Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the budget. Before the Government starts to clap itself on the back, let us remind ourselves of all the suffering of the past four and half years and the suffering that continues in broader society. There are 1,500 children in emergency accommodation, numerous patients on trolleys in hospitals, the unemployment rate in some parts of the country is 25%, numerous people are homeless and there are high debt levels across the country, which remains a huge issue. This is the real world. As we approach the 1916 Rising commemorations, we have a long way to go achieve real equality and social justice in our society. That is the reality for many citizens.

Moderate and sensible individuals will view this budget as a blatant attempt to mislead the people and buy the next general election. I thought this type of politics was going to end and that we would have greater accountability and transparency and honest politics.

Sadly, this has not happened. The better-off gain again and many of them will gain ten times more when we note the tax proposals made. It is a shortcut to popularity and, again, an attempt at auction politics. The proceeds of the home tax which were promised to improve local services now go to prop up Irish Water. Let us be straight with the people and get on with real politics and redistribute the wealth of the country to those in most need.

We still have to deal with the crisis of child poverty. I heard the Minister speak earlier about inequality. The reality is that 138,000 children are living in poverty. The number of people living in consistent poverty has increased from 6.8% to 11.7%. Some 37,000 children will be living in poverty by 2020, while 1,054 are homeless. When we talk about equality, therefore, let us seek to achieve real equality and real children's rights.

Moving to the issue of disabilities, we saw massive cuts to respite care services during July and August. The Gheel services in Fairview, services in St. Michael's House and Prosper Fingal are operating under huge pressure, yet the Government looks away. I have strongly supported policies for the disabled. We could have improved income and activation supports for people with disabilities. We could have improved the resourcing of disability services and other support services available in the community that enable people with disabilities to live independently with dignity. We could have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities without further delay. We could have improved funding for residential, day care and respite care services. We could have improved access to proper services for all children with a disability. I welcome, at long last, the restoration of the full respite care grant. The cut to the grant was a grave injustice to the families concerned.

On housing, the number of individuals living in emergency accommodation is up 44%; the number of children living in emergency accommodation is up 99%; the number of families living in emergency accommodation is up 106%, while the number sleeping rough is already higher than December 2014 levels.

There is the popular issue of putting extra tax on cigarettes. This might be popular and trendy, but it will hammer the small retailers again. The Government will also lose out on major tax incentives. We could lose €300 million in tax owing to an increase in cigarette smuggling. Gangland leaders are now making more money from the sale of illegal cigarettes than from drugs.

We have had the Minister with a brass neck bragging about increasing the minimum wage by 50 cent an hour and he also talked about fairness. In this city tonight the average teenage babysitter will be paid €10 an hour. We are talking about a minimum wage of €9.15 an hour and those opposite should not clap themselves on the back. No proper support is being provided for the self-employed who lose their jobs or get sick. Also, the rent supplement issue has not been dealt with.

I pose the following question: will budget 2016 redistribute income towards the poorest 20% of the population and compensate those who have lost the most in the past seven years? The answer to that question is "No".

See this speech in context