Shane Ross (Independent)

I am sorry to part company with my right-wing friend but occasionally these things happen. With a great deal of soul searching, I will support this motion. There is an obligation on those who are not part of the Government not to oppose all cuts but rather to make serious suggestions about where they should be made because everyone acknowledges they are necessary. The Labour Party may also propose, with honesty and integrity, that the budget should be balanced through taxation but it is not enough simply to oppose this measure. If I have time tomorrow, I will suggest where cuts can be made which would be more palatable, fair, appropriate and timely.

There is a real problem in this nation with private sector housing. I am not a free marketeer to the same extent as Senator Norris. I do not believe the market should never be interfered with under any circumstances. However, as a general principle the Government is right that the housing grant was fundamentally flawed when it was introduced. It was designed to give the construction industry a boost but its effect was to distort the market and give an illusory benefit to those who got the grant.

The housing market has taken off and become a terrible social problem. The free market has gone mad in that sector and the Government, despite several attempts and a succession of reports by Peter Bacon, has been unable to solve the problem. It is untrue to say that this is a mechanism and that builders have raised the price of houses by €3,800 because, as the Minister of State and other Members will know, the cheque is issued after the purchase is completed. It is not a totally illusory benefit. People make their calculations, they borrow a certain amount of money from parents and so on and work out that they will get €3,800 to furnish the house. That is the reality. There may be a degree of circular movement but people who are in this extraordinarily penal market are being punished for being there.

If the Government were to come forward with budget proposals to cut the grant because it is distorting the market but if it also introduced measures to ameliorate the circumstances of people who have suffered greatly in this market, I would support this measure. However, we have heard nothing to that effect. If there were reasonable balancing measures, it would be acceptable. We are talking about €38 million or €40 million, which is peanuts. As a public relations exercise, this is something about which the Government should have been advised. Once again, it has picked some unfortunate victims and they need protection because they are in the market – a jungle they do not understand.

I will vote for this motion but I have a difficulty bowing a knee to the Irish Congress of Trades Unions in motions of this sort. I see no reason why the Labour Party needs to give reassurance to these people that it is their party and will support them at all costs.