Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Their long running show is more like a documentary. On the one hand, Fianna Fáil is knocking Fine Gael for the budget, yet its Deputies will probably sit on their hands and support it very shortly. This is not a good budget for Ireland. It is certainly not a good budget for anybody under 26. It is certainly not a good budget for pensioners. If one is part of the squeezed middle, it certainly is not a very good budget. It was mentioned a while ago that it was not appropriate to give the under-26s the extra freaky fiver, as we will call it. If one puts oneself into the position of a 22 or 23 year old who has a part-time job, is probably living at home, has borrowed money from the credit union and is paying back a loan, a fiver makes an awful lot of a difference. It has not been put into perspective. I had a phone call the other night at 9.20 p.m. from an 83 year old gentleman who was so disgusted with the fiver that I actually thought it was my fault. He said, "I don't want it, Pat, give it to the kids." There is a sense of anger. I do not think Deputies in the Chamber realise what damage has been done to ordinary working people and to real working families. There has to be a reality check here. Again today in the Chamber I listened to the leader of Fianna Fáil criticise the Fine Gael leader on investment in health and mental health. Yet, a number of weeks ago when we proposed to do something about it, Fianna Fáil Deputies sat on their hands. There is no political will in this Chamber. I also heard the Fianna Fáil leader, Deputy Micheál Martin, state a number of days ago when we were discussing the budget that Fianna Fáil did not write the budget. I can certainly say that Fianna Fáil coloured it in because it has the hallmark of both parties. We know what will happen in a couple of days' time.

It beggars belief that there could not have been a better way on this budget. It should have been about investing in our country by investing in public services, housing, roads, broadband and schools. Establishing the knock-on effect of this is not rocket science. The Government has to invest in real jobs, give people an opportunity to earn real money and improve the services we have. They are all paying tax. It is not rocket science. The knock-on effect of that would be that the Government would address the problems in housing and our education system. It would certainly take the stress off the health service by investing in people. It goes back to one thing. Each and every one of these people would actually have proper, paid jobs so they could pay taxes. It is about making a fairer and more affordable system for our citizens. The Government had an opportunity to do it but unfortunately we stick to the status quohere which is very unfortunate.

Big bang budgets were also mentioned. Perhaps it is not a big bang budget for Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil but it was certainly a big bang budget for under-26s, pensioners and what the Government classes as the squeezed middle. That is the reality of this budget. We have to empathise with people outside this Chamber. Even as a newly elected Deputy, I understand the notion of being in a bubble, but we actually leave the bubble now and again and engage with real people. We are here as elected representatives to work on behalf of the people we represent. I have a son at home who will be a teenager very shortly. He is excited about trying to go out and get a job and save up for his first car. This budget does not give much hope to the young people of today. It has deflated the people we should probably respect the most in this country, that is our ageing population, which is on the rise. They are the people who built this country. We should be planning ahead for this but we are not. We are going back to the same old status quo, specifically targeting certain areas.

Deputy Doherty mentioned the figure of €20 million a while back.

That could have been used in a more productive way.

We can discuss figures and numbers, but we have listened to the debate over the last few days and it just seems to be repetitive. I spoke to a gentleman last Friday at my clinic in Midleton. He asked me what it is like up here. I said, "It is 100 mph, it is difficult but it can be rewarding." He asked me to do him a favour. He said, "When you go into the Chamber, will you speak plain English? Do not be intoxicated by the exuberance of somebody's vocabulary." I laughed. The reason I laughed is the people do not need fancy terms. They do not need all of this colouring in and shading of numbers. They want the brass-tacks truth, and the brass-tacks truth of this budget is that it is not good for the young people of this country and is certainly not good for this country's sick people, pensioners or the squeezed middle. When there is another election, I hope people will remember what has happened in this Chamber. We can debate this budget at length, but at times one feels one is wasting time because the outcome will not be good for the people who put their faith in us.

I could talk for longer, but it is very difficult. We in this Chamber will be judged on merit. When the next election is held I hope and pray that, please God, the young people, pensioners and the squeezed middle of this country will remember this.

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