Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom i dtús báire freagra a thabhairt ar an méid a bhí le rá ag an Aire Stáit faoi "stability" i gcomhthéacs an cáin mhaoine áitiúil. Dúirt sé go bhfuil an cáin seo mar shaghas tacaíochta do "stability". It is clear that the Minister of State has not been listening to the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council's latest pronouncements in which it refers to the Government's actions as a threat to stability. Obviously, stability has many seams. I refer to fiscal stability and social stability, for example. We know the Government has created enormous social instability over the past five years in whole swathes of our society. In health care, almost 100,000 people will spend time on trolleys this year. In housing, hundreds of thousands of people are in mortgage distress, are waiting for houses or are paying exorbitant rents. People are suffering. Some 3,000 children are being told to stay on painkillers for six months while they wait for dental work. Young children who are growing are waiting for far longer than they should to gain access to Our Lady's Children's Hospital in Crumlin for back operations. These are examples of the social instability that has been caused by the Government over the past while.

Fiscal stability is very important as well. The Minister of State spoke about broadening the tax base. In fact, the Government has taken €750 million out of the tax base this year. It is shifting the tax base towards corporation tax. Although corporation tax is welcome, I emphasise that it is not being paid at the rate at which it should be paid. It is extremely unstable. The Government is shifting progressively away from personal taxation, which is a stable form of taxation, and towards corporation tax, which is extremely unstable at the moment.

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