Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I spoke yesterday about some of the positives in this budget, because there are positives in it. They include closing down section 10 tax avoidance by vulture funds, a focus on special needs education and a welcome first step in moving towards an affordable, high-quality child care system. However, the complete lack of ambition in this budget means that for the limited good it has done, for most people nothing has changed and for some people things have become worse.

There has been much talk about the extra €5 a week. When inflation is factored in, then in terms of what can actually be bought with the money next year the €5 falls to about €2 or €2.50. That is about €100 a year. There is funding for new teachers, but when the increased number of students is factored in, class sizes do not fall. That is in spite of us having the fifth-largest class sizes in the OECD. There is no new funding for schools, which means in real terms that capitation grants to our schools are falling next year. There is funding for higher education, but when rising student numbers and inflation are factored in, yet again, funding per student to higher education in this country will be going down next year.

In the literature provided to us yesterday, the Government gave an example of somebody on the minimum wage. The example shows that between the change to USC and the 10 cent change to the minimum wage, this person will be better off in cash terms by 1.2% next year. What the Government example does not do is the next bit of the calculation, which says that inflation is going to be 1.4% next year. According to the Government's own figures, therefore, people on the minimum wage are going to be poorer next year than they are this year. In a wealthy economy with lots of job creation and a growing GDP, that is not acceptable. It is not acceptable that this is the result of the budget.

The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council has reported that the entire projected increase in current expenditure for the next five years is needed just to stand still when one factors in the Lansdowne Road agreement, demographic factprs and inflation. The entire projected increase for the next five years of current expenditure is needed to do nothing. We need to have a serious think about that. It says that we are not going to get any improvements.

The negative equity generation has lost out yet again. This is my sixth budget in Dáil Éireann and it is the sixth budget on which I have spoken where nothing was done for the negative equity generation. This year, it went further because the budget is harming that generation. It is saying to first-time buyers that there is €20,000 for them, though it is no use to them as first-time buyers because house prices will go up by €20,000. However, the negative equity generation that is way behind first-time buyers in terms of the challenge are now €20,000 worse off because of this budget. One measure that would help that I have proposed for several years is to make accidental landlords tax exempt on their rental income. They are being double taxed to the tune of thousands and thousands a year. It means they cannot get out of negative equity and they cannot save to buy a new home. It is a very simple measure to bring in and it should be.

Our scientists and our researchers have lost out yet again. Funding for basic scientific research was cut during the recession, and perhaps that had to happen. However, if we do not start to reinvest now, we are going to lose the ability to compete internationally in terms of world-class research and innovation. If we do not start to reinvest we are going to start running out of ideas to commercialise, yet there is not a cent in the budget for Science Foundation Ireland or the Irish Research Council.

Our local businesses have lost out quite badly. The Taoiseach spoke of a Brexit-proofed budget. However, the only thing I can find in the budget in that sense is a €3 million allocation. The Ministers have addressed both the challenges and the opportunities posed by Brexit. A hard Brexit is looming. Yesterday, sterling reached its lowest level against the euro since the Brexit vote. An IBEC representative said the following about the budget: "It doesn't look much different from what it would have been had Brexit not happened. They clearly have not done enough to help those companies that are most exposed". A sum of €2 in every €5 traded by our SMEs is traded with the UK. That is at risk, which means our companies are at risk, which in turn means jobs are at risk and the Exchequer revenues are at risk. What are we doing pouring yet another €500 million into one of the most expensive health care systems on earth and just €3 million into helping prepare our businesses for the very real and serious threat that is Brexit? To put it into context, the €3 million allocated for the big external shock that is coming totals one fifth of 1% of the total budget space that was allocated yesterday.

The arts have lost out yet again. We are so proud in this country of the achievements and creativity of our arts community, from literature, to cinema, to music, to dance and on and on. Yet, economically, we treat that community with contempt. Ireland's funding to the arts is one sixth of the European average. I had to check that when I heard it because I did not think it could possibly be true. We should be as ashamed of that as we are proud of our arts community. Yet, in this budget we could not even protect the funding that was allocated this year and keep that €40 million fully allocated to the community. It is time that the creativity of Ireland's artists is matched with cold hard cash from Ireland's Government.

It is easy for me to call for investment in the arts, help for the negative equity generation, investment in education and more money for Brexit. The reasonable question in response is how can my proposals be funded? Here is the answer. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, has said he is going to shut down tax avoidance for vulture funds. There is €50 million allocated in extra revenue next year for doing that. If we do it right, the revenue we will get will not be €50 million, rather it will be in excess of €500 million. The answer to the question of how do I propose to pay for all of these worthy things is to get the tax avoidance for vulture funds shut down and to use that money wisely.

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