Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Up until now, we have not heard from those parties that they are turning their backs on these proposals. None of them, which would have taken between €3 billion and €4 billion out of the economy, was realistic. There were populist nonsense that could never have been delivered. Sinn Féin took a risk in the general election campaign when we told people we would not cut their taxes because we believed we needed the money to invest in the pressure points in our society. I welcome the Government's U-turn but how it happened is an area of concern. We have the programme for Government and then we have what the Taoiseach said to help him get elected. He told us that he would not abolish the USC, that there would be a new debt-to-GDP target, that he would merge USC with PRSI, and the rainy day fund would not be established. Is economic policy, therefore, being developed on the back of the Fine Gael leadership contest? It seems that is how many of these U-turns have come about.

The rainy day fund is not a good idea at this point in time. We need to get to an Exchequer surplus, which would mean a contingency. Tell the people on hospital trolleys this morning that it is not raining; it is pouring and it has been pouring on their heads for many months and, indeed, years. Tell the families who are raising their families in hotel rooms that it is not raining; of course, it is. Tell people who are trying to get out of rental accommodation and on to the property ladder by purchasing their first house but who cannot do so because there is a lack of supply that it is not raining. God help this country if we face an economic downturn and the Government has not addressed the crises in housing and health. If we have to cut expenditure at some point in the future without having addressed these crises, we will be in no shape to do so. Given the finances available, it must be ensured every resource is invested in those areas to make sure our country is in a robust position to face any challenges that we meet in the future.

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