Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is appreciated that budget 2021 is the largest spending package announced to date, but it has been noted that it did not go far enough. As far as I can see, it did not go anywhere in some areas. Some of the measures in the budget are welcome, such as the reduction in the VAT rate for the hospitality and tourism sector to 9%. That reduction was needed and Sinn Féin had called for it to be introduced. Additional community beds in the health sector, for example, are also welcome. That measure was also proposed by Sinn Féin. It is interesting that Government Deputies are willing to attack Sinn Féin’s fully costed budget and at the same time take measures we proposed and sell them as their own.

To focus on specific sectors, people with disabilities have long been forgotten and left behind by the State. Covid-19 has brought that to the fore as an issue on which the Government had to work. The allocation in the budget of a mere €100 million to the sector falls well short of what was needed. We in Sinn Féin proposed a package of €300 million for the sector, which would have brought about a full reopening of services. It would have put in place additional personal assistant hours to allow our most vulnerable to live independently in the manner and place they wish to live. That is what they deserve. Is that not the most important point? The Government’s increase to the carer's support grant should be welcomed. However, Sinn Féin proposed raising the grant to €2,000. Let us be straight. These proposals did not come from a change of heart by the Government but, rather, from hard work, lobbying and application of pressure by the people, workers and families in the sector. I commend them on their extensive work prior to the budget. They had to take to the streets and more besides, which is a difficult task when one is in despair.

On Shannon Airport, the funding allocation of €10 million for it and Cork Airport is welcome. It is estimated that approximately €5 million will be granted to Shannon Airport. I have been calling for funding for the airport for some time and have welcomed and will continue to welcome any investment made in it. However, I continue to have an issue with Government supports for the airport because there is a risk that good money is being thrown at a problem without a full awareness of what the problem is. Only yesterday, the Minister made reference to the fact that Ireland will be signing up to the EU traffic light protocol on foreign travel, another proposal mooted by Sinn Féin back in June. However, this is the second announcement of capital funding for Shannon Airport since the onset of the pandemic but we still do not know where the future of the airport lies. There is an overhanging threat that Aer Lingus and Ryanair may pull their bases out of Shannon. The review announced by the Minister back in July is still ongoing. There are unanswered questions around the future of the airport and planned staff redundancies.

As I and many other Deputies have stated, the budget does not go far enough. Sinn Féin proposes €2.4 billion in additional spending and a progressive taxation system. We would have introduced a 3% solidarity tax on personal incomes over €140,000. Surely that is not too much to ask for. We proposed a mere 1% tax on wealth over €1 million.

That is not too much to ask for. We also proposed a cut in the pay of Deputies, Senators and Ministers. That is not too much to ask for.

This budget was an opportunity to do things differently. Instead, even being the largest of its kind, we have left the most vulnerable in our society well and truly behind. A message has been heard loud and clear. We are all in this together, but not on budget day.

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