Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Last year, I stood here with my colleagues in the Labour Party, hoping that we would have a budget that would provide that very thing: hope. Hope for people who are looking for a home, hope to tackle our climate crisis, hope to tackle the cost of living, hope that our health service would be improved and hope that there would be a very real investment for those most vulnerable in our society, people with disabilities and their services. One year on, that hope has been distinguished and absolutely diminished.

Year after year we have been told by Fine Gael-led Governments that we need cautious budgeting. We had it because of Brexit. Then, we had it because of Covid-19. Now, we have the post-Covid-19 budgets. Despite the many riches in our country, we have been told yet again we need to be cautious and that those who need the most investment will be left behind.

We need ambition. We need ambition in the areas of housing and climate. We need ambition for people with disabilities. However, with this tired Fine Gael-led Government, we are not seeing any of that. In this budget, we are seeing higher targets for HAP units than for social housing.

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