Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Some of the Ministers and some of the Fianna Fáil people are suggesting that we did not factor in Brexit when we were doing our budget proposals but we actually did. I want to put that on the record. We put down how we would cost and fund a €2 billion Brexit stabilisation fund, how we would support SMEs, businesses and communities which would be particularly affected by Brexit. There has been a lot of spin in the last day from the Government, as one might expect, but it cannot spin its way out of what it did yesterday, which was very regressive and will make the financial situation for many workers and families across the State much more difficult. It is a bad budget for ordinary workers and a good one for the wealthy. What is new for Fine Gael and its partners in Fianna Fáil? That is what they always come up with.

We voted against carbon tax yesterday for a number of reasons. Everybody realises that we have a climate emergency and that things need to be doneabout that. We do not believe, however, that taxing people who have no other alternatives will change the way they do their business. Rural people have no access to public transport. Older people do not have the ability to retrofit their own homes. Some people simply do not have the money to change to electric cars. The Minister almost laughably suggested that he will double the number of electric charging points across the State. One can go to the north side of Limerick city where there are two charging points, one of which has not worked for the past 18 months, but the Government could not fix it because it was too expensive. I do not understand how the Minister will explain to ordinary people how they are going to change the way they drive to work.

The minimum wage was not mentioned in the budget. The Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Deputy Doherty, was here this evening discussing the minimum wage in the Dáil debate. I do not see how the Government is going to save the country from Brexit and from a disaster by not implementing the basic 30 cent increase which was recommended by the Low Pay Commission. This is not enough to help many workers and families out of poverty. There are 137,000 workers on the minimum wage. They have been abandoned by the Government with no commitment whatsoever. If Brexit does not happen, they might get something, but the Government has not even confirmed that. The Tories in London in the last number of weeks have even announced that they want to introduce a living wage. This Government is less progressive than Margaret Thatcher's party, which is saying an awful lot about it. Sinn Féin is the party of the living wage. We will introduce it but this Government cannot even keep up with the minimum wage in its past commitments to it.

Fianna Fáil heralded that last year's budget was a housing budget. One has only to look at the housing situation which has worsened. Year-on-year, day-on-day, we have 10,000 people in emergency accommodation.In my own city of Limerick, the average rents are up to €1,225 for a three-bedroom house. That is a 10% increase since last year. In the last number of years this has increased by over 100%. The budget will make no difference to renters.

With the carbon tax and rents that are continuing to increase, the new measures will have no impact whatsoever. Ordinary people will have less money in their pockets. We propose a rent freeze, which is critical to stopping rents rising any further. We also propose one month's rent back for every renter as a tax break. Again, there was nothing done on housing that will make any significant difference to people who do get up early in the morning, who do work, who own their own homes but cannot afford to send their kids to the doctor when they are sick.

University Hospital Limerick is in an absolute crisis. We have 70 people on trolleys today. Some 70 people might sound like a great number but it is the average number of people on trolleys for every day in October so far. In September there were 1,405 people on trolleys which is an absolute national disgrace. There was nothing specific in the budget to address the issue of overcrowding in University Hospital Limerick. Sinn Féin had positive proposals which would have dealt with that through the recruitment of 500 nurses and midwives. We also proposed opening 500 new beds and have costed that proposal.

This Government has delivered what is a shameful and hurtful budget with nothing for workers, especially for families, who have been on to me all day asking what is the point in them going to work. They do not feel that they are getting anything for it. The Government is keeping the gravy train going for the wealthy and the landlords, but it is not helping anybody else.

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