Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)

This budget and this Finance Bill are beyond disappointing. It is straightforward. It is a budget that abandons working people to look after those at the very top. The Finance Bill is nothing but a huge level of broken promises, including on income tax and renter's tax credit.

There are no changes to income tax for workers in the middle of what is a cost-of-living crisis that I assume everyone recognises while at the same time, a total of €2.5 billion in tax cuts have been handed to landlords, developers, investors and others. We had called on the Government to deliver something that was fairer tax package. We were talking about abolishing the USC on the first €40,000 that every worker earns. That would have put €746 into the pockets of workers.

They will be worse off next year as a direct result of the decisions made in this year's budget. It is as simple as that. The Government plans to reduce the tax base while increasing the tax burden on workers, as has been said by many before me. The Parliamentary Budget Office has estimated it to be the equivalent of €1.1 billion. There were promises, not just about adjusting income tax. That is the equivalent. We just need to be honest and say there will be tax increases. What was promised during the election is not necessarily what has happened and the Government is happy enough that those who can afford the least will pay the most.

There were other promises, such as ensuring workers do not find themselves in a position where they pay higher levels of income tax solely because of basic growth in their incomes. That is exactly what has been delivered by this budget. We supported mortgage interest relief. It was Sinn Féin that proposed it. It took a considerable amount of time for the Government to act on it. The European Central Bank, ECB, interest rate is now down to 2%, but the Government continues this scheme because it will not stand up to the pillar banks that have left people as prisoners to their mortgages, trapped with vulture funds. People are being ripped off and I once again call on the Government to act on this.

I do not know how many times we have been here talking about housing. Sinn Féin called for an increase to the renter's tax credit to put a full month's rent back in the renter's pocket. None of this has been delivered. We have often said that even with what is offered by the Government, unless rents are capped, money will go directly to the landlords. Then we have a big VAT reduction on the sale of apartments. Effectively, this will stuff hundreds of millions of euro into the pockets of developers in 2026 for apartments that would have been built regardless. This is hardly success. We can say the same about banks. There are no solutions for regular people who are being devastated by the cost-of-living crisis.

I have stated this previously and I will repeat it. There is a particular issue the Government has failed on; there is no cost-of-disability payment. While there are promises to deliver it in the future, we have all seen the figures. Those with disabilities are being affected to the tune of €1,400 per year. That is how much they are worse off by. We know about the costs they have. None of this is good enough. I call on the Government to recant, but I fear we will continue with this. We can definitely do better.

I call on people to think of this when they vote, I hope for Catherine Connolly, in the presidential election.

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