Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Tá áthas orm an deis a fháil chun labhairt ar an mbuiséad seo atá leagtha amach os ár gcomhair anocht. I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate. In many ways, this is the Goldilocks budget. It is too hot for some, like the ESRI which urged constraint; too cold for others, who believe it did not go far enough; and just right for the Government, which believes it has struck the correct balance. Many thousands of households, farms, small businesses, restaurant owners, tourism operators, pub owners and hauliers have been looking on anxiously, awaiting confirmation that they will have received something of substance in today's announcements.

Today I want to outline my broad response to the budget. I intend to fully deal with some of the specific measures in it tomorrow . The question I asked myself today is whether this budget meets the key tests, if not the only tests, that really matter. Does it secure the stability of the public finances?

Does it materially assist disadvantaged and working families, farms, businesses and communities, thereby enabling them to survive and thrive? Those are the key and fundamental questions. The sense is that while most people will have got something, almost everyone got little enough to make a big difference.

However, to be fair, there is much that was announced today that will be welcome. The increase in social welfare payments and carer's rates will all be welcome, even if they do not go quite as far as me and my colleagues in the Rural Independent Group would have liked and as we had proposed in our budget submission. I welcome the targeted mortgage interest rate relief and further supports for childcare, even though they do not go far enough and will be slow to bring relief. I also note the lump-sum payments to those receiving social welfare, including €200 for the living alone allowance, €400 for the carer's support grant, €400 for the disability support grant, €400 for the working family payment and €300 for the fuel allowance. It would be nonsensical to stand up here and say that nothing good has been delivered. The increase to third level grants and the partial restoration of some of the postgraduate funding grants is indeed welcome. A decision to fund the free book scheme at post-primary level is necessary and will be welcomed, but our schools are crying out for funding, especially for major and minor work projects. Commitments in that area have to be delivered.

At the more specific financial level, we also know that changes to the VAT rates and structures were desperately needed by many sectors and workers rights across the board. It is here that I would like to add a note of balance to the Government's entirely understandable sense of self-congratulation. We know, for example, that today's budget announced a range of measures in the order of almost €7 billion, but that money is generated on the back of Irish taxpayers. In 2022, gross VAT receipts amounted to €26.7 billion, which represents 23% of the total of growth tax receipts, while the net back receipts were €18.8 billion, a 22% increase from 2021 and approximately 23% of the overall tax yield to the Exchequer. While this of course reflects an increase in consumer spending, it also reflects the extraordinary level of tax that consumers and households are paying on goods and services. While almost €7 billion of measures was announced today, we must be honest and clearly place that within the context of an expected net VAT yield in 2024 of €20.4 billion.

I really believe that this budget must also deliver for transport and the haulage sector. The haulage sector is a vital cog in our economic machine in Ireland. It is vital for keeping supply chains open and it is essential. It contributes so much tax and everything else. The sector must be looked after and protected. We know that the majority of revenue yields from energy taxes come from fuels used in road transport. Indeed, CSO data also show that households have paid up to 54% of all environmental taxes, while the services industry has borne 33% of the environmental tax share. Households have also paid the highest level of environmental taxation, at over €207 of environmental taxes per tonne of CO2 equivalent.

There is a point that we should not tire of repeating. Yes, there was much in today's budget that was good and that we can all support, but such measures were only possible because of the massive levels of environmental and other forms of taxation that bear down upon households, which I disagree with. The Ministers touched upon some of the upcoming challenges in their speeches. These were also reflected, as the Minister of State will be aware, in a presentation of the tax strategy group by Brendan O'Connor, the head of the economics division of the Department of Finance. Mr. O'Connor recently noted that in terms of the global economy, modest improvement is likely but Ireland will face a low growth, high-risk environment. In the medium term growth is slowing, while we also face structural challenges related to decarbonisation. This is going to place massive social and financial costs on all sectors, including our farmers and transport sector. That is why we need to do everything possible to ensure we robustly strengthen Irish home-grown industry and the agri sectors. We cannot rely long term on revenue sources such as the likes of corporation tax. Our agri sector supports 170,000 jobs. Not enough is being delivered. There has actually been a reduction of 17% in the amount of money being delivered to agriculture. I am concerned about it. I hope that all sectors, including dairy, tillage, beef and our sheep farmers, get adequate supports. I will be asking further questions about that. I was disappointed with the lack of detail and, indeed, the vagueness of today's agriculture budget.

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