Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, United Left) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday the Ministers for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform left before the Technical Group spokespeople began their contribution and again today the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste left just as one of our Members began to speak. That is outrageous.

After listening to yesterday's speeches by the Ministers, Deputies Noonan and Howlin, a member of staff in Agriculture House asked where the wonderful land they described could be found. That encapsulates the response of many thousands of people to the underwhelming speeches we heard yesterday. The reality is not the nirvana painted by the Government but a society of haves and have nots. This is an extremely unequal society based on low wages and minimal public services. It is a model for a neoliberal agenda. We have a wealthy society, with average GDP per capitaof more than €36,000. However, while the average family household with two adults and two children could be expected on these figures to enjoy an annual income of more than €140,000 per year, 33% of households earn less than €30,000, 56% earn less than €50,000 and 62% earn less than the mean household income of €56,000. A household earning more than €60,000 is classified as high income. One would not be living the high life on that level of income. Our low wages and minimal public services mean that 137,000 children live in consistent poverty and 63% of lone parent households experience deprivation, which might mean going 24 hours without a substantial meal or being cold due to lack of heating. That is the reality, despite what the Government has claimed. The German philosopher, Ludwig Feuerbach, wrote that society should be judged on how it treats its most oppressed members. We have nothing to boast about in that regard.

The Government promised that 2 million people would be employed in well paid and secure jobs by 2018. There was no mention of the huge increase in low paid work or precarious employment contracts. In the 1980s, 80% of employees in the retail sector were full-time and only 20% were part-time. The situation has reversed, with 20% on full-time contracts and 80% in part-time work. The campaign for decency for Dunnes Stores workers has exposed the reality of precarious employment. Zero and low hour contracts make it impossible for workers to plan child care, elder care or family time. One worker told me that even though she repeatedly told her employer that she cannot work between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., it keeps putting her on the 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. shift. It is trying to push her out of the job and replace her with cheaper staff on new contracts because she is on an older contract which pays higher wages. On the one hand, low hour contracts are used to control and intimidate workers, while on the other, wealthy employers like the Dunnes family are subsidised by the State through unemployment benefit, family income supplement, rent support and lower levels of PRSI and income tax. The Government made no mention of abolishing zero and low hour contracts because it is obviously too radical for the Labour Party to consider. This inaction contrasts dramatically with the recent rich list report which revealed that Ireland's 300 richest people are now worth €84.4 billion, a record increase of €13.65 billion in one year. In 2010, the total for the top 300 was just shy of €50 billion. What sort of country allows the wealth to get richer by imposing austerity on ordinary people?

The long-term unemployed comprise 59% of the overall number of unemployed, the fourth highest in the EU-15. The long-term unemployment rate for males is 65%, which is second only to Greece. The chronic long-term unemployment figures are even worse, with 93,000 people without jobs for more than two years and 54,000 without jobs for more than four years. This problem cannot be solved through the labour market. It requires focused action on job creation. The gateway programme is not delivering and it requires serious reform if it is to prevent job displacement in local authorities and ensure those who go through the programme are employed over the longer term.

This Government's austerity policies emphasised spending cuts over tax increases. It is now proposing a 50:50 split between increasing social spending and cutting taxes. Social Justice Ireland has described the spring statement as unfair, contradictory and disappointing. It pointed out that if a ratio of 2:1 was applied in imposing austerity, one would expect that the same ratio to be applied when the resources become available. I would have expected the Labour Party to argue for an emphasis on spending over cuts. Perhaps, however, it believes cutting taxes is a sure bet in terms of buying the next election.

The remarks by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform on well run public services are meaningless to the thousands of people who have to access those services. Among the many failures of the State was a failure to develop decent public services. We never provided a health care or education system which is free to all and treats everybody equally. We have not developed a State child care system and our mental health services are a disgrace. There is no vision for developing social services. Our health system is falling apart, with more than 4,000 people on waiting lists and 600 people on trolleys in January. I have repeatedly raised the problems with scoliosis services in Crumlin children's hospital and Galway University Hospital. The Minister for Health provided money in the Supplementary Estimate to alleviate some of the problems arising in this regard.

I submitted questions regarding nine patients who have been waiting over 12 months for treatment at Galway University Hospital and was contacted by three different people about this. Month after month I have submitted a question asking what the situation is and the standard reply is:

The waiting list for spinal surgery is one of our priorities at Saolta University Health Care Group. There are a number of arrangements being put in place in order to facilitate the level of complexity involved in relation to spinal surgery for patients with scoliosis. We are currently reviewing a number of resources in the context of bed availability, access to diagnostics, purchase of specialist spinal equipment and access to theatre. When the key elements required are in place, potential surgery dates for this cohort of patients [nine patients waiting over 12 months with serious spinal curvature] can be identified and scheduled accordingly.

I have received this reply month on month since January and nothing has been done to resolve the crisis for those patients waiting for spinal surgery. This is an absolute disgrace and the Government should hang its head in shame. Resources should be put into these areas.

Finally, I wish to make a point regarding the proposed national economic dialogue. As far as I am concerned, this will be a dialogue that will fall on the deaf ears of those on the Government benches. The people have spoken again and again in their hundreds of thousands. They do not want water charges and they do not want Irish water. How much more dialogue does the Government need to get the message? The Government should abolish the water charges and Irish Water before it is annihilated in the next general election.

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