Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Yes. This is Fine Gael's sixth budget. Prior to this, Fianna Fáil brought in at least 15 budgets. However, this is Fianna Fáil first budget with Fine Gael, although one would not think that having heard the speech of Deputy Martin today. The question for Deputy Martin is why does he support a budget of which he is so critical? This was an opportunity to bring about fairness and equality for all those citizens whose standards of living fell dramatically in the crash of 2008 as a result of the Fianna Fáil leadership's bad policy. We all know that the electorate removed Fianna Fáil from office. Fine Gael and the Labour Party then came into office with the high rhetoric of political reform, fairness and commitments not to do what the Fianna Fáil leadership had done and then they went on to do exactly that. Fine Gael and the Labour Party sliced public services, cut wages and drove hundreds of thousands of our young people to foreign shores in search of work. Sa bhliain seo, 2016, céad bliain ó Éirí Amach na Cásca agus Forógra Phoblacht na hÉireann, bhí deis againn tús a chur le fís nua a thógáil d'Éireann - "Éire níos fearr" but, of course, 1916 was a bit of an embarrassment for the establishment parties. There is no real commitment to the Proclamation.

This budget did not mark the end of an old era and the start of a new era of prudent planning for long-term economic growth, of building public services that are fit for purpose, of tackling the spiralling cost of living and building a fairer more equal Ireland. These issues were not even a consideration for those who drafted this year's budget. Yesterday's announcements will not end the crises in health and housing. They will not deliver tax fairness. They do not end water charges. On the contrary, the budgetary changes made by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, aided and abetted by some Independents, are the same old doublespeak and political manoeuvring of the past. There is no new politics here ar scor ar bith. Níl aon sos ann do theaghlaigh agus do shaoránaigh atá cráite ag an gcostas saoil atá ag ardú gan stad. Níl aon iarracht ann an tseirbhís phoiblí a shábháil ón ngéarchéim atá ag dul ar aghaidh le fada. Sinn Féin is not surprised by this.Chuir Fine Gael agus Fianna Fáil, le lámh cúnta ó Pháirtí an Lucht Oibre, fiacha de €64 bhilliún ar mhuintir na hÉireann agus beidh ár garpháistí ag íoc as seo.

This Government is wedded to an ideology that prefers cuts to capital acquisitions tax for some of the wealthiest citizens in this State rather than investment in the health service. Last month, the hospitals waiting list rose to new record levels. At the end of September last, there were almost 555,000 people on public waiting lists. That is the fifth increase in five months. At the same time, the number of people waiting a year or longer for an appointment or treatment is also rising. Yesterday, there were 438 citizens on hospital trolleys. Once again, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda was among those with the highest number of people on trolleys. Fine Gael is responsible for this but the decisions and actions of the Fianna Fáil leadership is sustaining and empowering Government health policies.

At a time when homelessness is at an historic level and people are being priced out of the rental and first-time buyers market, budget 2017 will simply make matters worse. The first-time buyers scheme will drive up house prices. The increase in capital investment for social housing is a miserly €150 million, which will deliver fewer than 900 new houses. The €17 million given to the housing associations will deliver fewer than 100 additional social houses. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have again failed to produce a viable, properly-funded housing strategy to tackle homelessness and the shortage of social housing for the tens of thousands of citizens on the ever-increasing housing waiting lists.

This is a budget straight out of the Fianna Fáil play book. It provides a little bit for everyone in the audience, with some spending here and tax cuts there and a subsidy for property speculators and developers. I remind the House of Deputy Martin's claim that the last election result represented an overwhelming rejection of the Fine Gael-Labour Party Government, its policies and its hyper-political behaviour. This is the same Teachta Martin who was 14 years in Ministerial office and played a key role in the crash in the first instance. He fought the last election to get rid of Fine Gael and then he put Deputy Enda Kenny back into power, as did the Independent Alliance. This was not the only Fianna Fáil U-turn. In the past few months, Fianna Fáil has done a U-turn on bin charges, the national monument in Moore Street, banded-hours contracts, rent certainty and NAMA. It also did a U-turn on the issue of water charges. The introduction of water charges was first proposed by Fianna Fáil. In its last general election manifesto this party, the soldiers of destiny, pledged to scrap Irish Water and water charges. It then did a U-turn on that position as part of its deal to keep Fine Gael in government and opted for an expert, mar dhea, commission on water charges and one year suspension of those charges. When Sinn Féin provided Fianna Fáil with an opportunity to scrap water charges by way of a motion tabled to this Dáil, it did another U-turn. It voted with its Government partners against the Sinn Féin motion. It is little wonder that the messages coming from the Fianna Fáil Front Bench are so confused. They are obviously dizzy after all of their U-turns.

Ní bheinn ag súil le rud ar bith eile ó pháirtí a théann siar ar a pholasaithe i gcónaí. Ní cúis leis an rud is fearr do na shaoránaigh agus don Stát. This is about maintaining the status quo, the so-called centre. It is always about trying to sustain themselves by containing the righteous anger of increasing numbers of people at the play-acting of the conservative parties. There were other choices available, as there have been over the past decade or so. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil know this. I sometimes think that all of what happens in this House is reduced to theatre. Budget 2017 could have been about starting to build an Ireland for living in and not merely for getting by in. Sinn Féin's alternative budget is economically prudent and is grounded in the republican ideals of equality and fairness. Our proposals seek to reduce the high cost of living facing families and citizens. They provide for the type of investment in public services that is needed to build the homes, schools, health facilities, flood relief works and roads that are so badly needed in every region in the State. I know from my dealings with Louth County Council that it does not have the money to fix potholes, it does not have the money to provide flood protection and it does not have the money to clear drains. Sinn Féin's proposals would have assisted in properly developing an all-Ireland economy and building long-term economic growth. Thabharfadh sé isteach córas cánach a bheadh cothrom agus cóir. Our budget proposals are about realising a new vision for a better society. This budget has no vision whatsoever.

Our proposals are about achieving economic equality and sustainable prosperity. This is particularly important when one considers the economic environment on the island. Economic conditions for some are better than they were a few years ago. There is no doubt that things have improved for some citizens and in some parts of the State. While Sinn Féin welcomes this, such benefits are not being felt by many low and middle income families in rural and urban areas, by citizens living in rural Ireland and those living in the west. For hundreds of thousands of citizens, life is dominated by worries about money, keeping a roof over their heads, getting a roof over their heads, paying hospital bills or meeting back to school costs. The high cost of living, combined with inadequate, underfunded public services, means that many families are working long hours, if they are lucky enough to have work, but they still cannot make ends meet. That is what Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil mean when they talk about recovery. Sinn Féin, on the other hand, wants to build a society and a recovery in which no community or citizen will be left behind.

We also want to see a recovery which is rooted in the reunification of the island. There has been a great deal of talk in recent days and weeks about partition and the Border, but what are the Government and the Establishment parties doing about it? Economic challenges lie ahead as a result of the outcome of the Brexit referendum. We can already see negative consequences for the economy of the island, North and South. Given what the Conservative Party stated last week, it seems set for a hard Brexit. That means that Britain will leave the Single Market and Customs Union. There will be no free movement of workers and barriers to immigrants will be raised and reinforced. The British Government is claiming that the Taoiseach's Government will act as a gatekeeper to protect Britain's borders from non-EU people. That is what is being spun from London. The Tories are already committed to scrapping the Human Rights Act and leaving the European Court of Human Rights. That will be a direct attack on the Good Friday and subsequent Agreements. By insisting on Britain pursuing a hard Brexit, the British Prime Minister has set it on a collision course with the European Union in which Ireland, North and South, will be regarded as collateral damage.

The Government continues to sleepwalk and dither instead of being leaderly and decisive. There is a responsibility on it to defend the "Remain" vote in the North. There are no ifs and buts about this. The establishment of the all-island civic dialogue, on which the Taoiseach also dithered, is only one step in the production of an holistic, all-island strategy to meet the challenge of Brexit. I sat and listened to Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil speculate about what was happening in London. I read the report on the Labour Party leader travellling to London to call for another referendum. That is nonsense. Our focus should be on what we are doing, not what the Brits are going to do. What are we going to do? The national interest has to be protected and promoted. The overriding priority of the civic dialogue must be to advocate on behalf of the "Remain" vote in the North. At the weekend some very successful Border protest marches were held from Derry to north Louth. They are a measure of the concerns of citizens on both sides of the Border.

Agriculture, the food processing industry and small and medium businesses are already facing massive challenges as a result of the crisis in the sterling exchange rate. An integrated economy on the island of Ireland is not just a political aspiration, it is now also an economic imperative. We heard a great deal about Brexit proofing in the run-up to the budget announcement, but there is very little in the actual budget package to match such lofty rhetoric. On the other hand, Sinn Féin provided for real all-island co-operation and integration within public services and investment in infrastructure in its budget alternative. We proposed investment in InterTradeIreland, Foras na Gaeilge, Tourism Ireland and Waterways Ireland. We also proposed additional investment in the A5 and the Narrow Water bridge which Sinn Féin Ministers in the Northern Ireland Executive have agreed to match. We have also pressed for the establishment of a committee under the auspices of the North South Ministerial Council tasked with harmonising and maximising all-island economic co-operation. We have called for the establishment of a Border economic development zone to harmonise trade and maximise returns for Border businesses. These would be meaningful actions of benefit to the economy. As such, I commend them to the Taoiseach. They are not ours. The Government should take them, work with them and make them happen.

Sinn Féin is the only all-island republican party represented in the Dáil. We believe ending partition and reuniting the country and its peoples is in all our interests. Brexit has, sadly, exposed the disastrous consequences of partition for the island and especially the Border region, but we do not need to wait until partition is ended and Ireland united to relieve families of the burden imposed by the cost of living. We do not need to wait until then to provide decent public services and housing. The budget could have ensured no one would be left behind, but it did not. It is not about what is best for the people, the economy or public services, rather it is a budget about Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil. The evolution of these parties now means that if you vote for one, you get the other one for free.

See this speech in context