Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The proof is in the pudding. We have seen the types of austerity the Government unleashed on citizens the length and breadth of this State without any concern for the impact on certain sectors of society, be they based on gender, income, age, marital or disability status.

The type of spreadsheets the Minister of State is talking about in the budget book or the analysis from the Department of Social Welfare, which is getting better, do not and cannot replace the concept of equality budgeting. That is an independent process that would examine the impact of the budget on certain areas and how it affects certain groups of individuals by status.

This is a clear issue. The Minister of State knows that the amendment is framed in a way that allows us to get past the out-of-date rules of this House. Those rules frustrate me more and more as the years go on. If the Government is serious about budgetary and institutional reform, it should stop the charade whereby the Opposition cannot even table amendments to a Finance Bill. They think we are going to come up with such mad ideas that we are not even allowed to table them for discussion on the floor of the Dáil.

This amendment is really about ensuring that equality budgeting which has already been, or is in the process of being, adopted by 60 countries is enshrined and embraced by this Parliament, the Government and our political representatives generally. This Government would therefore be tied to the idea that we have nothing to fear from equality. In addition, we would be willing to put our plans for the economy, including expenditure and tax-raising measures, before an independent analysis to look at how the chips actually fall because we have nothing to hide.

However, the reality is that the Government is against equality because it will expose the ideological position of the Fine Gael Party. This is a budget for the wealthiest in society. It leaves low and middle-income earners high and dry.

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