Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach and Tánaiste spoke today about the Opposition giving out about the budget before it was announced. The funny thing is this is one of the most leaked budgets in the history of the State. It is a common practice now. We all knew most of the details of the budget beforehand, so it was easy for us to criticise it if there were criticisms to be made, and there were.

There are green shoots in the budget also, but I look to the Government to address the crisis the hospitality sector is going through. Cafés, restaurants and bars throughout the country are struggling, especially in rural areas. They depend on summer turnover and find it difficult to continue during winter. They were hit with the mini-budget last September, when the Government put up the VAT rate on hospitality from 9% to 13.5%. These people are struggling and the Government did not care. It had a chance in this budget to turn it around. It used the September mini-budget to crucify them further and try to squeeze more out of them.

I am astonished to think the Taoiseach and Tánaiste spoke without a word on the fishing industry. We have looked at the fishing budget and I think it is almost halved. There you have it. That is why nobody is speaking about fishermen here. They are the forgotten people of society, both inshore fishermen and those who head out on trawlers for weeks on end to try to make a living. The budget has dropped, which means we may not see any improvements in Union Hall pier in west Cork. The promise made by the Fianna Fáil Government has not been delivered. They blame the council and the council blames them. There is a right little game of tennis going on between the two of them. Caught in the middle are the people and pier users of Union Hall. It looks like many other piers could be sidelined because of the massive budget drop. That is why it is not being mentioned.

Various farm groups are unhappy today. There is bit of an increase in farming in relation to an old goat or donkey on top of the hill because that keeps the Green Party happy, but the real farmers - suckler farmers, sheep farmers and the dairy sector - have been hit again. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil do not care because they are keeping their buddies happy in government. Hit the farmer. The farmers told me recently they are treated like environmental terrorists. They are the people who put food on our table. Are Government members asleep at the wheel? Do they not understand what farmers do for the country? Have they turned their back completely on them?

We have a Senator in west Cork who tears his Government apart every day of the week but he is a Senator in one of the Government parties. If he has a problem, why does he not walk away from them? It is an insane situation. We see Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael fighting each other in west Cork, and when they come up to the Dáil, they are locked in arms and kissing each other. They will not make fools of the people of west Cork. They codded the people with their nitrates and their carry-on. The Taoiseach and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine did nothing on nitrates. They stood idly by and let it happen.

This was an opportunity to look at carers not being means-tested. A huge number of people are doing great work, keeping their loved ones at home and working hard. Deputy Canney mentioned it and it is a huge issue. Still they are means-tested. It is not on your ability to deliver a service that saves the State money; it is based on what your husband is doing. If he has a good job, tough luck. You do not get anything. That is an awful situation people find themselves in.

Unfortunately, we could be here for hours talking about the roads budget. It has been cut and cut. A report has come in and the Government has stood idly by on that report. Did it think nobody would hear about it? Transport Infrastructure Ireland said the lack of funding for roads has led to deaths. The Government blames the motorists. There are 2.2 million vehicles on the road but the Government blames the motorists for the road deaths, rather than the Minister who was told not to lower the budget but failed to heed the advice. It is astonishing the Government stood idly by on that basis.

The Government put a carbon tax on people. We put in our budget proposals to the Government to make all insulation products VAT free. That is the way forward. Stop punishing people. If the Government is punishing people, it should at least give them back some few bob. It does not do that.

Nursing homes throughout the country are closing their doors. There is no aid package in the budget, bar an electricity rebate, to save them. I know of a nursing home in Belgooly where 48 patients are basically being kicked out. It is down to 17, sadly, left in the nursing home as families frantically go around west Cork looking for nursing homes. It is a disgrace. Coupled with that, there are 51 workers within two weeks of being booted out the door who have never been communicated with by Aperee Living or anyone else on any entitlement they have. The Government is washing its hands of this crisis and boasting of a fabulous budget. Where will the budget deliver for the people of Belgooly who are losing their nursing home and for many other nursing homes throughout the country? Are we just standing idly by?

Look at the health budget. God almighty, there is no one accountable. It ran €1.1 billion over. Jeepers God, if I or somebody in my business lost €1,000 per year, I would contemplate firing them, but if the Government loses €1.1 billion, nobody opens their eyes and says, “Hang on, is there a problem here?” Not at all; sure €1.1 billion is nothing. Put your hand in the till. Where is it being soaked up? Why are people having to bus themselves to Belfast to prevent themselves going blind? They have to go from the South to the North.

Why can people not get hip or knee operations? Speakers named one operation after another but they cannot have those because the Government has failed them. It has a failed health system that is absolutely boiled down to the ground and is useless. Delivery is useless. People find themselves in the shocking situation of going blind and being in pain while waiting on this Government to deliver. There will be no delivery for them.

On education, class size is a big issue that should have been dealt with but it has not been dealt with. I met with the INTO and promised that I would do my best. We had it included in our proposals but they were ignored. The USC charge was brought down from 4.5% to 4%. What is the USC charge? It is a money grab. That is what the Government is continuing to do with carbon tax and with this tax or that tax. It is a money grab to take the money from ordinary people and ordinary workers. That is what is happening here. It is the working person who is suffering and it cannot continue.

I want to sum up on the issue of people's pensions. The Government is giving €12, which I welcome and it is a great initiative to give €12 to anybody who is drawing a pension because they are finding it difficult. There are letters going out to every second person in the country who has a pension to take the pension off them. I know of an old lady who is frightened out of her life at 80 years of age because her pension was taken from her. How many more has this happened to? It is scandalous. Imagine taking their pensions from them at the latter end of their lives. They are now getting letters to say they are living in vacant homes and they have been contacted by Revenue. What is going on in this country? It is a grab against the ordinary people.

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