Séamus Healy (Tipperary, Workers and Unemployed Action Group) | Oireachtas source

Recent Governments drawn from Fianna Fáil, the Green Party, Fine Gael, the Labour Party and now Fine Gael and the Independent Alliance are often rightly described as neo-liberal. While it is correct, it can sometimes be confused by the general public as meaning they are tolerant of different views. The truth is that neo-liberalism is a deliberate policy of supporting the rich and powerful in society while impoverishing low and middle income families. Neo-liberalism means cruel, capitalist extremism. Recent Governments in which the proposed Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, and his Ministers participated were, and are, proponents of cruel, capitalist extremism, grossly favouring the rich and powerful in society over the poor and struggling. Deputy Varadkar together with the acting Taoiseach, Deputy Kenny, the Minister, Deputy Noonan and former Minister, Deputy Burton, promoted the greatest confiscation of Irish assets by foreign landlords, foreign investors and foreign Governments since Oliver Cromwell laid this country waste.

As a result, in addition to the €6 billion in State revenue we have been paying out to service private banker debts, rents and interest payments from apartments, shopping centres, business premises and homes are streaming out of the country to foreign vulture capitalists. The decision of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Labour Party and the Green Party to sign up to the EU fiscal treaty means the State no longer has economic sovereignty and has less power to deal with a crisis than it had in 2008.

Do not be fooled. While there is a recovery, it is a recovery for the rich and its fruits have gone to the rich over and above the disabled, the homeless and the sick. In its previous two budgets, the Government gave €172 million in tax and universal social charge relief to the top 5% in society who are on average annual incomes of €186,000. The 12 richest citizens have assets of €50 billion, of which they gained €6 billion in the past 12 months. They will not pay a cent in tax on these assets. The richest 10%, whose financial assets alone are worth €36 billion more than they were at the peak of the boom level in 2006, will not pay an additional cent in tax either.

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul's pre-budget submission for 2018, which was launched yesterday, says everything about the country and the policies of this Government and previous Governments. Entitled Bridging the Gap: An Unequal Nation, it confirms that the top 1% have increased their share of income by 20%, while the income share of the bottom 50% has fallen by 15%, some 91,000 households are in need of social housing, 2,700 children are homeless and 132,000 children are living in consistent poverty. In addition, the poorest 10% of the population pay more of their income in tax than the richest 10%.

The record will show that the establishment parties, including Fianna Fáil and the Independent Alliance, will always put the interests of the very rich first. Deputy Varadkar and his Government will continue the policy of cruel capitalist extremism, enriching the super-rich of the general population and poor. I will vote against his appointment as Taoiseach.

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