Dáil debates
Wednesday, 8 October 2025
Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
3:40 am
Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Workers are worse off today because of the Government’s budget. They are in shock and disbelief. What the Government delivered yesterday abandons and betrays working people to look after those at the top. The Taoiseach says the Government's budget was about protecting the economy, but it has pulled the rug from under the very people who are the engine of that economy. They are the people who get up early in the morning, put in hard shifts every day and who, under incredible pressure from the cost of living, keep the show on the road. I am talking about teachers, SNAs, young electricians and carpenters, retail workers and factory workers. In the budget, they were looking for help to keep their heads above water, looking for a break, but they are shaking their heads in disbelief this morning because there was absolutely nothing for them in what Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael served up yesterday.
The Government was, of course, able to find money to give tax breaks to developers and landlords, but it could not find the money to help those who keep this country going. Its raft of broken election promises means that working people are left behind. There is no help with the cost of living. There is the largest tax cuts package in the history of the State, but no break on income tax for ordinary people, no cut to USC, energy credits withdrawn as households face big electricity hikes, no increase in the renters' credit, no action to deliver affordable childcare, no increase in child benefit, petrol and diesel prices hiked up from today and student fees hiked up by €500. Working people are left scratching their heads. After a budget of €9.4 billion, they ask how they can be left worse off today than they were yesterday.
I wonder if the Taoiseach had a chance to watch "Prime Time" last night. If he did not, I urge him to watch it back. He would have heard from Erika, a secondary school teacher. Her husband is an SNA. They have a young daughter. They are renters. They are a working couple trying to build a good life and a future. However, the pressure they are under just to get by and pay the rent, keep the car on the road and meet their bills is incredible. Erika said they would love to have a second child, but they currently see no hope of that. They wonder now if they will have to leave Ireland to have any chance. Her story and circumstances are reflected right across the State. When she was told she would be down money as a result of the Government's budget, you could sense her heart break. She was close to tears. You see, how can you take money from her when she already does not have enough to get by?
These are the people Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have betrayed and abandoned in their budget. Tá stangadh bainte as oibrithe na tíre nach bhfuil in ann buiséad an Rialtais a chreidiúint. Is buiséad é a thréigeann oibrithe agus teaghlaigh atá fágtha níos measa as ná mar a bhí roimhe. Ordinary people are asking when they get rewarded and recognised for their hard work.
Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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When do they get their fair share? The Government is not giving it in its budget. Does the Taoiseach even recognise the hurt and anger that working people are feeling today? Why did the Government deliberately choose to deliver a budget that leaves them worse off?
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Ní aontaím in aon chor leis an méid atá ráite ag an Teachta. De réir na moltaí a bhí aici féin agus na polasaithe ag Sinn Féin maidir leis an gcáinaisnéis seo, bheadh costais maireachtála ag dul in airde dá mba rud é go gcuireadh i bhfeidhm iad.
Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Ní sé sin fíor.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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If you look at Sinn Féin's alternative budget the bottom line is this, and this is not my calculation but the Central Bank's formula. It is spending €13.4 billion - more, in fact, if you add in its once-off measures - in its alternative budget. That budget would add 2.5% to the cost of living and to inflation.
Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Do not rise to that. Do not rise to it.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is absolutely true, and they have been going on for the past month about the cost of living.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Its budget, if you look at the Central Bank's formula for determining this, would have put up inflation and the cost of living by 2.5%.
Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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That is pathetic.
John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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That is ridiculous. That is no defence.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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What I would say is that workers in this country want better water services, more houses, better public transport-----
Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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You have had 100 years.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----more roads and better road connectivity. They want better education services, better health services-----
Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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The Taoiseach is listing the Government's failures.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----and Sinn Féin has gone full circle. I never thought I would hear the day when a Sinn Féin leader would be quoting the Fine Gael mantra about how "It is for those who get up early in the morning". That was at one time a slogan the Deputy would have decried and condemned in her day.
Máire Devine (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Answer the question.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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The point is that we decided we would invest in the future of working people in this country-----
Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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You decided to forget those people.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----that we would protect the jobs we have and then invest to make sure we have the jobs of tomorrow, through investment in research and development, through investment in energy, water, public transport, roads and so forth. We are doing that. That is what will underpin workers in their jobs. This is the first of five budgets, and we will be working on our taxation commitments in future budgets in respect-----
John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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You are not meeting your commitments.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----of those who are working, as we did in previous budgets. However, we also said-----
Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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What about childcare?
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----we would prioritise child poverty, and this is a very progressive budget. If you look at the ESRI's SWITCH model, it is saying the two lowest income deciles get the most from this budget and a significant amount-----
Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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You have missed your child poverty targets year after year.
Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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It is Leaders' Questions.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----relative to others. That is what this budget is doing. I was determined to do it and I said in the House we would do it. It is the beginning of a process to get consistent poverty down-----
Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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You are pushing more people into poverty.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----particularly among children. Look also at the child support payment. It is very significant. The over-12s has gone up by €16 and the under-12s by €8. That will benefit approximately 330,000 children in this country. It is moving in the direction of a second tier in supporting those most in need. For children, the €16 is now approximately €4,000 per annum. That is the amount for a child and family in the support payment now. That is significant. It is €3,000 for those under 12.
For carers, there is a record 60% increase in the carer's allowance weekly income disregard. That is significant, going from €375 to €1,000. A single carer can now earn just above €54,000 per year and receive a full carer's payment. Income disregard for a couple increased by €750, to €2,000.
Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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He is not answering the question.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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That means, therefore, that a person caring in a household where their partner earns up to €108,000 will receive a full carer's payment. These are the largest ever increases in the carer's income disregard.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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On disability, there is substantial funding gone into the disability budget plus the domiciliary care allowance is up significantly.
Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Thank you, Taoiseach. I call Deputy McDonald.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I did say in the election that the enterprise economy-----
Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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You will be back in, Taoiseach.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----infrastructure, child poverty and disability were my targets.
Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Whatever about me borrowing the phrase from Fine Gael about those who get up early, which was well spotted, they have clearly forgotten about them as well. The more astonishing thing is that Fianna Fáil hook, line and sinker, all like nodding wee dogs, is going along with the Fine Gael agenda.
Louise O'ReillyMary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Incredible. Who would have thought, but there you go. I will tell the Taoiseach what workers want. They do not want to listen to his bluster. They want to be able to pay their bills. They want to be able to feed their children. They want to be able to run their homes.
Erika wants to have a second child, but that is not on the cards. Erika and her family do not want to be forced out of Ireland, like so many others, to try to have a chance and an opportunity in their lives. The Government promised a lot at the general election. It is clear now that elections are where Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael make their promises, and budgets are where they break them.
3:50 am
Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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The Taoiseach told me only a few short weeks ago that, "We will do what we can on taxation to alleviate the pressure on people." No one took that to mean landlords and developers.
Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I thank the Deputy. Her time is up. The Taoiseach to respond.
Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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We thought he meant working people.
Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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We thought he meant people who generate all of these billions of euro in surpluses.
Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Deputy, your time is up; thank you. The Taoiseach to respond, please.
Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Can the Taoiseach explain again to the working people of Ireland how he arrived at the decision-----
Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Your time is up, Deputy.
Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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-----to spend €9.4 billion and leave them worse off?
Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Thank you. The Taoiseach to respond, please.
Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Explain that, Taoiseach.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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There are tens of thousands of people in this country working in cafes and restaurants throughout the length and breadth of the country. They are workers. It is an industry under pressure.
Niamh SmythVerona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Please, Deputies; you asked for a response.
Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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Increase their wages then.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Studies show-----
Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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Give them a living wage then.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Studies show that increased labour costs did impact on those businesses.
Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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They could not find them better wages.
Natasha Newsome Drennan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein)
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Not on the people working.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Deputies should not be so dismissive of the hospitality sector, as they are in their commentary, and likewise in terms of housing.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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We do need to narrow the viability gap. The Deputy is all bluff and bluster about housing-----
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----but any time there is a solution that can contribute to housing-----
Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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It is a failure in the housing stock.
Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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Where are your backbenchers today?
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----Sinn Féin just knocks it and condemns it and sloganises it by saying it is a tax break for developers.
Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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It is a tax break for developers.
Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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It puts billions of euro into the pockets of developers. The budget has done what Fianna Fáil does.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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What it is about-----
Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Allow the Taoiseach to answer.
Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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It is a tax break for developers.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I did not interrupt you, Deputy.
Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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He did not interrupt-----
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I did not interrupt the leader of Deputy Doherty's party-----
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----and he should stop heckling and shouting and being Mr. Angry all the time.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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The bottom line is this-----
Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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The Taoiseach will know all about anger later on tonight. No due diligence was done on this budget.
Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Time is up, Taoiseach; there is no point.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Well, maybe Sinn Féin's decision to sit it out and not have a candidate might have been a wise one after all, but anyway-----
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I will just say-----
Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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You could even not get your Fianna Fáil backbenchers to turn up this morning.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Sinn Féin does not-----
Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Taoiseach, your time is up. They do not want to listen. They did not allow you to speak.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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A Cheann Comhairle, that is not good enough. We will either have-----
Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Deputies did not allow the answer.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I think we need fairness. I am not being allowed to answer.
Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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Your fairness is only for developers.
Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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A Cheann Comhairle, in fairness, he never answers anyway.
Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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If they are not prepared to answer within the time, they are not prepared to listen, Taoiseach, in the same way they do not accept.
Will Deputy Bacik please ask her question?
Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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Go raibh maith agat-----
James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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Up they go; the circus is leaving town, as always.
Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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Yesterday’s budget was a deep disappointment. There is real anger out there. The Government made choices in this budget that are impacting really adversely on so many people. As my colleague Deputy Nash said in what I think was the line of the day yesterday, this is a budget that is giving handouts to burger barons and big builders, but broken promises for everyone else.
People see that, and this is raw for students facing a €500 fee increase, parents seeing no reduction in childcare costs - when they can get a childcare place - families struggling with the cost-of-living crisis and people unable to find a home of their own and, of course, nothing for disabled people or carers. This was derisory for those people.
Here in Ireland, employment rates for people with disabilities are 20% lower than the European average. One in five people unable to work due to disability lives in consistent poverty. Our social protection system has to intervene. There was great hope of significant intervention in this budget. Supports like the disability allowance and disability support grant are essentials, covering costs in heating, food, medication and rent, funding day-to-day expenses of disabled people and carers in an inaccessible society. The removal of one-off support payments in this budget is expected to cost disabled people €1,400 per year. That is not loose change; it is money that keeps the lights on.
By contrast, Labour in government would introduce a cost of disability payment, starting at €25 per week, to help to meaningfully offset the costs of disability. Our Labour alternative budget published last week proposed a 50% increase in housing adaptation grant funding to ease the burden of making a home accessible. The Government's budget could have taken steps like these to provide transformations in the lives of disabled people, but it left them out. It failed to introduce a cost of disability payment, ended one-off payments and introduced nothing new.
In respect of carers, we do welcome the increase in the carer’s allowance disregard. Indeed, that is something that we and in particular my colleague, Deputy Wall, have been campaigning on for years. However, what is missing is progress on abolishing the mean-spirited means test. It is a broken promise. Where is the pathway to abolition that was committed to in the programme for Government less than a year ago? A €10 rise in core payments is derisory. It amounts to an hourly increase of less than six cent for someone providing 24-hour care and yet more than two thirds of caring families are struggling to cover the cost of food and energy in a cost-of-living crisis. The Taoiseach has failed disabled people and carers in this budget and that is really evident. It is a very significant broken promise among a litany of broken promises in a budget that is a do-nothing budget for far too many.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I have to disagree because in terms of the commitments we made in the election, we are following through on them very clearly in this budget.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Bacik avoided the whole area of child poverty.
Conor Sheehan (Limerick City, Labour)
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It ignored the experts.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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She should welcome the move we have made in that regard. We have to do more, but there is a €300 million package alone for the lowest income. Look at the objective assessment. The Labour Party should acknowledge that the two lowest-income deciles will benefit the most from this budget. That is the reality.
In terms of disability, there are significant increases in a range of payments, particularly the disability pension, but also in terms of the domiciliary care allowance, which is going up a further €20 on top of last year's increase, and that is right and proper. There is work under way in respect of the cost of disability. There is a huge increase in the disability budget this year. There is in the order of 20% of an increase in the disability budget in terms of the services for people with disabilities, and that is right and proper. We are going to continue to prioritise disability and child poverty.
In terms of infrastructure, if we look at education investment in terms of more schools, that affects workers. They want their children to have access to education services. The capitation grants are going up by record levels. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, secured €50 in terms of primary and €20 in post primary. They are very significant on top of the increases we have had in previous years. That is all recognising the impact of the cost of living on schools and services. We have a rising population and we have an infrastructure deficit. The workers of this country need their jobs protected, and we need to be creating new types of jobs for the future. That is going to happen because of the investment we have committed to, which is more long term but we are doing it, in building the roads, hospitals and schools and in terms of investment in research and development. We did a lot in the late 1990s and early 2000s in research, which laid the foundations for jobs that we have today - high-quality, high-value jobs - both in foreign direct investment and in terms of the domestic economy. The measures in the budget on the taxation side for research and development and in terms of what the Minister, Deputy Lawless, has in his budget and the NDP, which is very much enhanced, will make a significant step change in research in this country. That guarantees jobs in the future. It does not guarantee votes in the short term, by the way, but it is the right thing to do for the country. It is the right thing to do. I am trying to move away from short-termism and in this first budget we want to lay foundations that will sustain the economy.
Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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After the election-----
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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No, I said during the election that I wanted to maintain the enterprise economic model that we have, which Deputy Murphy resolutely opposed.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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That was a big choice in the election and people voted accordingly in terms of that fundamental principle.
Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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Certainly, in last year's budget there was a very different approach taken. It was a giveaway budget to buy people's votes. This year, the Government has made very different choices. Let us be clear about those choices. The Taoiseach referenced child poverty. We in Labour put forward last week a children's budget; a costed set of proposals that would have made meaningful steps to tackling the scourge of child poverty and child homelessness. In the Ministers' budget speeches, there was no reference to homelessness.
Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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No reference to the shocking figure of 5,000 children in homelessness. No reference to the proposal to introduce a second tier of child benefit, which is a really meaningful way in which we could have tackled child poverty. As Deputy Sherlock said, this could have been the game-changer for children and child poverty. Instead, the Government has chosen to give over €600 million in a giveaway - a whopper of a giveaway - for big fast-food chains and big business in the hospitality sector.
That is a choice the Government made. The Labour Party, uniquely, in our manifesto last year, did not make that choice. We stood against that sort of crazy VAT cut. We did not stand for narrowing the tax base. We stand for decent public services and tackling child poverty and homelessness.
4:00 am
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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That is why we have invested in public services. This is a €9.4 billion budget. A lot of economists are saying it is too high and we should not be expending as much as we are spending.
Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour)
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There was €600 million in the hospitality package.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Sorry, that is what a lot of economists are saying to us. We disagree. We think the expenditure increase is in line with the basic premise of an expenditure rule, that this represents real growth of the economy-----
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----and a change in price levels. That is the Government's position. It is a very substantial investment in public services.
On the second tier, some of the models for the second tier would result in thousands of children losing out. What we have opted to do, in a more straightforward way, is to substantially and unprecedentedly, in terms of the scale of the increases the Minister, Deputy Calleary, put forward, increase the child support payment. It is quite substantial. We will grow that and, de facto, we essentially will have, in time, a second tier. That is the most straightforward and simple way to do it. It will be very impactful.
On education, and health and disability services, there are substantial increases way above the rate of inflation for those services.
Holly Cairns (Cork South-West, Social Democrats)
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I should not be surprised by this Government's approach to the budget. Time and time again, we have seen Fianna Fáil's and Fine Gael's approach to these things. It is just that no matter what, it is hard to understand how, at a time when the number of children living in consistent poverty doubled last year, the Government chose not to introduce a second tier of child benefit. I cannot, for the life of me, understand why after all its election promises, the Government did not introduce a weekly cost of disability payment. It is just astounding that on budget day, the Minister for Finance failed to even mention the 16,000 people living in homelessness.
Despite the fact that similar happens every year, I am still surprised, shocked and devastated that, year after year, the opportunity to address these issues is there and within reach but is wasted. It is particularly devastating when the Government is awash with cash. Government spending has soared from €70 billion in 2020 to nearly €120 billion now. What do we have to show for it? A worsening housing crisis, threadbare disability services and rising child poverty.
This budget can be summed up quite simply: broken promises, missed opportunities and completely crazy priorities. Anyone examining it would think the cost-of-living crisis has been most acutely felt by developers and fast food chains. Millions of euro are going to the likes of McDonald's instead of lifting thousands of children out of poverty. There is €568 million in tax cuts for developers, when less than half of that would be enough to introduce a weekly cost of disability payment.
When we call for these measures, we get the usual response from the Government that it cannot do everything, that it would be financially irresponsible, etc. What is truly irresponsible is how the Government is playing fast and loose with the country's finances and the devastating consequences of that. The Government has narrowed the tax base by €1.3 billion, making our economy even more reliant on corporation taxes. It is further privatising our public services by stealth. Everywhere we look, we see the waste of taxpayers' money on a Government ideology that thinks the market is king. Somehow, it still cannot seem to see the damage this approach is causing, including further discrimination against disabled people and record levels of homelessness. If constant increases in child poverty are not a wake-up call for the Government, I do not think there will be one.
As I said, I am surprised but I should not be. I hope people will judge this Government on its actions, not its empty words in the lead-up to the election. My question is about one of those promises. Why did the Government not introduce a weekly cost of disability payment?
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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It is not a question of we cannot do everything. We have provided very effective measures in respect of child poverty in this budget, which the Deputy seems to have deliberately ignored. There is a weekly increase of €16 in the child support payment, to €78, for children aged 12 and over. That is now up to €4,056 per annum. There is a child support weekly increase of €8, to €58, for children aged under 12, which is up to €3,000 per annum. There is an increase of €10 in all core welfare rates, a €60 increase in weekly income thresholds for the working family payment for all family sizes. Families getting the working family payment will qualify for fuel allowance. There will be a €5 increase in fuel allowance per week from January. There is the back to school clothing and footwear allowance rate, which has been extended to children aged two and three who are eligible for that allowance. That is a whole series of measures that, cumulatively, will make an impact on consistent poverty. That is why we prioritised it in this budget. On the disability budget, there is a 20% increase in the allocation to core services.
In respect of housing, there is a very significant lift for homelessness.
Rory Hearne (Dublin North-West, Social Democrats)
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That is because the numbers are increasing so high.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister, Deputy Browne, sought that. The increase in allocation to enable 10,000 houses to be built, as opposed to any additional leases and so on, is also very significant. With respect, the Deputy cannot say it is about the market being king in terms of housing because the Government is the biggest single investor in housing at the moment.
Ciarán Ahern (Dublin South West, Labour)
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No, it is the market.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Where I disagree with her is, if we want to get to 50,000 houses, we will need the private sector involved. We will. There is a tendency in the Opposition to decry builders or people who will have to build the houses. The bottom line is we have a problem with the viability of apartments. That is well known. There are 40,000 apartments with planning permissions, but they are not being built because the argument has been they cannot be built at a cost that would make it affordable for people to buy. A number of measures-----
Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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The cost of disability payment. Where is it?
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----the Minister has taken, in addition to the VAT-----
Holly Cairns (Cork South-West, Social Democrats)
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Can you answer the question, please? The cost-----
Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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Where is it?
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----will, combined, enable us to get apartments built. We need the private sector in-----
Holly Cairns (Cork South-West, Social Democrats)
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We are asking you about disability and the cost of disability payment.
Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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Deputy, you will be coming back in.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----to complement what the State is doing. The market is not king according to my philosophy because, in the past four to five years, we have substantially increased the State's investment in housing. This budget does so again with very significant increases.
Holly Cairns (Cork South-West, Social Democrats)
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On the cost of disability-----
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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If we want to get to the level we want to get to, however, we absolutely have to have a combination of public sector investment in housing, along with private sector investment in housing.
Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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Where is the cost of disability payment?
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Social Democrats' policies would, in our view, shut out completely the private sector-----
Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
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The cost of disability payment. Where is it?
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----contribution to the housing issue.
On the cost of disability payment, as I said, we took steps to enhance the disability allocation by 20%. Also, the domiciliary care allowance is going up by €20 per month, which will be important for those families.
Holly Cairns (Cork South-West, Social Democrats)
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How much the Taoiseach ignored disability in his reply is representative of how much it has been ignored in the budget. The Disability Federation of Ireland said it too; the Taoiseach does not have to take my word for it. It described the budget as a betrayal of disabled people, stripping away vital supports and deepening poverty. I recognise there was increased funding in the budget for disability, but the Minister of State with responsibility for disability herself said that the Department was coming from a low funding base. That is the understatement of the year.
Services for disability have been starved for far too long now, so bringing it up ever so slightly will not make a dent. The Taoiseach knows that, I know that and disabled people all over the country know that. Yet, the Taoiseach is trying to defend it and make excuses. His excuses will not pay for the added costs that people who have a disability face in Ireland every day. We have the lowest employment rates for people with a disability in the EU and threadbare services. We still have not seen the reintroduction of the motorised transport grant that was scrapped nearly two decades ago.
I will ask the Taoiseach again. Will the Government reconsider introducing a cost of disability payment to recognise the cost of having a disability in this country?
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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There are 177,000 people on disability allowance who will get a minimum of an extra €520 in 2026. There is an increase of €618 million in the disability budget. That is not a minor amount. It is a very significant increase. By the way, last year, the Social Democrats supported a VAT reduction for hospitality. They did. Yet, they come here today and say they are all against it. They voted against it last night.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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You did. You said hospitality should be split between accommodation and food for a 9% VAT rate.
Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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It should be split, Taoiseach.
4:10 am
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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On 9 November, that is the statement that was made.
Jennifer Whitmore (Wicklow, Social Democrats)
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We said it should be split.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputies come in here today and attack the Government for doing what they asked us to do the previous year. That is inconsistent.
Noel Grealish (Galway West, Independent)
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They have gone very quiet.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I could use worse language to describe it but I will not do that. It is essential for this country that we invest in our future and that is what we are doing. The capital budget is very significant here in terms of roads, energy and housing. We have allocated substantial funds.
Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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After listening to the Taoiseach and his Government speak about balanced growth and fiscal responsibility, I have to ask whose balance, whose growth and whose responsibility? The ordinary worker and the small business owner feel that this budget has punished their efforts of a good, honest day's work. It is the same for the vintner or pub owner, the shopkeeper in Mallow whose electricity bills have almost doubled, the self-employed electrician in Mayfield who rang me last night and has not had a day's sick pay in 22 years, and the family who drive from Glenville into Cork city every morning and now face an increase of the carbon tax on top of VAT, excise and fuel prices that are already some of the highest the State has seen.
These are the people who pay their way. These are the people who do not ask out for handouts. They just want a little bit of fairness. Yet, this budget rewards the biggest and the best that are connected: multinationals, developers and Departments with new investments. There was €1.6 billion allocated to a contingency fund for IPAS. There was not one cut to the inflated NGO sector. However, the workers who keep Ireland moving are left with the highest cost and shrinking take-home pay with no relief in sight. The Government talks about fiscal discipline but there is nothing disciplined about punishing those who get up and work. The Taoiseach talks about compassion but there is nothing compassionate about ignoring those who pull up the shutters at 6 a.m. to keep the lights on in their business, struggling and worrying about how they will pay their staff on a Friday afternoon.
This Government calls it balanced but the scales in this Government are fixed; they are fixed in favour of bureaucracy and against the backbone of our country. Let me put these questions directly to the Taoiseach. Does he justify giving new incentives to large corporations while the self-employed, tradesmen and small shopkeepers are barely surviving? Will this Government stop treating workers as a funding source for everyone else in this State and instead reward them for their effort of getting up and working? Does the Taoiseach accept that the so-called green taxes have become a double tax on rural communities in Ireland? These are people who have no train to take, no bus to catch and no choice but to drive.
Fairness is not just a slogan. Fairness is when people get up early, work hard, play by the rules and do not get punished for it. Right now, this Government is not playing fair and fairness is well and truly gone.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I have to disagree with the Deputy. The VAT cut for the hospitality sector is overwhelmingly a support for small businesses and the businesses he talked about in Mallow and Glenville.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am sure the Minister of State, Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan, could tell the Deputy about the impact the cut in hospitality VAT will have in west Cork, which his colleague, Deputy Collins, sought as well.
Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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We are not talking about-----
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Deputy needs to be consistent. Right throughout west Cork, there will be many cafés and restaurants thrilled with that decision because it will underpin jobs-----
Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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They will be closed by July.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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-----in those areas throughout.
Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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The Deputy needs to be quiet.
Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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Sorry, a Cheann Comhairle.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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People go on about fast food chains and McDonald's. These are all franchises run by local people. Even though you see the McDonald's or Burger King sign, it is still local people employing young people and so on. That is what we are talking about. We are not talking about money for the big chains.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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We are talking about franchises. Deputy Murphy would not know much about it because he does not believe in business or enterprise.
Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity)
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There are private equity firms involved in a lot of those franchises.
Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Murphy clearly does not understand it.
Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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It is a leader's question to another leader.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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We have also kept the VAT on electricity and gas at 9%. That is a help to people. If it went back up, it would be a significant burden on people. We have chosen to invest strongly in public services, which will benefit everybody. There are five budgets to come. We did a lot on taxation during the previous three years and we will do more in the budgets to come as well in respect of taxation. Given what is happening in the world and the United States, with tariffs and so on, we need to protect the jobs we have now and into the future and we need to invest in infrastructure because the population is increasing significantly.
On the carbon tax, we must look at the overall scheme of things. If we had allowed VAT to go to 13.5%, that would be big for people's gas and electricity bills. Equally, the revenue from carbon tax helps those in fuel poverty, helps us to have the biggest retrofitting programme for housing ever, which benefits workers and middle-income families. That is a very important retrofitting programme. It could not be financed otherwise on any sustainable basis. It also helps farmers through environmental farming schemes. If you took that funding away now, it would leave an enormous hole in the budget that would not fund what is desirable. The Deputy might disagree with me. I think climate is an issue that needs to be addressed. I genuinely do. We cannot ignore it and that is why I support it. We have to agree to disagree on that.
In terms of working families, and particularly low-income working families, this budget does a lot. It cannot do everything in one budget but on the core issues of infrastructure, disability and child poverty, it makes very serious inroads and, in education and health, it does likewise.
Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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People are tired of being told they are better off than they were. The truth is they are not. I do not know when was the last time the Taoiseach walked into Lidl, Aldi, Dunnes or the local supermarket to do his shopping, looked into his basket, paid his bill and asked himself, "In the name of God, what did I buy?" That is the reality of people's lives today. I do not know when the Taoiseach last did that. Perhaps his housekeeper does that for him; I do not know.
John Connolly (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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That is a terrible comment.
Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North-West, Fianna Fail)
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That is disgraceful.
Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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We talk about fairness. The Government has frozen the tax band, raised the fuel cost and left families carrying the load. The Taoiseach has not answered the question about the toughness for society and the difficulty men and women have rearing children. Does the Taoiseach know what people are most afraid of? They are afraid of the postman's knock. They are afraid of the next bill that is coming through the door. They are afraid even though they are doing everything right and they wonder why they are being punished by this Government. These are the workers and shopkeepers from Ballincollig paying €2 extra on a litre of fuel.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Actually, I do not have a housekeeper. I never have had. I do shop every week myself. It is no big deal. I go to the Douglas market and the English Market. I have my routine. The price of food has gone up. It has gone up significantly. I acknowledge that, and that is why we decided to target those on the lowest incomes. We took a deliberate decision. As I said this before in the House, all the left wing parties wanted us to do universal payments. I am not saying the Deputy is left wing. They all wanted us to do universal payments. There was a time when those on the left wing would have favoured targeting. Fianna Fáil always had a social conscience.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Along with Fine Gael and the Independents in government, we said we wanted to prioritise investment in infrastructure and look after disability, not just in terms of the core disability services but education as well, with places and making sure we have a system where every child who needs a place will have it in September, as well as in terms of SNAs and so on, all of which are provided for.
Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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The Taoiseach says it but he is not doing it.
Micheál Martin (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Public services help everybody, workers as well as non-workers. That is an important principle we should not lose sight of.