Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)

I preface my remarks by using a few seconds to talk about the four people who are outside here on the 18th day of their hunger strike. We have passed a budget in one of the richest economies in the world and we have four people who have been 18 days on hunger strike outside. They have survived the industrial schools. They are survivors and they are now surviving a hunger strike because they are taking liquids. I appeal to the Minister of State and his Government colleagues to meet with the four and listen to them. Their demands are very basic, including access to a contributory pension and a HAA card.

I spoke about the budget yesterday and I am just going to pick out a few things again. Maybe the hint for what has happened with this budget is captured in the words of the Minister, Paschal Donohoe, who said, "Our schools, our hospitals and our public services are responsible for so much good in society." They certainly are, but that is not their function. Of course it is their function but is not identified as basic rights in a republic. We are talking about access to public health and access to a home. We are talking about so much good in terms of being like a charity when they are fundamental human rights. Maybe that best encapsulates what is lacking in this budget which is context. I said yesterday there is no context in terms of climate change. There is also no context in terms of the housing crisis that is being created as a direct consequence of Government policies. We have given a reduction in VAT down to 9% for developers with absolutely no evidence that this will help in any way and no context given.

Today I attended a presentation in Buswells in relation to derelict properties all done on a voluntary basis. The two people presenting and a small team told us there are 163,433 empty properties not counting 66,956 holiday homes.

That gives us an indication of the extent of the crisis as we play around with extra pieces for a jigsaw without an overall vision. Of those houses, a total of 23,205 have been empty for ten years, while in excess of 65,000 have been empty for more than two years.

The other context is that we had 64 people on hospital trolleys in Galway yesterday. Today, there are 46 people on trolleys. Those figures go up and down. Those patients are human beings and they are being left on trolleys.

There are some good things in this budget, which I welcome. I welcome the increase in social welfare, but when it is matched with the increase in the cost of living, it is worth absolutely nothing. I welcome that the money for artists has been extended. There are absolutely no details whether the existing €2,000 will be included with the extension, however. There are absolutely no details in that regard.

With regard to rural development, all of the TDs in this Dáil have stood up and championed balanced rural and regional development. However, when I look at page 205 of the budget, funding for rural development and regional affairs has actually gone down by 2%. The Minister of State might check that figure and come back to me. There is 2% less funding at a time when we need balanced rural and regional development more than ever.

I welcome the commitment to diversifying our economy. It should have happened years ago. Again, it is lacking in detail. Since the day I came into the Dáil, I have championed the indigenous seaweed and wool industries and the six-mile limit so that we can help fishermen and fisherwomen in our coastal areas. That policy has taken from 2018 to present to be implemented. The diversifying of our economy is absolutely essential, but it has not happened quickly enough and there is no clear pathway set out.

Research and development have come up repeatedly at different IBEC annual meetings. I welcome that the Government is finally looking at this area. We must zone in on the smaller businesses because that was the problem; the smaller companies and businesses could never avail of the research and development tax credit.

This morning, I had the privilege of listening to the organisation, ALONE. It pointed out that older people living alone are €300 worse off compared to last year. A total of 46.6% of older people would have been at risk of poverty without last year’s once-off measures. While I agree that once-off measures are not the solution, they are needed for a period of time until we get a more comprehensive approach to lifting people out of poverty. There is no task force regarding older people and we have language that is very ageist. We are still waiting on a strategy because the most recent one is out of date and no other strategy has been put in its place.

We lack a human rights plan for corporate development. I have been following up on this issue for ages. The plan, which set out a human rights approach to business, ran out nearly ten years ago, or certainly five years ago. We now have a vacuum with no plan whatsoever.

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