Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

In the worst of times, we managed quietly to defend and increase the budget for overseas development aid. The tragedy is that the Government has made such a choice while every household must continue to watch terrible events unfold in Syria. When Ruadhán Mac Cormaic reports that the city of Aleppo is dying while the world watches, every Irish citizen feels a reaction. When we see the bodies of children and adults lying in rubble, it strikes deeply in the Irish psyche. The statistics are even more harrowing than the pictures. There are now 8 million displaced people inside Syria and 4.5 million are under siege or cannot be reached.

In addition, there are 4.5 million refugees beyond Syrian borders and, worst of all, 1.5 million people have been injured and 250,000 people killed. This is the gravest humanitarian crisis since the Second World War. Ireland is doing a little bit but, of course, we should be doing more. We should be leading the van on this but, again, sadly, that was not the choice the Government made yesterday.

We in the Labour Party believe this budget contains some welcome developments but we also believe it is littered with poor choices. We do not believe it reflects the ambitions, the hopes or the passions of the Irish people, and we will oppose it for that reason.

Before I conclude, I want to return to an issue mentioned at the beginning of my contribution and which I raised on Leaders' Questions this morning. It is truly astonishing that the Minister for Social Protection does not know on the day after the budget announcement when increases to social welfare payments will take effect. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, did not know the answer to that question when asked on "The Sean O'Rourke Show" this morning. As I said, the Taoiseach could not answer a straightforward question on that matter when I put it to him on Leaders' Questions today.

We need to be clear on this. The date that a measure takes effect is not just an administrative change, as the Government and Fianna Fáil would have us believe. Every additional week, one way or another, involves a cost. If the Government cannot confirm the start date, then it cannot confirm the cost, and if it cannot confirm the cost, then it cannot stand over the budget documents published yesterday. I know this well, having had to do it in forensic detail for the last five years. This would be funny if it was not so serious. Quite frankly, we should not be asked to continue debating a document when it is crystal clear the work on it is not yet finished.

See this speech in context