Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate, if it can be called a debate, or to make statements, although it is regrettable that neither of the Cabinet Ministers with responsibility for the finance area could see their way to spending two hours in the Dáil to listen to what Deputies have to say about the issues. It is especially regrettable given there is virtually no co-operation in respect of the budgetary process. We have a short period today for Deputies to make statements and not a whole lot of engagement after that until budget day itself, when there is the big reveal. There is no attempt by the Government to engage constructively, whether with Opposition parties or the many organisations working across society, to identify priorities. That should be done on the basis of looking at the evidence and identifying priorities for what can be achieved within the budgetary space. This is no way to do it. It is an outdated and outmoded way of preparing a budget, rather than looking at what society needs and trying to reach a consensus on what those priorities should be.

I welcome the fact we are looking at what can only be described as a strong and healthy economic situation, given the figures before us. That is important in light of the considerable economic shocks this country has experienced in recent years, from Covid to the savage war in Ukraine, the need to respond to the considerable movement of refugees and, most of all, the impact of that war on people's living standards in this country and the soaring inflation rates, much of that driven by the high cost of energy.

The combination of all of those things undoubtedly raises huge challenges for the Government and for the country generally. For that reason, it is important that we have strong headline figures. The question is what do we do with that strong economic performance. That is the issue because under those headline figures are people's real lives. When we look at what is happening in this country, it is becoming increasingly unequal in the way it is structured. There are major structural problems with regard to low incomes. More than one fifth of workers are on low pay, and fairly miserable pay at that, with very little in terms of job security. A whole host of people then are dependent on welfare income, yet those welfare rates are not benchmarked to any kind of standard whatsoever despite the fact that really good work has been done through the minimum essential standard of living, MESL, study and by the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice regarding what people actually need in real terms to live a life with any kind of dignity. They have done great work in that regard across a whole lot of different household types yet that research is consistently ignored.

We have been in a situation for a number of years now where welfare rates are entirely dependent on the whim of the Minister of the day. There are, therefore, very serious issues of inequality and structural problems. In addition to that, of course, we have the significant Government failures with regard to inadequate public services. That is the real world for an awful lot of people in this country who live below that strong economy. It is fine to boast about the strong economy, which is very important, but how do we use the proceeds of that economy? That is the key question. The Government has clearly ignored the massive impact of those shocks that have taken place over the past couple of years on people's day-to-day lives. Those of us on this side of the House, as well as many other groups outside of the House, have been calling over recent months for urgent action from Government and highlighting the need for an emergency budget. That has been very clear.

The Children's Rights Alliance yesterday set out very clearly the problem we have with growing rates of child poverty and stated clearly that the meagre steps the Government has taken over recent months do not go anywhere close to addressing the rising problem of child poverty. In the context of us being a wealthy country, it is pretty shameful that we have rising rates of child poverty. People are concerned about things like being able to put food on the table. Parents worry about what will happen and how they will manage to feed their children when the schools and breakfast clubs are closed and school meals are not available. People are really struggling to pay their bills. That is why the Social Democrats and so many other people were calling for an emergency budget. It should have happened.

There is a recognition by Government that there is a need for emergency care and support in the September budget. In principle, the Government recognises the need for it. Why is it delaying that when people need the support now, and will undoubtedly need more support on budget day and following on from that?

The point I am making is that in the context of those shocks the country has experienced in the last couple of years, now more than ever, there is a need to prioritise spending in the country. We might look at the figures that have been set out in the summer economic statement. I agree with the point that the 5% limit should be breached; that is the correct approach to take given the exceptional circumstances we are in. We are talking about €6.7 billion, however. When we break that down, €3 billion of that is already committed in terms of services and is also required to cover the whole issue of demographics in respect of an aging population and a growing child population. There is €1 billion earmarked for tax, which I will come back to in a moment. There is €400 million on measures for the last three months of this year, including pay rises. There is €2.3 billion then for new spending, of which we know a major part will be taken up by the public sector pay agreement. As the Minister of State will know, there is already an offer on the table of €1.2 billion, which has been rejected. Even increasing that by a small amount to bring it up to €1.4 billion would leave us then with €900 million for spending measures. Where does that €900 million go given the level of need right across our public services? On what basis is it thought to be a priority that €1 billion be set aside for tax cuts?

Everybody is faced with higher bills at the moment, particularly energy bills, but not everybody experiences those increases in the same way. A large number of people in society can absorb those increases. None of us likes paying higher costs but many of us are in the fortunate position that we can absorb those. I will put to the Minister of State the same thing I asked the Cabinet Ministers who left the Chamber - do they honestly think they need support? Do they think they need help in addressing and coping with inflation in their own lives on the basis of their salaries? We have large numbers of people in the public sector generally on similar kinds of pay scales. Do they need assistance? Do Ministers of State need assistance? Do many other public servants on that level of income need assistance? I would argue absolutely not. Do Teachtaí Dála need assistance with meeting the increased costs of living? Absolutely not. I do not believe there is anybody in this Chamber who needs support to cope with his or her bills yet the Government is talking about tax-cutting measures that are likely to give additional money across the board to all those earning more than approximately €36,800. What on earth is the rationale for that? There cannot be any rationale on any grounds for a measure like that.

The kind of dog whistling we are increasingly now hearing from the Tánaiste is an absolute disgrace in the context of growing child poverty in this country and the huge pressures being experienced by low-income families, of which everybody in this House is aware. Deputies who talk to any of their constituents will know what those pressures are. In that context, how can the Government possibly justify giving an across the board tax cut to people that will make our tax system less progressive than it is? Does Fianna Fáil agree with that kind of approach? Does the Green Party agree with it? It is deeply unfair and it will only have one impact, which is to make this country even more unequal than it is at the moment.

See this speech in context