Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Fine Gael seems to be quietly satisfied with the way things are - people in big houses seeking to pay less taxes, people in small flats, if they can afford them at all, struggling to pay rising rents, and nearly 10,000 people who are homeless including, shamefully, 3,700 children.

Fine Gael has demonstrated that it is expert in at least one art of government, and that is the art of image. Fine Gael presents itself as the new centre party. That is the focus and look that they are after but the Fine Gael vision of the centre is one that preserves the existing divides.

Fine Gael's communication advisers have been trying to find the right spin for this lacklustre budget. They tried calling it a budget for children and families. It is not. A budget for children and families would have included measures to benefit all of the children of the country with universal services, not meagre token measures. Fine Gael tried calling it a budget for housing and healthcare. It is not. If resourcing healthcare really was a priority, after eight years of Fine Gael health Ministers we would now have a handle on both inputs and outcomes in the health services, and we do not.

Budget 2019 was the test of the Government's claim to be the new centre of Irish politics. The image consultants who devised that particular strategy will have to go back to the drawing board because when we look at who benefits from budget 2019, it is not the people at the centre of Irish society. The median age of our people is 37 years. Half of our people are older than that; half of our people are younger. If we consider a 37 year old at the middle of Irish society, what is his or her experience? What are his or her concerns? Those aged 37 are concerned about climate change. Younger generations understand that. They get it. This Government got it wrong by not raising carbon taxes as promised and by failing to prioritise climate action, it is passing the cost on to the next generation. By failing to heed the urgent reports on the need for drastic action, the Government has failed on the greatest single issue facing humanity.

Since Fianna Fáil's spokesperson made a point of attacking Fine Gael on climate change, let Fianna Fáil share the blame too. Fianna Fáil has made it clear that its confidence and supply deal with Fine Gael has resulted in a series of tax cuts and spending measures that Fianna Fáil demanded but they obviously did not include climate action. Fianna Fáil decided to use its influence on different priorities.

Our 37 year old was 26 when the economy collapsed. Some in that category had several years of work under their belts by then. Others had just finished studying and were trying to start off in their professional lives or in their work. Very few of them were homeowners back in 2008 and relatively few of them have become homeowners since due to the amazing increase in rents that has absorbed so much of their incomes in the past number of years, while so many of our citizens are hell-bent on recouping their losses from the economic collapse regardless of how that effects the chances of the next generation. Policies and practices that have driven house prices up again have locked a generation out of the security of home ownership. For those aged 37, the rainy day fund makes no sense. A rainy day fund may sound prudent - it is designed to achieve that objective - but taking €1.5 billion from the strategic fund, an actual buffer for the State, and changing its name on paper is not creating any new money. Where will it now be invested? Taking half a billion euro out of tax revenue to fund this is the new policy to give us the semblance of prudence. Young families want to be able to afford a house now. They are holding off starting a family. They are waiting for a family home and they do not see the likelihood of gaining access to an affordable home when they need it now, not at some future date. Those who are renting only see their rent going up faster than their incomes. Even those on good money feel insecure about their tenancies and they feel insecure about starting a family. The depth of insecurity created by our dysfunctional housing system is causing deep and lasting damage to the cohesion of society itself. That must be clear to everybody in this House. Those aged 37 are well educated. They will not fall for the weasel words from the Minister yesterday that more houses will be built next year than in any year in the last decade. We have come through a disastrous decade of economic collapse. That is an idle boast.

The miserable €300 million over three years for a so-called affordable housing scheme is highly suspect. We are told 6,000 households will benefit, that is, 2,000 a year. That is a tiny number, given the thousands of families that are looking to buy an affordable house right now. How will these lucky 2,000 a year be chosen? Will this involve giving up public land for private profit? This is not a sustainable or adequate solution to the housing crisis but, I think, the Minister knows that. The scale is totally wrong. Tens of thousands of affordable homes and what we used call council houses are needed. The Minister knows that too, and he knows only the State can provide them. State building of homes requires very significant levels of investment - the same approach to the housing crisis that we brought to bear on the economic crisis.

Labour would not have created a new fund, not a rainy day fund. We would invest €16 billion, as we set out in clear terms, to build 80,000 homes in five years. We would dedicate €5 billion from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, €3 billion from tax revenue over the next five years and create an investment vehicle - a national housing development bank - that would permit pension funds, credit unions - which are anxious to do it and which are in touch with us - and the European Investment Bank to invest in housing. Labour's investment would be economically sustainable. We would rent homes to all comers, providing local government with a revenue stream that would recover the whole cost and permit the building of further affordable and social homes for future generations as a revolving fund.

The investment of €17 billion in health is necessary. We do not argue with that but the Government has failed to provide accountability. I know the Taoiseach and, I am sure, the Minister for Finance are concerned about accountability. What is the State getting for the €17 billion?

Fianna Fáil increased the privatisation of the health system by pushing the vehicle it believes is the magic solution, the treatment purchase scheme. That is simply a way of privatising the public list. I remember when we faced pressures when I was Minister for Health, many moons ago. What we did then was allocate a pool of money to public hospitals. We asked them to bid for it by outlining how many additional procedures they could provide. We cleared waiting lists like that. When Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats came into power, they came in with a notion of co-located hospitals and privatised medicine. That is how the National Treatment Purchase Fund came into being. We need to create the capacity in the public system to deal with public lists. Running up public lists to the point where they are simply privatised is the wrong way to go.

I welcome some measures in the budget. I welcome the increase of €5 per week for social protection. It is only a 2.5% increase when the cost of living is taken into account. What could be done to lower living costs through public spending would have an impact on people's living costs. For example, €40 million would have provided schoolbooks free of charge for primary and secondary level children.

The 3.5% increase for the Garda is welcome. It should be focused on community policing. I believe it might be. That is certainly the intention of the Garda Commissioner in his plan.

We have gone through an extensive justice reform programme. I do not believe there will be push-back from the Government when I say we need to ensure that the reforms set out, which are truly ground-breaking and absolutely urgent, are sufficiently resourced so we will not repeat the mistakes of the past.

There is extra funding for the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. It sounds good in theory but it seems to involve targeted expenditure rather than the development of a much-needed universal system of child care and preschool education that would benefit all families. I listened with care to the Taoiseach's speech. He talked about education being the liberator, the true equaliser. It starts in preschool education. As a former primary teacher, I can tell the House that when children enter the system at primary level, they sometimes never catch up with those who were socialised or who had numeracy and literacy skills before entering the school door. Therefore, early childhood education is a real opportunity to create equality. It requires very significant expenditure ultimately but we can make a start.

A higher minimum wage is necessary given the rise in living costs. It is shocking that so many people working in the child care and early childhood education sector are working on the minimum wage or a little above it. These are people with graduate-level qualifications. That speaks volumes about how much store we put in early childhood education in this country.

The minimum wage is €9.80. It is still €2.10 short of a living wage that would permit a basic, even frugal, standard of living.

The VAT reduction pertaining to electronic media, to the 9% newspaper rate, is probably a fair reflection of the development of modern technology and the changes that are happening anyway across the news industry. It will be an important support to newspapers and to journalism.

The increase in overseas aid is very welcome but we need to have a discussion - maybe the Government is having it already - on how we can spend the money effectively. I am concerned that, increasingly, because of fear over expenditure, Irish money is being pooled with UN money or other international funding packages. The unique expenditure of Ireland is not as clear-cut as it was. In the past, we had major initiatives, including on hunger. We need to go back to specific Irish initiatives, which means allowing for capacity, in selected areas of needed support, for bespoke Irish programs that we would fund ourselves.

An extra €55 million has been committed for mental health. That is really important. I tried every year, in the worst times, under the significant pressure of our former colleague Kathleen Lynch, to ensure that an additional €35 million would be allocated every year for mental health provision. It is an area we need to acknowledge. This is World Mental Health Day. We should recognise that many people in Ireland experience anxiety and difficulty with their living circumstances. They may be in precarious work or precarious accommodation. We need to ensure there are supports for people under stress. We do not have them right now. Particularly in my region, we do not have them. Those who are being employed there are actually leaving because of the stress caused by inadequate facilities. This is an area regarding which we must stop paying lip service. We must prioritise in a real way.

While the best of the Brexit strategy is to push for no Brexit, which is obviously the best outcome for us all, preparation for Brexit should mean strengthening our economy and its resilience through infrastructural investment. I do not believe that creating a rainy day fund is the solution. I would much prefer investment in strategic infrastructure, such as the port of Rosslare in my constituency. It is telling that the Taoiseach mentioned all the major ports yesterday without mentioning Rosslare Europort. When I asked the Taoiseach about this after the development plan was published, his reply was that the authorities did not ask for money. That is not good enough. If Irish Rail is not prepared to invest, it should be noted that it is national infrastructure that is required. It will be required even more in the context of Brexit.

The Government's approach to taxation is wrong, as I have said. Tax is not a burden; it is a way decent societies collectively pay for hospitals, schools, child care and needed enterprise supports to benefit all of us. The decision to spend nearly €300 million on tax cuts is a mistake, as I have argued already. The USC and income tax changes do not really benefit those who are notionally squeezed, including renters, carers and those facing impossibly expensive child care costs. Rather than giving back workers some small change, the resources in question would really have made a significant difference in the services I have talked about. The expenditure of €284 million on USC and income tax cuts would have provided free schoolbooks at primary and secondary levels. This would cost €40 million. Placing a defibrillator in 3,960 schools would cost €6 million. Continuing the area-based childhood programme in deprived areas would cost €10.5 million. Adding capacity to the overstretched school transport scheme would cost €2 million. Reducing the student contribution at third level by €1,000 would cost €67 million. Adding €100 to the carer's support grant would cost €11.8 million. Ensuring all public servants are paid at least a living wage would cost €39.3 million. Restoring the trade union tax relief would cost €26 million. Providing free GP care for all children under 18 could have been achieved. The continued roll-out of the free GP care system, which we carried out in the worst of times and which has been halted since, would cost €80 million. We could have done all those things but the Government chose not to. Instead, those on the minimum wage will gain 15 cent per week, as my colleague told the House yesterday. Those on a living wage will gain 39 cent per week, and those on €70,500 will gain €5.47 per week. If they were asked, they would prefer investment in services in the way I have set out.

As with all budgets, it is not what is said that is the big part of the story. This budget was the first in a decade that offered the Government an opportunity to lead in a new direction after an awful decade, but the Government offered no vision and little hope of changed policies to do something dramatic and remarkable on housing, climate change or public services. "Stability" is the Government's new code word for "conservative", yet the housing and health systems are unstable and the cost of living is unsustainable for most families. As a society, we can do things better. We can afford to build affordable houses, develop a truly fair health system and provide high quality services. However, that takes leadership. People want a more equal, socially just and fair society. We can achieve that if we work collectively, but the Government and its supporters in the House rejected that path yesterday.

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