Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

Another factor is that, as Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Cowen has increased current public spending from 25% to 31% of GNP. The Minister is taking us back to the late 1970s and early 1980s. In the late 1980s it was decided by the leadership of both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael that such spending was unsustainable yet the Government is letting public spending run riot. There is no reform or sustainability in the economy and we will run into major problems in future years unless something happens in that regard.

There is a certain mockery in terms of the budget delivered today in the way the Minister relates to the other citizens in the country. We are all supposed to clap for the extra €12 on the non-contributory pension and the extra €14 on the contributory pension. The value of a mother or father who stays at home to care for their children in the eyes of the State is €18 per week. The value of a pregnant mother is €14 per week. The lowest full adult social welfare rate is now €197.80 but that must be viewed in the context that only a few weeks ago the Minister awarded himself a €700 pay increase, in addition to his €5,500 a week.

The car tax changes indicate the same sort of disconnect Ministers have with the general public. When one is driven around in a car and one does not have to pay for the driver, the petrol, the diesel or the motor tax, it is easy to slap another tax on to the general public——