Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)

We must consider the value we place on people. This section is a full frontal assault on a wide variety of individuals. We are putting deficit reduction and balancing the books ahead of people on the front line. We are not considering people. The Minister referred to Inclusion Ireland. I want Senator Butler to listen to the following quotation. I want him to be clear on what he will be voting for. He cannot have it both ways. Inclusion Ireland states:

The Disability Allowance now stands at €196 a week, and this cutback is compounded by other cuts to child benefit, the prescription levy and cuts in dental treatment. This does not tie in with rhetoric about protecting the vulnerable, nor do cuts to the health budget. It is also at variance with the National Disability Strategy, which is often spoken about by Government as evidence of their commitment to people with disabilities.

That comes from an independent group not engaged in party politics. Fine Gael in its strategy, to which Senator McFadden referred, proposes a saving of €400 million in the social welfare budget. We did not propose cuts in child benefit, nor did we propose policies that would hurt and not protect the most vulnerable. We proposed back to work initiatives to take a minimum of 50,000 people off the live register in 2010 and close to 175,000 by 2013. Unlike the Government, Fine Gael has a job creation policy. Rather than taking €100 from social welfare payments to 20 and 21 year olds or €150 from payments to 22 to 24 year olds, the Fine Gael proposals include references to training and internships in a back to work scheme. Mr. Jim Power, chief economist at Friends First, stated, "The Fine Gael proposal is detailed, costed and should not be too difficult to implement if the party were in Government" and "There is now a very credible alternative." This is about protecting the most vulnerable. How can Senator Butler and his colleagues justify making a cut of €16 in child benefit, a reduction in social welfare payments to those under 25 years of age and hammering the blind and the disabled? How can this be justified? I am not an economist and the Minister might well suggest Mr. Power is a member of some group or party. I have no idea because I do not know the man and would not recognise him if I saw him. However, he is an economist, I am not.

The drug prescription charges introduced by Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney, will add to the level of poverty. What concerns me is that we are using the budget as an economic measure or accountancy exercise. I understand the Minister had to make choices and could not add two and two and get six rather than four. However, I must return to the point that in so doing the Minister failed to protect those most in need of protection. I do not advocate a lifetime of reliance on social welfare. A few weeks ago inThe Irish Times there was an interesting article which encompassed three case studies involving a self-employed, married person with two children, a person on social welfare and a PAYE worker. The person on social welfare came out best. I do not agree with this, but in the world in which I live the people I meet are looking to the State for assistance.

The Minister referred to young people, more and more of whom are moving back into the family home. Last Saturday, while canvassing, I met a woman in her 60s and her husband. They have been married for 40 years and were looking forward to some form of normality without the kids under their feet. However, their two children have had to move back into the family home, one because they lost their job and the other because they could not afford to repay their mortgage and had to rent out their house. We are creating a different culture in Irish society.

I would like to return to the reduction of 4% in social welfare which should be considered alongside the withdrawal of the Christmas bonus which amounted to another 2%. I do not know who to believe when it comes to inflation. As Senator Norris said yesterday, the Department of Finance's forecasts have been wrong on every single occasion I can remember. What is the actual cost of inflation? Last month's consumer price index was the lowest in recent times.

I am not convinced that the proposals in the budget are appropriate. How can we justify penalising people in the manner proposed? As I said on the Order of Business this morning, much the economic turmoil we are in was caused by friends of Fianna Fáil who visited the Galway tent. They are walking around the four provinces of Ireland scot free.