Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome to the Public Gallery my friends, Bertie, Helen, Denise and David, who are visiting the Dáil today.

The issue I will home in on first in reference to the Finance (No. 2) Bill is agriculture. The residential zoned land tax has been a source of much confusion, concern and anxiety for farmers and people who own land adjacent to towns in which the zoning has come into play. The tax has been deferred and I have had a commitment from the Taoiseach, given in the House, that nobody who has a functional farm will be liable for the tax. A commitment has also been given that R2 zoning will not be taken into account in the taxation of land that is zoned. If that commitment is not honoured, it makes a farce of commitments made in the Dáil.

The funding for sheep farmers is welcome but is not enough. We all know what it is costing farmers even to shear a sheep and dispose of the wool. It is a huge cost at the moment. Likewise, the €50 for a calf under the calf scheme is not a great amount of money to be giving farmers, especially when we take into account the input costs that go into farming, particularly the increased cost of feedstuff. I hope the fodder scheme will be renewed for 2024, especially for farmers along the Shannon Callows who have been unable to cut their crops or get their hay or silage out this year because of the wet summer. This is an ongoing issue year on year. We need to zone in on it and ensure these farmers are compensated. Taking everything that is going on at the moment, including the placing of carbon tax on fuel, farmers and everybody in rural Ireland are affected, even though we say the measures are for the common good. People living in a city like Dublin can avail of public transport day or night. Where I live, there is no public transport at all. People need a car and, often, families will need two cars to be able to function. School transport is a factor in this, which I will not talk about today.

I agree that the taxation changes in the budget for working people are a help and a step in the right direction. However, we must be careful to ensure people who are working benefit from work and are not just falling backward all the time. Young working people, in particular, who have taken out a mortgage and are seeing the payments rising will get a little bit of relief. However, if their mortgage is not above €84,000 or thereabouts, people will not qualify. That is a mystery to me and I do not see the reason for it. Anybody who is paying a mortgage on which the interest is going up should get the benefit of the scheme. Young people who cannot buy a new house because houses are not being built and who instead buy a second-hand house will get nothing. They are not eligible for the help-to-buy scheme and will get no VAT refund. They have to pay for everything themselves. These young, courageous people who have decided to make a home for themselves are being left on their own. It is important that we recognise them and support them as best we can.

When it comes to small businesses, there are a lot of local shopkeepers in my constituency, rather than big multinationals, who are finding it difficult to sustain all the costs being thrown at them. There is an SME support package but no details are given. That is not right; we should know the detail of it. Small supermarkets and other businesses the length and breadth of the country are the backbone of our economy. Their owners open their shops and convenience stores at 7.30 a.m. for people going to work, they are open for people going to school to be able to pick up food and they are still open at night time. The owners work long hours and employ a lot of people, both part time and full time. They are expected to pay the minimum wage, about which the Government trumpets as if it is something it is paying. Small business are paying the minimum wage and any increases in it and they should be given supports to meet their costs.

As a member of the Committee on Disability Matters, it is important that I home in on provisions relating to disability. I am very disappointed with the budget in this regard. First, there was an announcement that €60 million-plus would be provided, followed by an announcement that it would be €190 million, only for that to be retracted the next day and a figure of €65 million given.

We have to be truthful with the people and tell them what exactly is in the budget and what is net additional in it, rather than conflate figures to create something different.

Turning to the capacity review that was carried out, as was noted earlier, the number of residential places needed in this country is more than 2,300. The Bill will deliver something like 19 new places, whereas a minimum of 315 should be delivered this year if we are to make any real change for people with disabilities. Moreover, it is a major crime of the Government and the budget that we have not said anything about transport supports for people with disabilities, despite all the reports from the former Ombudsman Peter Tyndall and even before that. Transport support schemes have been suspended for more than 11 years and we have not to date brought forward any scheme to support people who are grounded in their homes. That is a crying shame.

A report from Indecon found that the cost of living with a disability in 2021 was on average €13,000 higher than an ordinary person's costs, yet we have not put anything in the budget other than a once-off payment of €400, €500 or whatever it is, and we think that is good enough. It is not good enough, and it will never be good enough until we sit down and legislate for the fact people with disabilities have rights and we need to make sure their rights are seen to. The primary medical certificate, given to persons with a disability and run by the Department of Finance, has been found not to be fit for purpose. The board that was dealing with appeals for the scheme resigned because its members could not deal with the appeals, given the scheme was not fit for purpose, yet we persist with no appeals mechanism and with the same scheme. That is a shame on the Government. We have to make sure people with disabilities are treated with the respect they deserve.

One of the common headlines from the budget suggested it is a budget for health, but I am not sure what the real story is here. Earlier in the month, a memo was issued by the chief executive of the HSE stating there was to be a ban on recruitment and on getting people into the service. We are in cloud cuckoo land if we think that is how we are going to deal with services. God help people who will have to go into the emergency department in Galway or into any other emergency department in this country over the winter. Right now, there is pandemonium in these places and we have not yet reached the winter crisis at all.

It is important that, first, we be truthful with ourselves. Why is the budget so low when the HSE says it will need an additional budget? Is it a case of trying to teach a lesson to the HSE such that it will have to be more accountable? If it is the HSE we are trying to punish, we know full well that the people who will actually be punished in the long run are the people who will need the services when they are not there. That is something we cannot tolerate. This needs to be looked at properly. We need to make sure sufficient funding is in place to run the service and to improve it for people. It is important the budget is very prudent but, at the same time, we need to make sure health is a priority.

Lastly, I want to mention Conradh na Gaeilge and the Irish language. I ask that members of the Government meet its representatives because they have a plan in place that needs funding if we are to maintain and try to grow the Irish language. It is important that is done as a matter of urgency.

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