Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday, budget 2023 was published after what seemed like the longest lead-in ever. With so many leaks, over so many weeks, we were led to believe that this would be a substantial package of measures designed to get struggling communities through this bleak winter and beyond. Unfortunately, that was not what we saw yesterday. What we saw was money spread so thinly that it will go unnoticed by many, and many of those who will benefit will be struggling already by the time the winter is out. There is little there to address the structural problems that make people so vulnerable to market failure and a real and biting cost-of-living crisis. We should have seen a very substantial budget. Instead, what we got was a treadmill budget, with the Government spending money in order to stand still. The Government has not provided people with any real pathway forward to get us through the bleak winter ahead and beyond.

When we strip away the €4.1 billion worth in short-term measures between now and New Year's Eve, the budget package for next year will, in truth, do little or nothing to transform this country or the lives of those who are struggling. I refer, for example, to the young people trapped in spiralling rent prices who feel forced to emigrate because they see no future here because they cannot aspire to ever owning their own homes. Once January arrives, it now looks like a mini-budget may well be necessary to address the real supports that are necessary for households through this winter and beyond.

Yesterday, the Minister for Finance revealed that his Department has revised its inflation forecast to 8.5% for 2022 and more than 7% for next year. With that in mind, and bearing in mind what I have said, does the Taoiseach agree with my colleague, Deputy Nash, who said yesterday that it looks like we will need a mini-budget in January? Does he agree that such a drastic measure may well be necessary to address the real inequalities that were entrenched in some of the measures in yesterday's budget. I refer, for example, to the tax measures. The reality is that next year, somebody earning €100,000 will be €831 better off. By contrast, somebody who earns between €25,000 and €35,000 will only take home an extra €191. The renter's tax credit will at best pay for just one week's rent for an average person renting in my constituency in Dublin. The €600 energy will not even cover one third of the increasing bills people are going to face this winter. What we saw were thinly spread, short-term payouts yesterday. What we need are structural changes in housing, care, climate, and in work. We saw no ambition or vision from the Government in yesterday's budget. It is not a budget that works for all. It is time for the Government to get off the treadmill and to move us forward with proper, substantial targeted measures that will chart a pathway forward towards an Ireland that works for all of us. Does the Taoiseach agree that the budget has patently failed to do that?

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