budget calculator, to be accompanied by leafleting in every constituency. According to Fine Gael, the calculator is there to show everyone how much money it is putting "back in your pocket". The calculator shows that the average family will get dramatically less than a high-income family, but the real revelation is to be found buried in the section termed “assumptions”. There one finds two incredible statements, that "Local property tax liabilities (if any) are ignored" and that water charges are not included and "The tax credit in respect of water charges paid during 2015 will be given in 2016". Once again, the Government just does not get it. It is a Government that implements damaging and unfair policies but thinks it can spin its way out of trouble.

It is important to note that the Labour Party fully shares this commitment to selective and dishonest spin. This week it too has launched a post-budget offensive, with a claim that nearly 1.2 million children will benefit from the child benefit increase it claims it has secured. It takes a special level of cynicism to cut something one said one would never touch and then ask for credit when one gives a bit of it back.

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