Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

For this budget, the public wanted to see urgency from the Government to address the crisis in housing, the rental crisis, the crisis in the health service and the cost of living. Unfortunately, as has been said, never has so much been spent and so little achieved.

This is a great budget for landlords, speculators and developers. A major issue in the housing sector is vacant land remaining unused and being sat on by speculators and developers. That land is needed to deliver affordable and cost rental homes. That is one of the big blocking points. Sinn Féin’s budget would have increased the vacant site levy to 15% to incentivise developers to build homes on vacant lands. Instead, the Government scrapped the existing 7% levy and replaced it with a 3% levy on zoned land, which is essentially a tax break for speculators. What is worse is that it includes up to a three-year lead-in time before it takes full effect.

Where is the urgency in that on housing? There are loopholes in it. We will watch that development to see how it pans out.

The budget offers nothing for renters. There is no rent freeze, no rent controls and no tax relief. Instead, an additional €168 million, on top of the fortune that has already been spent, will be provided in rent subsidies to landlords through the housing assistance payment, HAP, coupled with pre-letting expenses and tax breaks. It was a good day for landlords. If any sector needed relief, it is those who are renting - average and low-income workers who are in private rented accommodation with no rent subsidies and no HAP. Sinn Féin would introduce a three-year rent freeze and an 8% tax rebate for renters to put a month's rent back in their pockets. Renters are also going to be punished disproportionately by the carbon tax, as they are living in accommodation that is mostly poorly insulated, with inefficient and expensive heating systems. Members can see that for themselves if they visit private rented properties.

Regarding health, there is a lack of focus in the budget. Not only does Sinn Féin's alternative budget invest more than the Government does, but we target our funding at the front line. We want to tackle waiting lists, provide additional ICU capacity, increase general hospital beds and expand primary care and GP capacity. We cannot make progress without expanding GP capacity. I welcome the progress that has been made on the carer's allowance and other supports, as these people work incredibly hard and deserve recognition. Such changes are long overdue.

Yesterday, low-income workers were left behind. Some 80% of workers will not benefit at all from the Government's proposed tax reliefs and higher earners will benefit disproportionately from the reliefs introduced. Similarly, struggling workers and families in rural Ireland, such as those in Laois and Offaly, are hit with a further increase in the carbon tax, increased home energy costs and increased motor costs. People need a car to get to work.

Likewise, farmers received nothing. I listened carefully to the Chair of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine. There was not anything there for farmers. What is in store is increased carbon tax. Those who own a home will most likely not be able to afford to retrofit it and the national retrofit grant scheme is moving at a snail's pace. Anyone who works out the numbers will see that for himself or herself. The working poor earning below €35,000 are now worse off. The alternatives are just not there for those who are hardest hit by the carbon tax and the cost of living increases. Speakers referred to the increases in social welfare. The problem is that they are gone before they are paid because of the carbon tax and other measures in the budget. We set out in our budget proposals how we would deliver change and begin to build a fairer system for workers and families. We are not naive, we know it cannot be done in one budget, but it needs to be done incrementally over a period. Workers, in particular the working poor, need relief, but they did not get it this week in the budget.

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