Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)

It is reckless to drive up the cost of living at a time when so many people are just hanging on. It is reckless to drive more people into energy poverty but that is exactly what this budget will do. We called on the Government to increase pensions and core social welfare payments by €15 to reflect the reality of prices that were rising and putting serious pressure on those families. We asked the Government to deliver a €20 increase for disability payments to recognise the additional cost of living with a disability. In the budget today, the Government has short-changed pensioners and those on social welfare. The rate increase of €10 does not even cover the cost of food inflation. That is the reality of it.

We called on the Government to enhance and increase the renter's tax credit. Indeed, the Government committed to increasing the renter's tax credit, but it is not there. A ban on rent increases is nowhere to be seen. We saw skyrocketing rents. Instead of banning rent increases, the Government is letting landlords jack up rent right across the board. Instead of increasing the renter's tax relief, it chose to increase tax relief for landlords. Next year, landlords are getting tax relief. They get €1,000 from Paschal Donohoe because landlords are the priority and renters, even though the Government committed to an increase, continue to get the same. They do not even get it because the landlord will pocket it as their rents go up. The Minister's own officials warned him that the landlord tax relief was one of the worst ideas there was. A former ESRI economist called it the stupidest tax relief of recent times. Every single year, including next year, the Government is increasing it. The world keeps spinning but one can always count on Fine Gael to come up trumps for the golden circle and the vested interests.

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