Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Since the Government came into office just over two years ago, we have demonstrated our absolute commitment to do whatever is necessary to protect Ireland's society and economy. That was clear during the pandemic, when we put in place unprecedented supports for people and for employers to keep jobs intact. That is what has happened yesterday with the presentations by the Ministers, Deputies Michael McGrath and Donohoe.

The budget needs to be looked at in its entirety. Because of the extraordinary efforts of the Irish people and the careful stewardship of the Government, the economy recovered very strongly and gave us good capacity to navigate the very difficult and expensive winter ahead. It is a pity the Deputy cannot acknowledge those basic facts. Every month, she is in here looking for packages. We resisted the pressure from Sinn Féin during the summer and so forth. As a result - people can see this - we are using resources and the capacity that we have derived from bringing the economy back to help the most vulnerable in our society.

This morning, the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council described budget 2023 as sensible. It said that the Government has managed to direct resources to those who need them most and that more money is being targeted towards those people. In other words, it is a progressive budget and a fair budget. That view is supported by the data and careful analysis using the ESRI's switch model, for example. That analysis found the budget to be "strongly progressive". The winter cost-of-living measures alone will boost the net disposable income of the lowest income households by 5% compared with 0.7% for the highest income households. The core budget 2023 package will boost the net disposable income of the lowest income households by 5.8% compared with 2.3% for the highest income households. I say that to dispel the propaganda that Sinn Féin has been articulating since the budget was published yesterday.

The rent tax credit the Government has introduced is €1,500 for 2022. People have paid their rent but they will be able to claim a €500 tax credit on that for this year. It will be €500 for next year, 2023, and on an ongoing basis. The Sinn Féin alternative budget suggests an amount of €1,500. However, based on 400,000 renters, that proposal would have an estimated cost of €600 million. There is a massive hole in Sinn Féin's proposed provision. There is a €300 million black hole in its housing plan. The figures do not add up.

The Deputy mentioned students, for example. Students will have €1,000 knocked off their fees in this academic year. Those who qualify for Student Universal Support Ireland, SUSI, grants will have a double payment before the end of the year. There has been very strong support for students to address costs that they would otherwise incur which the Deputy has completely ignored.

For many renters, the income tax reductions will be a very significant additional support. The Deputy cannot just take one item out of the budget and ignore the impact of all the rest on individuals, be they renters, homeowners, those on social welfare or pensioners. We have expanded the supports for pensioners and so forth using a range of measures. Pensioners were completely ignored in Sinn Féin's alternative budget. It favours giving pensioners less for some reason. In all its budget proposals, it favours giving pensioners less than others.

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