Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Budgets are strange creatures. This is my 11th or 12th one. Listening to the Minister of the day, as we did yesterday, one hears of "X" billion going here and "Y" billion going there and of a few million for this and a few million for that. One might be forgiven for thinking that everything is positive, that life will get better and that all of the problems and challenges in society will be resolved. With the finance available to all Departments, we should have state-of-the-art services for all and should not have the numbers we do on housing lists, on health services waiting lists and in consistent poverty. We should not have the inequalities we do in our society.

The budget is dominated by Brexit to allow for an event on which we still lack clarity and certainty after three years. I acknowledge that there are challenges in drafting a budget in such a climate. That was brought home particularly today in the audiovisual room with representatives from Border communities earlier. They fear a no-deal or hard-deal Brexit. They said the dairy industry in Northern Ireland may be wiped out and that there were similar implications for fishermen. They will lose the EU funding, which has been so beneficial, and it is doubtful the UK Government will pick up the deficit there. That is not to mention the loss of easy movement across the Border, particularly in relation to education. I understand, therefore, that the budget has Brexit in mind. I am struck, however, by Brexit language such as "pressing and immediate risk to our economy" and "targeted new interventions to help vulnerable but viable firms to respond to the Brexit challenge". Where is the same language and urgency in addressing the challenges we continue have in society in the scandal of homelessness, exorbitant rents, inappropriate and poor rented accommodation, insecurity for tenants and people paying more in rent than they would in mortgage repayments but who are unable to get the deposit to buy? One might say we have interventions, but the facts and statistics show that the so-called "housing interventions" are not working because homelessness is increasing.

We have young people in full-time employment who face insurmountable challenges to becoming homeowners. The help-to-buy scheme was intended to address this. An analysis of the scheme by the Parliamentary Budget Office, which I thank for its insightful work, shows that it has benefited households at the upper end of the income distribution, with a significant number of claims having been made by households which had already saved a 10% deposit. That suggests the scheme did not fulfil its original aim but supported instead a significant number of transactions that would have taken place anyway. The scheme is nevertheless to continue in its current form for two more years. The scheme in its current form does not take the budget office's analysis into account. It continues the ideology that a profit-driven market will deliver for all housing needs.

The housing assistance payment, HAP, has worked for some but there is discrimination and insecurity among HAP households. Those households now face the difficulty of their homes being taken over by so-called "vulture funds" at whose mercy they are then placed. These funds can get higher rents than are available from HAP recipients. Given what is spent on emergency accommodation, hotels and bed and breakfast rooms, there are people who are a great deal of money from the housing crisis. The reality is that people are worse off.

Like Deputy Joan Collins, I attended Social Justice Ireland's budget analysis this morning. I thank that group for its work. Its representatives pointed to a reality that we all know. It is the vulnerable in society who get left behind unless welfare increases keep pace with increases elsewhere in the economy. Their statistics demonstrated the need for a €9 per week increase in the minimum social welfare payments to ensure social welfare rates keep up with wage growth. If social welfare rates are allowed to fall behind earnings over time, increases in poverty are inevitable. Brexit will hit those involved further because they have the least capacity to absorb an increase in the cost of living. What we will see, then, is a further increase in inequality.

I always look to see in particular how people with disability are treated in the budget because they are the most vulnerable. Survey after survey, such as the survey on incomes and living conditions, show that 35% of this group are at risk of poverty. That is double the risk for those without a disability.

One in three lives on an income below the poverty line. There was a interesting pre-budget submission from the Oireachtas disability group. I am a member of that group but it is driven by Senator Dolan and Deputy Ó Caoláin. The group felt disappointed about the treatment of the sector and that the 643,000 members of the disability community have been sidelined in the budget. Senator Dolan said there has been a failure, once again, to specifically address the issues confronting many people with a disability and it is most disappointing, particularly in the wake of the ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. There should have been more benefits in light of the considerable additional challenges that such people face in their lives. Senator Dolan welcomed initiatives in the budget but they are outstripped by the level of need which is increasing every year.

On climate change, I agree with the increase in carbon tax but felt I had to vote against the motion last night for a couple of reasons. First, we do not know where the €500 million collected from carbon tax to date has been spent. Second, the fuel poverty review should have been the driver in determining carbon tax. Where is the increase for the polluters, for example the aviation industry? We know the detrimental effects of emissions and the need to transition to a low-carbon economy. We talk about equality-proofing budgets but we must also climate change-proof them. It is all very well putting more money into electric vehicle infrastructure but there is not much point having that unless people can afford to buy these cars. The ideas about having a just transition fund and commission are good, provided the commission does not descend to the level of a quango that ends up costing money rather than resolving the issues.

The budget also contained the predictable annual increase on the price of cigarettes. The ultimate goal is for the country to be smoke free because we know the cost to the health service of smoke-related illnesses but I wonder whether this is the right way to go. I represent the Dublin Central constituency and know the work that Retailers Against Smuggling are doing. There will be increases in the volume of illegal cigarettes as a result of the budget.

There is an issue of fairness in respect of corporate tax. Firms and companies that are making a profit should contribute to society. Unfortunately, some of them do all they can to avoid this and employ people to find loopholes and ways to circumvent having to do so. A report from the Comptroller and Auditor General found that among the top 100 corporate taxpayers who account for 70% of the corporate tax intake, eight paid a rate of 0%, five paid between 0% and 1%, one paid between 1% and 5% and seven paid between 5% and 10%. A number of large firms are not playing fair by paying their fair share. More transparency is needed in this area. Taxation measures generally have supported business and the better off and have done very little to help the less well off.

The two years early childhood care and education, ECCE, scheme for all children is helpful but the 0.2% of GDP that goes into childcare is the lowest of any EU country. By contrast, the comparable figure in Sweden is 1.9%. A distinction arises because some crèches will not accept the ECCE because they can get more money from parents who can afford it. We are now seeing fee-paying crèches, adding to fee-paying primary and secondary schools.

I acknowledge the positives in the budget, which include the research and development credit for micro and small companies, the increase in the numbers of SNAs, additional teaching posts, especially the educational teaching posts, and the microbrewery tax relief. The additional 1 million home care hours is welcome but detail is needed on exactly how many home care hours are required to keep people at home and not in nursing homes or hospitals.

There were increases for the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to spend on additional support for artists and culture. I attended an interesting presentation by Words Ireland in the AV room. The organisation was seeking modest increases to encourage more translation of Irish works, school libraries and writers. The amount it was seeking was small and I wonder whether it will be granted.

Ms Angela Dorgan, the chairperson of the National Campaign for the Arts, stated, "This budget is sending a message to artists that Ireland does not value them." The campaign stated that of the €5 million of increased funding, €3.75 million has been reallocated so the increase is really €1.25 million.

There is also the question of the increased investment for Údarás na Gaeltachta. What about the modest increases that Conradh na Gaeilge was also looking for?

I was part of the Moore Street Advisory Group and hope there will be action on foot of its report.

There is an increase of some €21 million in Ireland's overseas development aid budget. That is a modest but welcome increase. We are now contributing 0.4% of GDP but still have a long way to go until we reach the desired 0.7%. The highest we have achieved was 0.5% in 2008. We need a plan for how to reach that level in the coming years.

While we are doubling our annual contribution to the green climate fund, we must look to reduce the number of carbon credits that are being bought to offset carbon emissions.

I know from my own work that the need in the health sector is community-based responses. That is especially true for supports relating to addiction, with recovery-oriented programmes, awareness programmes in schools and youth services, and the local community policing forum to assist communities to live safely. I support the call for core funding for the drugs and alcohol task forces. There has been a recent improvement where we now have beds for people who are addicted to tablets.

One area of mental health that has been neglected is that of dual diagnosis.

The Department of Children and Youth Affairs has received an increase but youth services and projects are still suffering the effects of cuts from previous years. They are also now having difficulty paying the increases that they must offer.

The threshold for capital acquisitions tax was increased from €320,000 to €335,000 on transfers between parents and children. I gave the Minister a study suggesting that there is a gross discrimination in this measure against those who have neither married or had children. We talk about importance of equality but this is a serious inequality for single, childless people who want to leave money or property to other family members and friends. I know of a case of an elderly man who married his long-time carer so that the carer could inherit without having to pay considerable taxes.

Overall, it is difficult to see where in the budget that the second strand mentioned by the Minister, namely, to improve our public services and help our most vulnerable citizens, is being met. The budget is cushioning large enterprises while exposing vulnerable groups to bear the brunt of a difficult Brexit, whether hard or soft. It is going to eat into small businesses. Inflation rates are going to increase and the vulnerable will suffer the most. Businesses and corporations obviously are coming before people.

Next Thursday, 17 October, I will be at Fhe famine statues with All Together in Dignity. There will be groups there representing areas such as disability and homelessness. There will be people in recovery and addiction, former prisoners and the unemployed. I wonder how happy those people are going to be with this budget. The motto of All Together in Dignity is the same as Irish Aid: "Leave no one behind". There are people who are being left behind, and even further behind because of what is not being done in the budget.

We must get away from the idea that budgets have to give something to everybody. Everybody does not need something from a budget. There are people in society who are comfortable and well off and such people do not need anything in a budget. There are other people who need an awful lot more than they have been getting.

We must budget for longer periods because we need to see where things are going after the initial year of the budget. Of course, if there is an extension of Brexit, or a soft Brexit, we need to know if readjustments to the budget will be made. It would be good to see what effects this budget will have in six months.

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