Dáil debates

Wednesday, 9 October 2013

Ceisteanna - Questions - Priority Questions

Equality Proofing of Budgets

1:20 pm

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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2. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will equality proof budget 2014 in advance of his announcement and publish the findings of the proofing process on budget day. [42567/13]

Photo of Brendan HowlinBrendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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With regard to this budget, while the primary objective has been to reduce the deficit and return stability to the public finances, it has been vital to the Government to spread the burden of adjustments in as fair and as equitable a manner as possible while also seeking to minimise any negative impact on economic growth and job maintenance. Furthermore, it is the Government's responsibility to ensure all available resources are spent carefully and that critical public services continue to be delivered.

In this context, the Government recognises that expenditure on social supports has an important impact on stabilising our domestic economy through supporting the overall demand for goods and services. Over recent years, we have maintained primary weekly rates of social welfare. This year we will spend €20.2 billion on social welfare. This means that all pensioners and all those under the age of 66, such as people with disabilities or jobseekers, will have their weekly primary payments maintained, and that has been the case since this Government took office.

Similarly, in the area of education, the Government has protected DEIS resources. In budget 2013, for example, we ensured there was no overall change to DEIS related staffing levels or DEIS funding. As part of the DEIS programme, over the course of this year some €93 million is being provided to 850 schools supporting 167,000 pupils. This funding is provided, in addition to the normal funds allocated to tackle educational disadvantage, by prioritising the educational needs of children and young people from disadvantaged communities, from preschool right through second level education.

All Ministers are responsible for assessing policy proposals in their areas and considerations of equality form an important component of budgetary discussions by Government. When making Government decisions on budget matters, the Government is very much aware of issues such as gender equality, persons experiencing risk of poverty or social exclusion, and people with disabilities. These proposals are under careful consideration by Government in advance of finalising next year's Estimates and, on budget day, the Government will publish illustrative cases showing the effect of major changes in revenue and certain social welfare payments.

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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If the Minister's objectives have been to underwrite fairness and equity in his budgetary efforts, he has clearly and manifestly failed. If his objective has been to enhance growth, he certainly has failed because officials tell us that we have precisely 0% growth this year. I asked the Minister about equality budgeting and I have raised this issue with him many times.

It is clear to everyone that fairness is not writ large in the Government's budgetary efforts. On the contrary, the ESRI has clearly indicated that the two most recent budgets were regressive and placed the burden on those least able to shoulder it, particularly individuals who are parenting alone.

The Minister indicated that Departments look into their hearts and give due consideration to issues of equality. I am seeking something entirely different, namely, a systematic and transparent assessment of the Government's budget proposals in order to check them for equality on the basis of the nine grounds which apply in this regard. Such an assessment would be similar to the statutory duty which exists in the North of Ireland and the practice which obtains in other jurisdictions. If the Government is going to refer to fairness and equality, it must do its homework and have in its possession the data to support its case. We should not be obliged to face budget after budget where the Government hammers people on low incomes and turns its face away from even considering taxing the wealthy.

1:30 pm

Photo of Brendan HowlinBrendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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As is normally the case when discussing matters of this nature, the Deputy is profoundly wrong. The Government has reversed the reduction in the minimum wage, removed 350,000 low-paid workers from the net relating to the universal social charge and protected all core social welfare payments. One can take a snapshot of individual budgets rather than considering the overall picture. Ireland has the most progressive income tax system in the OECD. If one already has the most progressive system, it is extremely difficult to make it even more progressive. Whereas if one has the worst and least progressive system, any change at all will make it more progressive in the context of a snapshot analysis. People understand that fact.

The Deputy is also incorrect in stating that there will be no growth this year. We had significant growth last year but the figure for this year will be lower. Even the worst analysis indicates that there will be growth of 0.2% this year. The most recent ESRI projections for next year indicate that the economic strategy employed by the Government during the past two and a half years has ensured that we have balanced the budget and maintained jobs. In fact, we are now creating 3,000 net new jobs per month. This represents a profound sea-change in the country's fortunes since we inherited a disastrous situation a mere two and a half years ago.

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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There has not been a profound sea-change. That is the difficulty. I stand corrected that there will be 0.2% growth this year.

Photo of Brendan HowlinBrendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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That is what the worst projections show.

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Bravo. Good for the Government. It is, however, hardly a resounding success. In the most recent budget, the Government imposed a property tax on family homes and cut child benefit, the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance, jobseeker's benefit and the respite care grant. It also increased fees for students at third level, raised the thresholds relating to student grants, etc. I put it to the Minister that none of these measures bear equality as their hallmark. As the Government saw it, these cuts and increases hit the same people who were hit by the previous Fianna Fáil Administration in its budgetary efforts. We need a system of robust and transparent equality proofing that will be underpinned statutorily - in other words, in law - in order to ensure that when budgets are brought forward, the consequences for different groups in society will be fully measured and understood. The Government cannot make a claim for fairness and equality if it is not prepared to sign up to such a system, the establishment of which was supported by the Minister's party at its conference last year.

Photo of Brendan HowlinBrendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Sinn Féin's attitude when we took offices was that we should have told the troika to take a hike and take its money with it. If we had taken that party's advice, there would be no social welfare or educational provision and we would not have an economy. The economic strategy employed by the Government has brought us back to sustainability. We have taken very difficult decisions and the Deputy outlined a number of these.

Photo of Mary Lou McDonaldMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Yes, they were difficult for the people on the receiving end.

Photo of Brendan HowlinBrendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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It is as if there are soft options available. The Deputy appears to believe we can sprinkle fairy dust and all will be well. I am afraid we do not live in that reality.

On the specifics, we indicated that there would be three successive increases of €250 in student registration charges. We have not reintroduced fees. The Deputy's party is in power in the North and student fees there stand at £5,000 per year. Even when we have completed the programme of increases, the level of the registration charge will be nothing of that order. In the remainder of the United Kingdom, students are charged fees of £9,000 each year. We have been obliged to make difficult decisions. However, we are hopefully coming to the end of the series of budgets in respect of which it has been necessary to make such decisions. We gave a commitment to the Irish people that we would bring the economy back into balance, create a sustainable future for our children and protect social provision into the future rather than collapse all of these, as would have been the case if the policies espoused by the Deputy's party had been adopted.

Photo of Ann PhelanAnn Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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The Leas-Cheann Comhairle has agreed that Deputy Mick Wallace can take question No. 3 in Deputy Luke 'Ming' Flanagan's stead.