Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The one-off cost-of-living measures are an example of naked and blatant political opportunism by the Government, serving to highlight how desperate it is to hold on to power. Ireland is now the most expensive country in Europe for food and goods, with prices 46% above the EU average. According to analysis by Social Justice Ireland, the legacy of these measures has been to widen the gap between the better-off and those at the bottom of the scale further. After the previous budget, the rich-poor gap increased by €199 per week to €1,000.

An additional €800 million in core health funding is the lowest increase in recent years. The money granted for new measures is just €100 million, down from €250 million last year. The Government has destroyed healthcare as a career choice and acts removed from a recruitment and retention crisis of its own creation. I question whether this significantly reduced level of funding will allow the HSE to deliver on its urgent and emergency care plan, which centres around emergency department avoidance measures. This is concerning for the people of Clare, as we are about to face into yet another winter of record-breaking trolley numbers at University Hospital Limerick, UHL. During rounds this morning, there were 97 patients on trolleys in UHL. This is a disgrace. If the Government gave one damn about my constituents in Clare, it would have heeded my numerous calls and provided funding to build towards the reinstatement of Ennis Hospital’s accident and emergency department.

Once the one-off measures are gone, they are gone. Unfortunately, this budget is dismantling whatever social cohesion we have left.

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