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

The verdict is in. This budget has been exposed for the shallow but expensive exercise in Government propaganda that it is. The headline measures have been exposed as having little to no long-term benefit. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul's assessment is that while some of the measures are welcome, the budget lacks focus and was untargeted to those who needed it the most. Where is the action dealing with the hardships being created for disabled drivers and passengers when trying to access a primary medical certificate? Approximately 1,000 appeals were lodged in respect of this very issue. Those 1,000 appeals surely could have been upheld and that money could have been given to something like this which is so urgent and so pressing. A constituent brought it to my attention yesterday. Yet another issue has arisen that needs to be resolved, namely, that while the Government has made much of the proposals to pay two double child-benefit payments this winter and to introduce a newborn baby grant for children born after 1 January 2025, any baby born this December will be excluded as child benefit is not paid in the month that a child is born. I submitted parliamentary questions to the Minister on this first thing this morning on behalf of my constituent and I hope that the matter will be resolved. Currently, this problem means that parents will miss out on two double payments and will not be eligible for the newborn baby grant. We need it resolved, as I say.

In terms of agriculture, the ICMSA president, Mr. Denis Drennan, has said while welcomed the extension of a number of reliefs up to 2027, farmers would be disappointed that the long-standing and crippling issue of income volatility has not been dealt with in budget 2025.

What about the haulage sector? Hauliers have seen tens of thousands of euro in costs being added to operations through ridiculous increases in carbon taxes and through fuel increases and toll increases. That is a sector that creates huge employment, particularly in rural Ireland. It is so important to the rural economy, along with agriculture and the small businesses. It should have been looked after.

The SMEs woke up this morning still trapped in the 13.5% VAT rate. The devil is in the detail with this budget. People will not be fooled by the political electioneering. My fear is that if more of the businesses such as the small restaurants and cafés close, it will lead to job losses. We have already seen 577 close. It is disgraceful that they were not looked after.

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