Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)

In the pantheon of Governments this one will go down in history and the Green Party and Fianna Fáil with it, for having taxed people, taken money off the poor, the blind, the disabled and those in most need. The Minister and Senators opposite should look into their hearts and ask themselves whether they really want to penalise people who need help most. If that is the case, then they have more than questions about social welfare to answer; their political philosophy and ideology needs to be examined. The task of Government is to lead by example. Sadly this Government has not led by example. It has led by a different set of rules for many years, and not only this year. Some 38 social welfare payments have been cut and there has been an attack on public sector workers. The attack on those on social welfare means they must pay for the sins of Fianna Fáil and the bankers and for the errors of those friends of Fianna Fáil in the tent at the Galway races. The Government can huff and puff but it is hitting the most vulnerable in society - decent people and honourable public servants who are being put to the pin of their collar. Will those opposite vote for this Bill or will they vote for the people who put them into office 12 years ago and on whom they have turned their backs? Is that the reward they are given? If so, shame on the Government.

The young, the carers, the disabled and the blind, who, in the gospel message, were looked after, have been told by Fianna Fáil that it will bail out the private developers and their friends in the banks but that they must pay. As I said on the Order of Business, the Government has created a new permanent divide in society. It has set the public sector against the private sector and it is almost creating civil war in communities and in families. Do the Minister and her colleagues have a clear conscience about attacking the most needy in our society? They have taken €8 per week from the carer, the blind person and the disabled person. I listened to the Minister say that the Government appreciates and understands.

I refer to some e-mails I received. Someone asked me if I could get their €8 back because the disability allowance is all they have, it gives them independence and it is important to them. Another says €196 is very little to live on and asks if the Minster and her colleagues would live on this? Another asks if the €8 will be given back next year and why are the two Brians and Mary Hanafin taking it from them because they did nothing to them but live and that it is not their fault they are poor.

We hear mealy-mouthed words about tackling the semi-State companies. As Senator McFadden said, the chief executive officers of semi-State companies have not had a red cent taken from them. The Government said it may look into it.

Fianna Fáil has again attacked the poor in the budget. The public sector has been hit in two budgets in a row and the Government has decided to cherry-pick the most vulnerable. The Government is so cowardly that it could not go after the elderly because of what happened last year. That is a bigger failure. It did not have the moral courage to lead.

What is more important is that the cuts to disability payments undermine the plans people have to create person-centred living and services and independent living. This means there will be no new residential day places. It is a lost opportunity for social welfare reform. Listening to Senator Boyle and others, it is ideology gone daft. They are trying to defend and preserve themselves.

The Government has attacked the most vulnerable. There is no justification for and no way one should allow social welfare cuts. Inclusion Ireland, in its response to the budget, stated that the disability allowance now stands at €106 per week, that this cutback is compounded by other cuts to child benefit, the prescription levy and cuts to dental treatment and that this does not tie in with rhetoric about protecting the most vulnerable, nor do cuts to the health budget, and that it is also at variance with the national disability strategy which is often spoken about by Government as evidence of its commitment to people with disabilities.

This Government has one commitment only and that is to hang on to the seats in the Government jet, to hang on to power at all costs, to get to 2012 and to take its chances. It has no interest in people, in putting together a policy with a stimulus plan for jobs, in tackling unemployment and in creating new jobs.

It is the life of two Brians. How did we allow ourselves to get to the eleventh hour with the public sector pay talks and then for them to suddenly collapse? No explanation was given. It was a Cabinet divided; it could not agree. This Bill compounds and accentuates the divide in society.

Senator McFadden quoted Fr. Seán Healy of CORI. Other social commentators, such as Fergus Finlay, have spoken eloquently about this in the past two weeks. We are not dealing with mythical people. We are dealing with people who are living on the edge, who are struggling, who have no hope, who have no optimism and who have been betrayed by a group of people.

Will Fianna Fáil and Green Party Senators, in all conscience, vote in favour of this Bill? Will they betray and divide the people more? That is what they will do if they vote for this Bill. This is about people. I can afford to take a 5% pay cut because I am a single person living on my own and being paid relatively well. However, there are people in Cork South-Central, Dublin and Westmeath who cannot afford to take this cut and they are struggling.

The Government is swanning about the country and the world and does not care. To quote the former Taoiseach, the late Mr. Haughey, this budget is a cold computer printout. It is a bureaucrats' budget compiled by faceless people and people at the Cabinet table who, because they did not care, did not have the moral courage to stand up and protect the people who most need to be protected. That is the bottom line.

This is not about picking a pocket or two. This is a full attack on the most vulnerable people in society. Listening to the Minister's speech, she is living in a utopian world or in an ivory tower. This is extraordinary legislation which will not create jobs but which will drive people into poverty and will take away independent living and the self-respect and pride of people. These cuts will hurt the poor, the young, the carer, the blind person and the disabled person.

People should remember the slogan of 1987. It will be in every front door for the next five years to remind Fianna Fáil that it has taken money from the people. It has taken a minimum of €8 from people. It can never talk about Ernest Blythe again because it has done much worse. It has driven people to a point where they have no hope and are pessimistic. It has dismantled social welfare and created a new type of poverty.

The most vulnerable do not matter to the Government but they matter to us. For as long as we are on this side of the House, we will put forward a different mechanism and proposition, as we did in our alternative budget.

I appeal to people who are decent and honourable and who are people-conscious not to vote for this Bill and to have political and moral courage. Senator Boyle spoke about morality and ethics in politics and life. His party has done a complete U-turn since it got into Government. This cut to payments to carers and people who do the most valuable work in society is unjust and unfair.

Young people are being forced to think about emigration. This budget has nothing for the ordinary person. It is about preserving the bankers, the friends of Fianna Fáil and keeping Fianna Fáil in Government. The people will not forget, not because they are cynical and want to vote for somebody else but because they have had money taken from them, and unnecessarily so. I appeal to Members to vote against this Bill.