Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Instead, the budget continues the cycle of failure that is the hallmark of this Government. It entirely misses the big picture. It has no answers to the big questions in housing, health and in the cost of living. It shows that the Government is not prepared to do what must be done to protect households really in the here and now and that it has no plan for a future in which all of our people have good and secure lives.

When we look beyond the trumpeting of billions and the splash headlines, we see there is no change of direction from the Government. What we get, draped in the clothes of a so-called giveaway budget, is another rehash of the policies that have failed for the past 20 years. The Government spends so much to achieve so very little. When the dust settles, people will see a budget with no real vision, no real ambition and no real appetite to deliver change. Instead of backing workers, families and young people by tackling the big structural issues that affect their lives, this Government has done what it always does. It has splashed the cash and talked up a big game but nothing is really going to change after this budget.

Here are the hard facts. We had a housing crisis before this budget. We have a housing crisis after it. We had a two-tier health service and outrageous waiting lists before this budget. We have a two-tier health service and outrageous waiting lists after it. Households were hit with scandalous hikes in energy bills before this budget. Households will be hit with hikes in energy bills after this budget. Those on low and middle incomes struggled to make their pay packets stretch before this budget, and they will struggle after this budget too. The most serious criticism of this budget is that it provides no visible route out of these crises and makes no long-term difference to people’s lives.

Níor thug an cháinaisnéis seo an chinnteacht a bhí ag teastáil ag daoine. Beidh daoine ar mheánioncam agus ísealioncam a bhí buartha faoi chostais fuinnimh inné fós buartha inniu. Tá sé ina ábhar mór imní go bhfeicfidh muid arduithe cíosa ar fud an bhaill sna míonna amach romhainn. Tá sé dochreidte ag an am a bhfuil an oiread sin ráite faoi na daoine ar mheánioncam atá faoi bhrú, nach bhfaighidh beagnach 2 milliún oibrí aon chent ó phríomh-mholadh cánach an Rialtais inniu. Níl aon athrú treo ón gcáinaisnéis a chaitheann an oiread sin airgid chun beagán a bhaint amach.

Budget day is a big day in the political calendar. The Government presents its budget. The Opposition responds. Broadcasters broadcast their analysis. Pages of newspapers are filled with reaction, and rightly so. Amid all the political theatre, we must remember that the choices made by the Government in the budget shape the lives of ordinary people. I want to speak about one of those lives, who is a young man I met on Monday. He is 27 years old. He is emigrating. He and his girlfriend bought their plane tickets to Canada four weeks ago. He does not want to go, but feels he has no other choice. He believes that leaving gives him the best opportunity to build a good life. Here is what he told me.

He told me he always does his best. He really thought that if he did all the right things, he would be able to get on, so that is what he did. He paid attention in school, went to college, studied hard and graduated. He did a bit of travelling after college, but never, ever did he think he would look to leave Ireland for the long term. Despite working so hard, he says he is just not able to make it. He described a feeling like being on a hamster wheel, running faster and faster but getting nowhere. There is no chance of saving for a house, never mind owning one. He is barely making the rent each month and is being fleeced by big bills. He told me his poor mother is beside herself. She does not want him to go, but she knows it is what he needs to do. He feels so badly let down. He said something that really got to me and it is the reason I am telling this story. He asked:

What was the point in doing all the right things and doing my best? My parents worked hard to give me a good start and now I have to leave to make something of myself. Even though I know it’s not my fault, I feel like I’ve let down my Mam and Dad. It’s an awful feeling to carry around. But the truth is that the odds are stacked against my generation. Those that can make a difference just don't listen. I'm twenty-seven and I'm exhausted by it all.

That is his story and, sadly, it is not unique to him in the Ireland of 2022. I do not know about the Taoiseach, but for me it is a damning indictment of Government that the spectre of forced emigration is now back with us. Our young people look again to the airports for the prospect of a life in Boston, Toronto, or Perth and a life away from their family, friends, and the communities they love. No matter how hard they work, even though they do all the right things, they cannot build a good life at home. The sad truth is that as Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael passed power between themselves for a century, forced emigration has been regarded almost as a right of passage for our young people. I imagine the young man I spoke to on Monday will have tuned into the budget announcement and to the debate, probably looking for a sign of a change of direction. He will certainly have been looking for hope. Will he find what he is looking for in this budget? Will he find that hope? Will he find that much-needed change of direction from Government? The straight answer to that is "No". The truth is there is nothing in this budget that would make him want to stay.

I put it to the Taoiseach that one of the things forcing that young man to emigrate is housing. It has defined life in this country for over a decade. This Government came to office in June 2020 saying it would fix housing. The Taoiseach himself claims it is the single most important social issue for this Coalition. Yet in this budget, as with all the Government's housing initiatives, all we get is a recycling of the policies that got us into this mess. These are policies that feather the nests of big developers, corporate landlords and wealthy investors to the detriment of those in housing need.

This Government went two and a half years without doing anything for renters. The average rent in Dublin is more than €2,000 per month. Across the State it stands at close to €1,500. The Taoiseach knows all of this. I have told him repeatedly that the Government must do two things. First, it must cut rents by putting a month’s rent back into renters pockets through a refundable tax credit and, second, ban rent increases for three years. The Taoiseach and all the Ministers have consistently ignored these calls. Now, in the budget they show up with €500. This €500 will be swallowed up by the inevitable hikes in rent that will no doubt come and which the Government refuses to prevent. This is a tax credit that excludes students and low-income workers. The Government's refusal to cut rents adequately and to ban rent increases confirms this Government does not really care about renters and that they are, at best, an afterthought. Let me say it plainly and on the record that a tax credit without banning rent increases will not work.

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