Fergal Browne (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State and his officials, both in the House and in the antechamber. When we considered the Finance Bill two years ago I was amazed to learn there were so many Department of Finance officials both in the antechamber and in the House. Perhaps it is a reflection on the Seanad that they travel in such numbers.

I was glad I heard the last few minutes of contributions. Senator White reminded me of the typical Fianna Fáil spin. In the budget, the big announcement was about the €1000 child care grant. That has now turned out to be €750, which will be paid only from August next. One cannot blame the public for being cynical when the big fanfare last December was about €1000. People are now being short-changed again, getting €750 instead, and from what I understand they will be lucky to see it in August.

I was glad Senator White also reminded me of the announcement during the budget of the home help packages amounting to €150 million, which we learned a little later was €50 million per year over three years. I am amazed when I hear people on the Government side saying that 29% of people in nursing homes should not be there and should be at home in their own environment. I challenge the Government to prove that and explain to us how many people have now left nursing homes and are being adequately cared for in their own houses. I do not believe the figure of 29% is realisable.

One needs to go through everything the Government says with a fine tooth-comb. My colleague Senator Brian Hayes this week got a reply from the Minister of Finance which showed that more people than ever are now paying the top rate of tax. It is a myth that we have a low-tax Government or economy.

We have also seen major squandering of public money by the Government. A certain amount of arrogance is now creeping into the Government, especially perhaps into the Progressive Democrats. They genuinely think the world cannot go on without them. I saw the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform give that impression on "The Week in Politics" last week, rubbishing any potential partnership down the line with the Green Party. Unfortunately, Senator Minihan has caught the same bug this week. If the Minister of State, Deputy Parlon, is attending his parliamentary party meeting today, he might tell his colleagues in Government that the world was founded without the Progressive Democrats and Fianna Fáil and will go on without them in the future.