Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Labour Party and Fine Gael in this Government provided for 2,260 new teachers, including 600 extra resource teachers. There is a big difference in what Fianna Fáil proposed and what it did not propose. In answering Deputy Fleming's claim that the €3 increase was miserable, I would love if it was much more but we have gone through three difficult budgets. I wish Deputy Fleming was in the House to defend himself but he is not. I am sure he is out looking to see how miserable everyone is and how miserable Fianna Fáil made the country because Fianna Fáil was in government for 14 wasted years, during which time it destroyed the country.

There were many other submissions and I listened carefully to the speeches. Deputy Colm Keaveney is my former party colleague. He was very good at wrapping the red flag around himself and he has been very good at waving it on the opposition benches. He should take himself and Fianna Fáil off writing speeches and possibly get Red Flag to do it in future. They might make a great deal more sense than some of the rubbish we heard from Deputy Sean Fleming earlier. However, that is enough about Fianna Fáil. What we must do, and very carefully, is examine how we will rebuild this country from the crash and shambles we inherited. I do not use those words with any glee. Every Member of the House and the parents of the children in the Visitors Gallery have suffered as a result of what we were left with.

There have been allegations that the budget favours the better off. Deputy Costello, Deputy Ryan and others explained how the bottom groups benefit far more than the top quintiles. I do not intend to repeat what was said. However, one contribution rankled. The leader of RENUA Ireland arrived into the Chamber to speak on the welfare budget. She accused the Government of Bertie-nomics. We are all familiar with Bertie-nomics; it probably got us to the current position. However, looking at the budget submission from RENUA Ireland I worry that this is what we are facing from a new progressive party when it talks about a flat tax on minimum wage earners of 23%. There is a budget gap in its figures of €3.6 billion as a result of introducing a 23% flat tax rate. Its members say that extra VAT returns, extra this and extra that might fill the gap of between €3.6 billion and €4.6 billion. When the Deputy talks about Bertie-nomics she should take a quick look in the mirror. If that is her budget proposal in respect of welfare, it will crash and burn the country as quickly as Fianna Fáil crashed and burned it five years ago.

The intention of my Department is to ensure every person gets the opportunity to get back into employment. Consider our new Intreo services. For somebody who has lost their job or who is seeking to get back into work, the first step they take into the new Intreo office is their first step back into work. That is where we must keep our focus, and that is why we must be careful with the social welfare budget and the Finance Bill. We must ensure that everything we do is targeted to help as many people as possible back into work. As the Tánaiste says, the surest way out of poverty is getting into work.

We have created 110,000 additional jobs in the last three years. Deputy Sean Fleming did not mention that. He talked about schemes that massage the figures and gave out about people going into the schemes because it broke their long-term employment. Tús and CE have helped people to keep in contact with the employment market. That is the reason people have been able to get into employment. They filled the gap in their CV, got the training and experience they needed and got into employment. This Government is a Government of work. We wish to ensure that work pays and that we can help people back into work. I am not sure if Deputies O'Dea and Sean Fleming are caught up in the last decade and in keeping people in welfare dependency. I want to see people back in work on good pay, with fair pay for fair work.

I also want to see people availing of citizens information centres, so they do not have to go to their local Deputy to find out about their entitlements. We are here to legislate, not to offer clientelism. It is the Fianna Fáil type of clientelism that we experienced over a long period that got us into this position.

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