Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Budget 2018 is taking place at a time when we are making good progress in a range of areas under our control. At the same time, as we look beyond our shores we see uncertainties, risks and a rapidly changing global economy. Thankfully, we have moved beyond crisis management and are now in a position where we can plan for the future. However, regardless of the choices we make, our journey will be shaped to some degree by forces beyond our control. Brexit, potential changes in US tax and trade policy and a broader international shift in attitudes to trade and globalisation will impact on our economic future to an unknown extent. This budget ensures that we remain in control of our destiny. It insulates us from uncertainty from abroad and enables us to lay the foundation stone for building a better, stronger and more secure Ireland in the years ahead.

The best economists agree that a budget is not a collection of numbers but an expression of a government's values and aspirations. Budget 2018 is an expression of our values and aspirations for the country, a powerful statement about how the economy is doing and what that means for our society. Our values are self evident from yesterday's budget. We believe in balancing the books and have succeeded in doing so for the first time since the crash. We believe the next generation should be free from the burden of excessive debt and we want them to be optimistic about building their lives here. We believe in continuing with debt reduction, all the time proceeding with prudence and acting responsibly so we do not repeat the mistakes of the past. We believe in modest, sustainable tax reductions for middle income individuals and families so we can make life easier for those who work hard and make it possible to fund our public services and welfare system through the work they do and the taxes they pay.

At a time of very low inflation, budget 2018 means that a family with a gross income of €60,000 per year is likely to be approximately €1,000 better off this time next year in terms of take home pay, both because of the tax changes announced in the budget and average projected pay increases of 2% next year. That might appear to be a modest enough gain, but it will make a difference for the families concerned. It enables a family to plan for the future with renewed optimism and, more importantly, it is real and sustainable. It is also only the start of what I believe will be a prolonged period of real income growth and rising living standards. It is easy for people to dismiss the gains in this budget in terms of the tax reduction being only €5 or €10 per month or the price of a cup of coffee. However, the people who make that argument would not even give people the cup of coffee. They oppose USC cuts and income tax cuts altogether.

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