Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

This may be called, by some, the Brexit budget but Brexit did not cause the mental health crisis in this country, the Government did, by not investing in the services properly. Brexit did not have anything to do with the housing or homeless crisis in this country but the Government did. Brexit had nothing to do with the lack of services in the disability sector, but the Government did. Brexit had nothing to do with the lack of investment in our home-care sector, but the Government did. Brexit had nothing to do with the massive overrun on the children's hospital, with the outrageous insurance costs for drivers, charity or recreational event organisers, or small businesses, but the Government did. Brexit had nothing to do with the lack of funding for our regional roads and infrastructure, with how our Defence Forces have been treated in the last year, but the Government did. I could go on for a couple of hours but I am very conscious of the time I have.

I want to try to remind the Government here that this is not Government funding, it is taxpayers' money, and they want value for money.

I will turn my attention to mental health for a moment and raise one or two issues. The Minister of State, Deputy Daly, said in a press conference that the waiting list for child and adult mental health services, CAMHS, is reducing. I can tell the House tonight that it is not. In fact, I could go further. I have a news article here from July 2017 and it states, "over 2,400 children waiting for child and mental health services". Roll on to 7 August 2019, and a reply I got to a parliamentary question gave the exact figure of 2,440 on the CAMHS waiting list, as of June 2019. Misinformation in budgets seems to be a key role of this Government, with the unfortunate support of Fianna Fáil on the other side of the House. The Minister of State also mentioned €39 million in funding for mental health services in the press release today. Can the Minister outline if this is additional, new money or an additional €14 million, patched together with the €25 million that the Government held back last year in the budget that was not spent. On top of that, these measures that this Government has proposed for mental health have the support of Fianna Fáil, which I am extremely disappointed about. These measures that this Government or coalition has produced is a budget that is nothing short of robbery for almost every Irish citizen.

Confusion or misinformation also arises. In 2016, €35 million additional funding was announced for mental health. Sinn Féin managed to clarify, while working with Mental Health Reform, that the actual figure was €15 million in 2017. The €20 million that was left over was re-announced again in 2017, when a €35 million increase was again touted. In 2018, €55 million was announced, which we know was more like €30 million. We have constantly highlighted this in this Chamber. Whatever the Government is trying to do with its budgets, this is certainly not one for people, and misinformation is left, right and centre. I would like to see clarification on that.

I also want to explain the impacts of this budget and what it can do, which I will go through as briefly as I can. There has been constant underinvestment with no future planning except for this rainy day fund. Can Ministers clarify for the people some day the exact truth about what that rainy day fund is for? It will not support people in housing, in health, or in what they expect from their taxes.

I am conscious of time. This budget will leave Irish citizens less well-off. The bottom line is that if we do not invest in our people, in our essential services, and if we sacrifice everybody's health and well-being for a few, we will only see the ever-increasing housing waiting lists, more people on trolleys, more evictions, more businesses closing, farmers losing their livelihoods, people with disabilities not having their needs met, families struggling to provide for their children, morale at an all-time low, and God only knows what will happen then. People will break down because we are human. The pressures of life can kill. Ill-health sets in eventually because we have not invested in our services or in our people and there will only be one option left for many.

This budget was never about the people of Ireland or using taxpayers' money to provide the best services that these people deserve. It was about pleasing the very privileged and the very few so that the Government could ride out this storm on the back of a Brexit excuse. I hope and pray that the people outside this House tonight will see through Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil for what they really are, namely, sheep surrounded by wolves, with nowhere to go.

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