Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to get the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the budget that was announced yesterday. Last night, I lay awake thinking of it. This is a sugar-coated budget. It looks sweet and nice on the outside, but when one scratches the surface, it has not provided adequately for the people of Ireland, especially the hard-working people of rural Ireland. This budget merely hands out a few crumbs, with the illusion that these crumbs are more valuable to the people than they are. There are now two Irelands. I have been of that mindset for a hell of a long time but the budget yesterday proved it. One Ireland is in Dublin. The other Ireland, the forgotten one, is rural Ireland. In the programme for Government, to convince rural TDs to support the Government and in some way be seen to accept that Fine Gael ripped rural Ireland apart in the previous years, that party promised rural-proofing. It was to be the centrepiece of all Government policies. However, I will explain how Fine Gael continued on the same route Governments have been on for more than seven years. Its members turned their backs on rural Ireland and kicked rural-proofing, a promise in the programme for Government, out the window.

We all know that this budget is being dubbed a pre-election budget and the illusions created in it are an attempt by the Government to win over the people. However, I know the people of Ireland and rural Ireland will not be so easily swayed. The bottom line for everyone is how much money will be left in his or her pocket at the end of the week. Let us take the USC. In 2011, at the height of the economic crisis, we were assured that the USC would only be a temporary measure. Fast forward seven years and we are still paying it. In 2015, Deputy Michael Noonan, then Minister for Finance, stated in his budget contribution, "As resources become available we will progressively abolish the USC". Three years later, the USC is still alive and well.

The Government is sugar-coating the effect the USC is having on people. Yesterday, the Government announced that the USC will fall by 0.25%. This is a disgrace. It is a classic example of the crumbs I mentioned earlier that the Government is giving the people and expecting them to be grateful. The bottom line is the Government needs to keep its promises and the USC charge should be abolished with no more pussy footing around.

Previously, the Government withdrew the death benefit of which a spouse or partner could avail when his or her loved one passed away and which was to help with the initial financial burden. It is a shame that the death benefit was stopped and it should be reintroduced. The Government had this opportunity yesterday but it failed to look after the very vulnerable people in our society.

Yesterday was a bad day for self-employed workers, who got a miserable increase of €200 in their hard-earned income tax credit. Bear in mind this increase of €200 is for the whole year so it only works out as a tax credit of €3.84 per week. This, in reality, will not make any significant difference to the income of a self-employed person. Not only this, but yesterday the Government increased the VAT rate for the tourism and hospitality sectors. Once again, this was simply a kick in the teeth to rural Ireland and nothing else. It does not affect a big city such as Dublin. It was a bombshell to rural Ireland. The Minister, Deputy Shane Ross, did not stand by the people but I did not expect him to do so because he has been against the people of rural Ireland since he came into government. Nothing has changed. He has done his level best to close all the public houses and restaurants in the past 12 months and this is a real kick in the teeth. It will lead to job losses. The rate is going from 9% to 13.5%. This will be a huge hit to the self-employed in the tourism and hospitality sectors. It will affect hotels, guest houses, bed and breakfasts, restaurants, cafes, hairdressers and various entertainment services. The Irish Tourism Industry Confederation has called this move a damaging blow to the industry ahead of Brexit. In my constituency, it will be a very challenging time for businesses such as Poachers in Bandon, an award winning restaurant, and hotels in rural peninsulas such as Schull and Castletownbere that struggle to keep their doors open in winter and in some cases have to close because of their overheads, including rates. They are trying to create employment in rural Ireland and this will lead to losses. Hotels in Skibbereen, Clonakilty, Dunmanway, Rosscarbery, the Timoleague caravan park and Chleire Haven glamping on Clare Island all employee people. I agree with the Government that they are getting back on their feet but the Government should help people to stay on their feet and not put people out of business when they get on their feet. The increase in the VAT rate is a blow too far and is a direct attack on rural Ireland. In the past month I have seen seven businesses throughout west Cork close their doors. I guarantee this will lead to further closures and job losses.

I welcome the €300 increase in the home carer tax credit but let us not forget the much need home care packages. In December of last year, my colleagues in the Rural Independent Group and I tabled a motion on home care packages. In this motion, we called for the home care packages scheme to be established into law to allow everyone an automatic right to the services within this scheme and to ensure those caring for loved ones got their carer's allowance within two months and did not have to wait six months or more. I see no provision in the budget to fast-track this allowance for people doing their very best to save the State tens of thousands of euro. They are not respected. The home help service leaves a lot to be desired. We needed a better budget and clarity on how the money is being spent. It is certainly not being spent properly in Cork South-West constituency, where people are begging to receive home care hours and staff are willing to give those hours. The people are being refused by the HSE, which states it does not have enough new employees. We need clarity on what is going on.

The Minister, Deputy Ross, promised he would introduce a granny grant. The grannies got no grant. They got nothing at all only a few extra quid at the end of the week in their pension, which will be gobbled up by the increase in the price of coal. The coal merchants will go out of business because they cannot cope with the price of coal. Nobody has another solution. Poor granny has been forgotten about. The Minister turned his back. He did get a grant for an extension for one granny in Ireland. I would like to know where that granny is because she must be a mighty popular woman. He is codding the people. Last night, on national television they were laughing at him. He is not in the real world at all. This is nothing short of farcical.

Speaking of the national airwaves, I noticed there was no mention of agriculture on "Prime Time". Every other thing was mentioned, as was every city and town and losses and gains, but no mention was made of agriculture. I will touch on this later.

The Government announced a 6.7% increase in funding to the Department of Education and Skills, which will allow for 1,300 additional posts in schools in 2019. In the past number of months, I have been approached by schools in my constituency highlighting to me the inadequate allocation of release days to teaching principals and the lack of regard for their mental and physical health with an increasingly unrealistic and unmanageable workload. Will the increase in funding to education resolve this matter? School boards are out on the streets on a weekly basis collecting to pay their schools' oil heating bills. I am part of a board that is out fundraising. Did the Government return the capitation grants to the levels they were at before the cuts? Has it addressed pay equalisation for our younger teachers? What has it done about class sizes? We need clarity on these issues. The devil could be in the detail of this budget, as it has been in many budgets over the years.

Yesterday, the Government announced an increase of €1.05 billion in health funding. I express my complete and utter disappointment in the Government for not providing adequately for people diagnosed with cancer. According to the Irish Cancer Society, every three minutes someone in Ireland gets a cancer diagnosis. Incidence of cancer is growing and by 2020, one in two of us will get a cancer diagnosis. Where has the Government made provision for cancer patients? My constituency offices are inundated with people who have been diagnosed with cancer and then have to apply for a medical card on discretionary grounds. This is a disgrace. Anyone who has been diagnosed with cancer should be automatically entitled to a medical card. The Government has completely put its head in the sand with regard to providing for cancer patients.

Last week, I was at a function where a young person in the middle of a boxing match in the Maritime Hotel in Bantry fell over, twisted and put out his knee. We waited one hour and five minutes for an ambulance to arrive. There was no ambulance in Bantry General Hospital to collect him. He was only one and a half to two minutes away from the hospital. He lay on the ground for an hour and five minutes. The health system in the country is a shambles. The boxing club in Bantry and the Red Cross did everything they could to look after that young man but the Government has turned its back on the people of rural Ireland. Imagine if it had been a serious emergency. That young person, or any elderly person, would have been dead, about which there is no question. The Government has no answer for the people. There is no proper ambulance service. The ambulance had to come from Kenmare, although there was supposed to be an ambulance in Bantry General Hospital. What is going on? Where is the money going? It is clear the service is under-resourced.

What is happening to the money being allocated to our health sector? Why do we have such long waiting lists across the board? Why are tens of thousands of people waiting for cataract operations? There are 50,000 people waiting for eye surgery. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae and I have two buses this month, two buses next month, and we are pleading for two buses in December, to take people from Kerry and west Cork to Belfast. We are taking them out of our country for a simple 15 minute procedure that could be done in Bantry, Mallow or Tralee. We are codding ourselves that we are resolving issues. We are plunging ourselves into crisis after crisis. I keep asking where the money is being spent. Our hip and knee operation waiting lists are appalling.

I sincerely welcome the fact there was no increase in the cost of petrol or diesel. I had been approached by many of my constituents prior to the budget who explained the detrimental effect it would have had on the business of silage contractors, business people with lorries and ordinary people doing everyday travelling. They are paying through the nose. I am glad the Government listened to me and to the people of Ireland when the damage an increase would have done was explained. This is a positive day for transportation businesses and for anyone running a can or van. I acknowledge this.

I welcome the increase in the Garda budget of €60 million, allowing for recruitment of 800 extra gardaí, but we need to know exactly the breakdown of how this extra €60 million will be spent. Will this money mainly be deployed in Dublin? Will the Garda stations that have been closed be reopened?

Will extra funding be allocated for more members of the Garda in rural Ireland? Will it happen in west Cork and will the extra funding be used to ensure Ballinspittle Garda station will be reopened? It has been promised, like the five others, by the Government but it kidded the people as it has not been reopened. Every month I ask and am told they are doing a bit extra. Mighty God, if that much was being put in every month, it would be reopened in six months rather than us having spent a year and a half talking about it.

There will be €286 million for roads and other transport infrastructure and an extra €40 million to repair regional and local roads and footpaths. Do we have a proper roads budget and will the Government outline where the money will be spent? In my own constituency in Lyre, near Clonakilty, a bridge has been closed to the public for approximately five or six years. Where has the money gone if we cannot open a bridge linking one community to another? Will this budget allow for a new bridge in Lyre to be built? Will there be money for the Bandon and Inishannon bypasses or will it all be pumped into Dublin? It needs a little bit but we need a little to survive too. Will there be new passing bays on the N71 or R581 or has the money been wasted with the likes of the beautiful plans for Castletownbere's street? The businesses there have told me they did not want that type of plan but tens of thousands of euro have been spent on it.We need to know where that money is being spent in the budget.

The Government announced an extra €57 million for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to support the sector, especially disadvantaged farmers. Over the past number of weeks we have pressed the Government on a suckler grant for farmers of €200 per cow. We were working under an assumption, as the Minister was saying he could not really give the details of what he was discussing. There was nothing there for them. The suckler cow farmer is on his knees. I presume the Minister of State is from a rural constituency and he must know it. There will be €40 for the calf but God help the calf, which has to be weighed along with the cow, as approximately €35 will be spent trying to get €40. The Government is finishing rural Ireland and the suckler farmer while it stands idle. The farmer needed that €200 per cow more than the Government could imagine. Farmers got up at 4 a.m. to protest outside of these buildings but the Government did nothing for the farmer except step aside. Those farmers will be wiped out, which is the plan anyway for the smaller farmer. There was no mention of fishermen in yesterday's budget but they are facing the biggest crisis of their lives because of Brexit. There is no mention of security for their income. We pleaded for a compensation package for those fishermen because of the bad weather.

As I already mentioned, the universal social charge should be abolished. We now have the hard-working man and woman being squeezed at every angle. These earners are paying far too much in tax and these workers are working full-time to try to put their children through college. It is an awful shame that this Government did not revise the SUSI grant and look at the thresholds.

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