Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sinn Féin fought back on this but the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste aided a Tory leader in trying to enforce austerity on the people in Northern Ireland. How dare they come here and accuse Sinn Féin of administering austerity policies in Northern Ireland? We can talk about deception.

There are different groups of people who have been listening to or reading about the spring statement in the past couple of days. I have described this as a surreal couple of days. There are different audiences, including politicians. Politicians on the Government side will say it is great, as the statement indicates all the great plans we have and that we are going well. Politicians on the Opposition side will point out what is missing from the spring statement and what is unrealistic. Constructive Opposition Members, such as us, will point out how things could be done better. We do so not just with the spring statement but week after week in this Chamber. I am not sure that anybody listens to us but it is being done.

There are also wealthy and powerful groups, whose wealth increased during the period of austerity. It is a case of having drinks all around for those guys. They will do well and they will not suffer, as they did not suffer during the austerity period. Let nobody say to me that it was not by design, and the only question was whether the design was deliberate or flawed. No matter what it was, the wealthy and powerful - described by Deputy Mary Lou McDonald as the entitled class - are still partying. They were partying and will continue to do so if what is contained in the spring statement is implemented.

There are people on low and middle incomes suffering new charges all the time, including the universal social charge, pension levies, tax on the family home, water and refuse charges, as well as mortgages that are strangling people because of unrealistic mortgage rates. There are also education fees, medical expenses etc. People have been working hard all their lives but they are struggling to make ends meet. They do not understand why the wealthy are getting more wealthy and they are not. God help the people on low incomes or who depend on State income. These include lone parents, students, the young unemployed and people on hospital waiting lists, including children with disabilities who are awaiting psychological assessment or speech and language therapy assessment. The people may boast that more people are taking out voluntary health insurance. Medical card holders who have been deemed unable to provide for their own medical expenses will take out such insurance because they do not trust the public health care system. It is a very good system in an emergency but if a person needs a hip replacement, he or she must wait for it. People are paying over the odds for health insurance because they cannot trust the public health system.

Indicators may demonstrate national economic improvement while a large percentage of the population live in conditions close to abject poverty. How much of the so-called economic benefits are only felt by the wealthy, privileged and powerful? If I take €2,000 from somebody's pocket and hold on to it for four years before giving back €200 in a nice little gift card, would I expect the person to be grateful? I think not.

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