Charles Ward (Donegal, 100% Redress Party)

When the Minister, Deputy Paschal Donohoe, presented this budget, he said we were "making the best possible use of the resources available to invest in our future and to strengthen our foundations." I did not know whether to laugh or cry at that. As the House can imagine, coming from Donegal, we are living with foundations and houses that are crumbling down around us. We are totally abandoned. How can the Government invest in the future when it has left Donegal so far behind, with a defective concrete crisis and a fishing crisis? It has failed the people of Donegal completely with this short-sighted budget. It has failed to address the potential collapse of the entire fishing industry following the recommendation of a 70% cut to the mackerel quota, as well as significant cuts to blue whiting and boarfish quotas. Our fishing industry faces losing up to €200 million. Our fishing communities across Donegal face even further economic and social decline, yet this has not even been touched in the budget. It is not important enough. I come from an island community that has witnessed and been devastated by the severe decline in fishing.

5 o’clock

Our fishermen are forced to watch as countries thrive off of our fish and our waters without any punishment, while Irish boats struggle to get a minimal quota. If they go over the quota, they are treated like criminals. We are now facing even more cuts. The budget should have committed to financial assistance for the Irish fishing industry as fishing communities have suffered a huge blow. Instead of this, we see full support for the implementation of the Common Fisheries Policy. This very policy, which the Government is trying to implement, has caused irreparable damage to the fishing industry in Ireland and has to be called what it is.

Crucially, the Government has failed to address the humanitarian crisis in Donegal. The defective concrete crisis is a crisis beyond all. It is in every single county in Ireland as we speak. From Buncrana to Elm Park, all the way to Malin Head, it is non-stop. People are suffering and it is not being addressed. Funding for this crisis was only mentioned in a sentence. It is a complete insult that there was not a proper mention. There was one sentence. Families across the State, through no fault of their own, have built homes that are now crumbling around them while we just get on with life up in Donegal, where homes are destroyed and children go to bed at night not knowing if they will wake up in a house that is safe in the morning. It is scandalous.

The widespread use of defective concrete across the State has devastated entire communities. It is not just in Donegal. It is all through the country. The crisis has inflicted severe mental health issues in Donegal and in other parts of the country. It needs to be recognised for what it is; a complete humanitarian crisis. The Government has not only failed to properly address this through two failed schemes, victims of the defective concrete crisis are forced to pay a levy on concrete required to rebuild their homes while, at the same time, they are charged VAT on builds, despite having already paid VAT when they built their homes in the first place. There is double taxation of people who are already struggling to meet the rising cost. The Government reduced the VAT on apartments. Why can it not reduce the VAT on homeowners who are affected by defective concrete? It is a double standard and it is not good enough. Homeowners are left in dire situations through no fault of their own. It does not sound like accountability to me.

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