Máire Devine (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

Of the many laughable statements and assertions made by Fine Gael in yesterday's budget press release, the most pathetic was from the "Beyond GDP - Quality of Life Assessment" section. According to it, "wealth inequality in Ireland has declined over time, reflecting rising assets for those in the middle of the wealth distribution and falling liabilities for those at the bottom." It also claimed that Ireland has made good progress in increasing disposable income for the working age population. Were those insulting statements made with the Government's fingers crossed behind its back? The budget documents explicitly acknowledge negative trending figures, in particular around mental and physical health, which are driven by the unmet need for medical attention and poor outcomes of people working very long hours. There are no extra hospital beds, no extra nurses, no investment in better endometriosis care, and a pittance for mental health in this budget. There is no cost-of-living help, no childcare help, no increase in pay for early years workers, no extended GP care, and no expanded free transport for young people. The Government is well able, however, to fund horse and dog racing at 900% in contrast to the amount of new funding for domestic, sexual and gender-based violence initiatives. This violence is everywhere. I invite the Ministers, Deputies Donohoe and Chambers, to visit Dublin South-Central and acknowledge the stark reality of one in five children living in poverty.

To add insult to injury, after the Government has forced people into poor housing and homelessness, leading to their worsening health, the Government refuses to adequately invest in our health services and provisions to care for them and their families. People with worse health outcomes are more likely to call in sick at work and to become disabled.

This Government's budget just punishes people. This is a contemptible budget. It is a budget for the elites and everyone else got the proverbial two fingers. It is offensive to hard-pressed families and workers and it is a further breach of the already shattered social contract.

See this speech in context