Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Minister on the Second Reading of the Finance Bill. The recent budget is very important when we look at the context, as my colleague has said. Twelve months ago, we never imagined that we would be in a position of this kind, whereby not only would we not have a deficit but that we would have a surplus leading into next year. This has given great scope to be able to respond to the challenges that exist. Times are really tough and people need more money in their pockets. The budget will enable us to provide them with that through reductions in tax, increasing the national minimum wage and, where we can, increasing public sector wages. This will give people more money when they need it in order to be able to deal with the increases in their energy bills that are a consequence of the war in Ukraine. It is a significant intervention.

I have heard calls for more to be done. Of course, everybody wants more to be done because we are politicians representing our constituents and this is what we do. If we look at the UK and the installation of yet another new Cabinet, we have learned and seen very clearly the consequences of a different budgetary approach. I refer to a reckless budgetary approach that has no regard for sustainability and that cannot be relied upon by the citizens of that country. Those mistakes have to be fixed very quickly. Although I am sure they will be fixed quickly, they come with huge reputational cost to a country that had built up such a strong reputation over time, notwithstanding our disagreement with it about Brexit. The UK had a strong reputation over time for being a stable political entity and a stable political institution. There is a valid salutary lesson for us in managing our budgetary processes as we have done and in being able to provide for people when they need it, as happened during Covid and as I hope will happen, insofar as is possible, in the context of the rising costs of energy.

I commend the significant tax policy changes. They constitute an important step to give people more of their own money back at this time in an inflationary cycle. It is an important measure to set a tone that we want to do that. We have not been able to do that for many years. It is important that people have discretion about how to spend their money and, particularly at this time, it was important to take a step towards giving more people control over their spending and more tax back. I would like to see that continued into next year, where possible, because people need discretion over their money, particularly middle income workers, who have been hardest hit in many respects. I congratulate the Minister on the Finance Bill.

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