Dáil debates

Thursday, 29 September 2022

Financial Resolutions 2022 - Financial Resolution No. 6: General (Resumed)

 

1:55 pm

Photo of Cathal CroweCathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am happy with the budget. It is a budget that has Fianna Fáil fingerprints all over it. We have worked really well with our colleagues in government, Fine Gael and the Green Party, to ensure that those in society who are marginalised and the squeezed middle are looked after well in the budget. The Fianna Fáil I joined way back in 2000 was a centre-left party. Parties sometimes deviate from a pathway they are on. This budget rings true to the true causes, aims and aspirations of our party.

There are a lot of good measures in the budget. One is the lowering of childcare costs by 25% per week, a double payment of children's allowances this winter, home energy credit payments being paid in three instalments of €200 each and supports for small and medium-sized businesses. I wish to hone in on some examples of how people will benefit from the budget measures. A person with a disability living on his or her own stands to see a saving of €2,464. A lone parent with two children under the age of 12 could see a saving of €2,288. A home carer caring for a loved one in a home environment who is in receipt of the fuel allowance could stand to benefit to the tune of €2,540. A single renter with an income in the range of €40,000 per annum stands to make a saving this year of €1,330. There is a lot of good in this. I am proud of my party and what it has brought forward in this budget.

I want to comment in particular on the Minister, Deputy Norma Foley. Of all of the measures in the budget, I as a former teacher, was delighted to see a huge budget this year for special education and to make primary school books free. It harked back to 1967 when Donogh O'Malley, of my party, made second level education free. We need to strive and do more. The pupil-teacher ratio for September 2023 will be 23:1. More can be done, but I want to commend the Minister, Deputy Foley, on all of her efforts in this budget.

Regional airports funding is very welcome. I look forward to seeing the final figures being revealed for Shannon Airport in my constituency. Shannon Heritage owns a number of iconic sites in the midwest region, including Bunratty Castle and Folk Park, which were due to transfer from the Department of Transport to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, that is, from the Shannon Group to Clare County Council. There was hope that the budget would have explicitly stated that there was a funding stream for that. It is to be hoped that detail will come out in due course because everyone is waiting with baited breath to hear a funding announcement to make that move successful.

I wish to make the some final quick points. The concrete levy of 10% is something I have a number of concerns about. Just a few weeks ago we passed a massive redress package for home owners with defective mica and pyrite concrete blocks in their buildings. It was right to do so. The detail of that will be stitched into regulations and brought forward in a redress scheme homeowners can apply for very soon - it is to be hoped before Christmas. I do not know if it is fair to put a 10% levy on each person who tries to undertake a building project, be it with concrete blocks or liquid poured concrete, over the coming months. To me it seems that they are being burdened with a levy that the suppliers and manufacturers of these blocks should pay for.

The dogs on the street know who made these blocks. CHR plc, in my constituency, was a major manufacturer and supplier of these blocks. Cassidy Brothers in Donegal is known. We cannot always say that on the street, but we can say it in here. It is those companies we need to go after. The Office of the Attorney General is preparing a landmark legal case to take some companies through the courts system and recoup the costs on behalf of the taxpayer. That needs to be expedited.

Finally, Sinn Féin has spouted for days that we need an electricity cap. We have all seen pigs fly in politics, but I never thought I would see the day where it would follow Tory policy. We have seen the ruination that has brought to the British economy over the past week. It is in turmoil, freefall and tailspin. To hear Sinn Féin talk about a home energy electricity cap is insane. It is costing that at €1.6 billion, but commentators have said it would cost €10 billion. Maybe it is getting advice from Liz Truss. Maybe the famous photograph of Michelle O'Neill shaking hands with King Charles III rubbed off a little bit, because it is coming back with daft ideas from Britain. Maybe it will give up its abstentionist policy in the House of Commons because it is certainly trying to bring forward a suggestion of Tory policies here.

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