Pearse Doherty (Sinn Fein)

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Seanadóir Buttimer. Tá a fhios agam go bhfuil go leor le rá aige ar an cheist seo. Tá mé iontach buíoch gur roinn sé a chuid ama liom.

The budget is terrible and it has rightly gone down badly in the community. The Government parties had to make cutbacks and manage the public finances but they have got it all wrong. They promised us they would look after the most vulnerable but they did not. They stated they would ensure the top earners would pay their fair share but they did not. The also promised that front-line health and education services would be protected but this did not happen.

The Government failed to tackle the crisis in education in the budget. It is astonishing that the parties have opted to increase class sizes and slash the funding for primary school buildings. Everyone knew they had moved away from their commitment in the programme for Government to reduce class sizes. However, no one expected it to be completely abandoned in favour of an increase in class sizes. This move is a kick in the teeth to all the voters who took Fianna Fáil at its word when it promised to reduce class sizes during the general election campaign in 2007. More than 1,400 schools are covered by the schools building programme, yet the Government has slashed funding for the primary sector. The Minister announced an additional €79 million for the programme but it is all being invested in third level institutions. It is unbelievable that the Government is considering a 5% reduction in funding for primary school buildings.

The increase in the registration fee for third level students from €900 to €1,500 will place a huge burden on students subject to high rents and other education costs. The Government promised that the capitation grant would be doubled but it will only increase by 13%, which will do nothing for schools that are €84 million in debt and which must be funded through cake sales, race nights and so on. An opportunity was missed. I welcome a number of small measures the Government got right but, in general, this is a bad budget and it needs to be revisited through amendments to the Finance Bill. The Government parties need to do the right thing and acknowledge they got the budget wrong.