Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left) | Oireachtas source

Until the Minister's contribution we were torn between whether we should laugh or cry over here with some of the contributions from the Government benches, but some of the points made have been nauseating to the point of being obscene. There is propaganda being trotted out about Ireland being in a recovery, that a corner has been turned and a statement almost to the effect that unless someone is in utter deprivation and destitution, they are not really poor; they are grand. That type of approach seems to be emanating from the Government benches.

It is quite clear the Government Members have no idea what it is like for people outside this House now. Even behind respectable doors in nice areas, people are losing sleep due to having no money and the fear of the unexpected event that will knock them off track. People are sick of managing, and not being able to afford the luxury of going out for a meal or whatever.

Poverty is not just about having an inadequate income. It is about a poverty of lost opportunity, not being able to raise one's children or spend time with them because one is so stressed about money and so on. It is not inevitable. It is not because some people are lazy or not clever enough. It is not even that there is not enough resources to go around. The reason it exists is a deliberate consequence of a society where the wealth is owned and controlled by an ever-shrinking number of people who are becoming wealthier than ever before. These people control Governments. That is obvious in countries like the United States where the cost of running the country means they have to pay back their paymasters. It is obvious in countries like Britain, as outlined in excellent books such as that written by Owen Jones, The Establishment: And How They Get Away With It, and it is the same in Ireland as well. It is a consequence of unfettered neoliberal capitalism, and it is bad for everyone.

I find it an affront that on a global scale, when we live in a world where resources are greater than at any time previously, we face the prospect of our children being the first generation in decades to be poorer than us. How could that be the case? Rights that people thought were the norm, such as the right to a roof over their head, which is denied to hundreds of children here in Dublin tonight, the right to health if they are sick, which was denied to Gerry Feeney from Raheny, whose case was on the news tonight, who died in Beaumont Hospital two months ago in the most horrendous circumstances, the right to an education, which is not available for Traveller children as we saw in the courts yesterday, and the right to a pension, which is not there for the thousands of Aer Lingus and Aer Rianta workers, were never in perpetuity. They were not given. They were fought for, and now the establishment is using the economic crisis, which was not of our creation, to claw some of that back.

It is a race to the bottom. The idea of a secure, permanent, pensionable job is now put out there almost as a luxury. People who are in that situation go around in fear that someone will blame them. The attack on the public service was to the effect that at least they have a job, and what about the rest of us? We had the same type of approach from Deputy Mulherin, who talked about hard-pressed middle income families not being able to send their children to college but then said that all the people on the dole can get a grant. It is divide and rule. The reason things exist is that we have had a subsidisation of the rich on a global scale and a transfer of wealth, and the figures back up that scenario.

I attended some interesting talks recently, hosted by Dr. Conor McCabe, evaluating the Irish economy. It is interesting that Labour Deputies are quoting John FitzGerald and slating Michael Taft, who until recently was a member of their party. He made the point that the Government is funded by three categories: taxation, charges and fees, and borrowings. Of the tax element, two thirds comes from income tax and VAT, which is shouldered in the main by workers.

What we have had is a transfer of wealth, involving tax breaks for the wealthy. These are funded by cuts in social services. The money the wealthy save in invested and they earn interest on it, and the Government has to borrow money to subsidise and meet the shortfall of the economic crisis. One could not make up this stuff. That is the background to this scenario.

The Government can doctor all the figures it likes but the reality is that it is not just about people being out of a job and that if they are given a job, everything will be okay. Half the workforce earns €27,000 or less and it onto their shoulders that the Government is foisting extra charges like water charges when there is an alternative. There is wealth that can be taxed progressively in a meaningful way that would transform the living standards of ordinary people. That is not an inevitability; it is a political choice.

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