Pearse Doherty (Sinn Fein)

There is talk about having a knowledge economy and getting people back into education but those in receipt of the back to education allowance will no longer receive a maintenance grant. That does not make sense. There is a 27% cut in the primary school building programme at a time when there are more than 1,200 schools on a waiting list, with others on a waiting list to get onto the waiting list. Child benefit was cut across the board. There is meltdown in dealing with maintenance grant applications, a matter about which I spoke last night when I pointed out that 22,000 grant applications remained to be processed. What was the focus of the Minister for Finance? It was on cutting the maintenance grant.

The worst decision made in the budget was the one to attack the under-25s who have now taken more than a 50% cut in social welfare payments. We are all supposed to cry crocodile tears for the Taoiseach who has taken a 20% cut, but in real terms, after tax, this represents a cut of less than 10% net on a salary of over €280,000. A person aged under 25 years-----