Denise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This budget has been a joint venture. It has been a play acted out by Fine Gael with scripting by Fianna Fáil. This has been a show intended to create the image of action, justice and of being a budget for all people in society. Behind the acting, the people know exactly what they face. The manner in which increases have been extended to social protection payments lends itself to headlines and soundbites but rings hollow in everyday life. We all see the difficulties people face. While any rise in social welfare rates is welcome, this across the board, flat-rate rise does not address the major inequalities in our society. Ministers stated that everyone in society is better off under this budget and that it is fair and socially just but some are more prosperous than others. We define the meaning of fair and just clearly and differently from the Government parties. Ireland has one of the youngest populations in Europe. Would these young people see this budget as fair and just? For young people in receipt of social welfare this increase is pitiful to say the least. They seem to have been singled out for punishment and insult by the budget. For the young people in my constituency of Dublin Bay North, the increase provided for in the budget will get their bus fare into town once a week. They have to wait some months for this payment.

Alongside these issues, one in four children in a one-parent family lives in poverty. This group turns for help to bodies like the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. This group disputes how it has benefited from this budget as it continues to suffer from previous cuts. How just and fair will the future be for these families? The Government parties knew the figures going into the budget. They knew the poverty rates. It is essential we ask what direction the child poverty rate will go under the current budget? We know the financial pressures people face with motor insurance hikes, property tax and the possibility of water charges next year. These increases in living expenses have been presided over by Fine Gael. How far will a €5 rise in the pension go to counter these expenses? What is needed is to analyse the requirements of our people rather than taking a broad sweep to satisfy political ends.

With the closing credits of this performance, Fianna Fáil needs to be acknowledged. As this is being acted out, Fianna Fáil can fall back behind its abstention cloak, which is serving it well. There has been a lack of vision in the proposals in this budget and unfortunately the most vulnerable suffer from it.

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