Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The improvements we hope to get in the budget are very important because many people have been left behind for years. The big imponderable is Brexit and how adversely it will affect our country and the people who work and try to survive here, especially those in agriculture. I heard some commentator this morning say that many English people believe the UK should not leave if it does not get a deal. Maybe they are finally waking up and it has taken them a long time to wake up. I cannot see that they are going to get a great deal because they are leaving the European Union.

Infrastructure projects to progress our country have been left behind. The county I represent has been left behind long enough in regard to broadband and the roads into Kerry, such as the Macroom bypass and the Adare bypass, as well as all the roads going to rural homes within the county. Without putting any bones in it, I have to say the people in rural Kerry are entitled to a good road to their door as well as the people in Dublin 4.

We have been hearing different vibes in regard to tax and what improvement people can expect in their incomes due to tax reductions. The Taoiseach said he is in favour of helping people in the middle income bracket, but then we hear he does not have the fiscal space to do it. He should make up his mind. It is wrong to give people false hope, but that appears to be what has happened. Middle income earners are put to the pin of their collar to keep going. The bracket at which they start paying 52% tax needs to be raised from €33,000 to over €40,000, given it has not been raised in years. What people buy is costing more and they are finding it harder to live and to pay for the services they get, and they sometimes pay for services they do not get at all.

The fair deal is a lousy deal for farmers and I hope the Minister will address this in the budget. In fairness, many Deputies saw fit to support the Rural Independent Group on this. That anomaly will have to be addressed in the budget.

With regard to home help, there is an anomaly in that the same person can get into a nursing home and have that covered by the fair deal but will not get any extra home help. On the issue of Kerry Co-op shares, the Revenue Commissioners are failing to meet their obligations in regard to what they promised. The HSE does not appear to be accountable. There are too many chiefs and not enough Indians in that we do not have enough front-line staff.

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