Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Renua Ireland) | Oireachtas source

While the Minister for Health is in the Chamber, I wish to make a request of him. I have made it in the past and it would cost little or no money, namely, a requirement for medical professionals who must deliver bad news to do so in an appropriate manner and in an appropriate location. I interact repeatedly with people who have received bad news or whose family has received bad news in a corridor in a less than compassionate manner. In Britain, there is a standard mechanism to do this and while people may be obliged to attend a course or whatever, this is a matter I would like the Minister to take up.

I almost feel as though a campaign slogan or poster slogan is coming over me, that is, "Make work pay; continue the recovery". Between them, the Taoiseach's two speeches mentioned this perhaps ten or 15 times, as did each Minister who spoke. It is good to see the focus group is alive and well and the Government is adhering to the strict instructions it gets to utter the slogan, "Make work pay; continue the recovery" at every hand's turn. As for budgets, I must be honest and state I am not someone who really buys into the concept of budget day. Yesterday, for example, Members came into the Chamber to hear the Budget Statement but for several days or weeks beforehand, most of the information was in the media. It obviously was given out deliberately by handlers to soften up and manipulate the public. Members of one political party had extensive documentary details of the budget to hand in the Chamber before the speeches actually took place. Indeed, they had them as they made their way into the Chamber.

On the expenditure side, it is important to realise that what was under discussion yesterday was €770 million, yet total Government expenditure is approximately €55 billion. The entire focus is brought to bear on the aforementioned €770 million and the big picture is missed. I acknowledge there were many things one likes to see, such as the increase in child benefit, the land transfer proposals for farmers, the 2,260 new teachers, the return of the respite grants, the old age pension increase and the preschool measures. In many respects, these are all welcome in their own right but this misses the bigger picture.

If Members really wish to make work pay, they must consider the tax system. Renua Ireland has put forward a proposal for a new flat tax system and I urge people to familiarise themselves with it because it will improve access to employment and will make work pay. It will make employees work more hours and will make employers create more employment because ultimately, before the Government gives money for anything, it must take it away from someone. I do not believe it is fair that 50% of additional income is being taken away from people and irrespective of what is their income, it must be fair. As one hears constantly, Ireland has a progressive tax system but it also is a penal tax system. Renua Ireland proposes a progressive and fair tax system. While we want to look after vulnerable people, we also want to address why people are in the welfare trap. I acknowledge the closing of the anomaly at the lower end of the pay scale which has existed for the last couple of years and which prevented people from taking on employment. However, the only way in which the welfare trap and low pay really can be addressed is through the mechanism of changing fundamentally the tax system. I would like people to familiarise themselves with the flat tax system. Renua has brought forward a proposal for a flat tax rate of 23% across the board with a graduated basic income. Members should check the figures; it does work. It would leave the Exchequer approximately €3.5 billion short of the intake from income tax at present but based on factors such as tax shelters, increased economic activity and the reduction in the black economy, Renua is more than confident, based on tried and tested models and experience elsewhere, that it would work.

In a nutshell, much was omitted from the budget.

There is nothing in it about mortgage arrears or Irish Water. In terms of the capital expenditure on health, I would like funding to be made available in the next few weeks for St. Colman's Hospital which is in my constituency. While the aspirations around housing are fine in theory I am not sure they will work. I do not believe the Government and NAMA have thought out their proposal for the construction of thousands of additional housing over the next few years. I do not know if any concrete plan in this regard has been put in place.

In a nutshell, in putting all the emphasis on delivery of an election budget the Government has missed the bigger picture.

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