Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

-----but I do not see it yet. We will delve into those details, but the process needs to change. The process is starting to change. The Committee on Budgetary Oversight has begun - albeit very late and we should do more of it next year - to have this sort of debate more and more in advance. When he was before the committee, the Minister, Deputy Noonan - he was getting a bit irritated when I asked questions about why we are facilitating the tax break for property developers - quite rightly said that it is up to politicians to decide. He is right - it is our responsibility. Politicians can take brave decisions in a way that civil servants cannot. We have a mandate and we can examine things in the round. It is absolutely right that it is a political decision-making process. We live in a democratic republic, thank God - I love it - but matters should be open to challenge before a decision is made. It would lead to better decisions. We should start now for next year's budget and have as much debate as possible before decisions are made rather than seeing budget day as this great "Shazam! Here is the package" scenario. That is not a clever way of budgeting. We need to ensure we get that right in the next year.

There are other things we need to do. The centre needs to move towards tax justice. Deputy Donnelly and others from the Committee on Budgetary Oversight have spoken about the section 110 measures. I was surprised to see the figure for that tax intake estimated at only €50 million. I have no doubt that the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Coveney, would have much to say on that issue. We need to make a strategic change towards broadening our tax base and taking more tax from corporations and those with wealth.

Our capital acquisitions tax and capital gains tax take is very small. Everything seems to be coming from income. The big increase in the coming year will be in income tax. A relatively small group of people is carrying a very large load. That needs to be changed. We need to broaden Ireland's tax system. I listened, with respect, to what people have said about why the water charges should be abolished straightaway but the strategic change we need to make is to broaden our tax system. It would be more stable and fairer and would allow us to look after the environment better. That is one of the changes I would like to see made.

Last but not least, I would like the budget process to change in order that we might really understand these documents. I understand them because I have been involved closely enough and I know what a budget is like, both inside and out. However, we have actually gone backwards in the context of being open and transparent about where the money is going. I spent most of the afternoon trying to discover from the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport what is the breakdown in respect of the approximately €950 million being spent on what is termed "land transport". I contacted his office asking:

Please, Minister, could you tell me how much of that figure is for roads, how much is for public transport, how much is for walking and how much is for cycling? I have an interest in the subject.

I cannot find out what is the position. I rang the press office two or three times and I still do not know. I would love that information to be provided tomorrow.

There is an issue of openness with which we must deal. We should have an online version of the budget that would enable people to drill down to every single sub-heading and immediately analyse - on budget day - the real figures. The information in this budget is hidden. If we are really going to be good at this budgetary process, then it needs to be opened up. I trust our political system and I also trust this country. We are back to the very start and the first words of my contribution. The situation the State found itself in was terribly stupid but we have done well in getting ourselves out of it. Let us use this opportunity to learn from what happened. Part of that is in being transparent. The process also needs to be equality-proofed, climate-proofed and child-proofed. That would make the budget economically fit and sound.

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