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

I know he was self-employed himself and that he understood it. I had so many people come to me crying about it and they were proud people. They had paid thousands and thousands of euro in tax when their businesses were going good. When they went wallop, they did not have a penny and they could not get a penny. It was wrong and I am glad that has been addressed in this budget. I am thankful for that. While I have been critical of what happened in the tourism sector and I am disappointed with agriculture and the suckler cow situation, I am very glad of that aspect of the budget because it was very unfair. We have been told that the tourism VAT increase could jeopardise 5,000 jobs. In Kerry, there are 6,800 jobs in the hotel and hospitality sector.

If anything was to go wrong and jobs were lost, I do not know which companies could employ those people. Employment is hard to get in that area, and I feel let down by the lack of new employment coming into the county. If not for Fexco, Leibherr, Munster Joinery, Cronin Readymix and other private sector companies, one could put up a gate at the county boundary and at Rathmore because there is no new employment coming into the Kerry. I am very disappointed about that.

There has been much ado about the Rebuilding Ireland home loan scheme. The problem I have is that one can buy a second-hand house under that scheme but there is no fund for people who want to renovate a house. As a result, people wishing to fix up properties are stuck in limbo.

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