Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

"We are where we are" is the message we have heard many times. We are where we are because of the policies the Government has pursued for 13 years. Last year the Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Lenihan, told the people that we had turned the corner. We had certainly turned the corner, but we ran into a wall. Every turn taken since has highlighted the inability of the Government to be brave in dealing with the fiscal crisis. The Government has been and probably still is in denial.

The budget announced yesterday targeted the most vulnerable. The payment made under the working age rate scheme has been slashed by €8 per week, while payments made to carers, widows, widowers and people with disabilities have been reduced by 4%. The old age pension has been left alone, yet carers, widows, widowers and blind people can be hit. I cannot fathom what the Government is doing in cutting benefits for the most vulnerable in our community. While that phrase is often used, they really are the ones who are most vulnerable.

Business people, graduates and the unemployed needed the budget measures to lead the way and stimulate growth in the economy. However, they have been badly let down.

Low and middle income families have been targeted in the budget. The universal social charge will be applied to those earning more than €4,000 a year. Was the need for fairness and social justice considered when a charge on poor people earning more than €4,000 a year was added? It is a disgrace. People living in rural areas who need to send their children to school but do not have a means of transport will face an extra charge of €50 under the primary and secondary school transport scheme.

My party has real and workable proposals, some of which have been taken on board by the Government, to get people back to work. We need a pro-jobs tax policy, significant reform of the public service and protection of the most vulnerable. We realise that we cannot recover our independence in economic matters unless we deal with the deficit. For this reason, we have rejected the soft options offered by the left which would involve borrowing even more and accepted the need to cut the deficit aggressively in 2011. Delivering deficit reduction measures to a figure of €6 billion will maximise Ireland's chances of restoring confidence and borrowing in the private markets at a lower interest rate than the rate of 5.8% available as part of the EU-IMF bailout. Unlike some right-wing elements of the Government, however, we know we cannot deal with the deficit if we continue to ignore the jobs crisis and bail out reckless banks.

Given the lack of substantive new ideas to promote job creation and growth, combined with the Government's commitment to continue with its failed banking policy, the Government's plan is not workable and should not be supported. We needed a plan that was fair, but the budget is excessively harsh for low and middle income families. The Government's policies have wreaked havoc in the economy and destroyed confidence. The Government has put 450,000 people out of work and forced many young people to emigrate. While canvassing in the Donegal South-West by-election, I encountered many young, bright people who wanted to join the workforce but will emigrate. That is the legacy of the Government and its policies of recent years. That our young people must leave the country and parents they love to try to find work in Australia, Canada or wherever they can eke out an existence is sad. It is an indictment of Government policy to see young people leaving our shores in such large numbers. We believed we had seen the end of this in the 1950s and 1980s. To see it recurring after the so-called Celtic tiger years is dreadful for everyone, particularly parents.

I will address the cuts outlined in the budget. I remember the time when we did not enter into a pairing arrangement for the Tánaiste when she travelled abroad to attract students to study in Ireland. It made newspaper headlines. However, the element of the Department of Education and Skills budget that funds the general expenses of organisations and those involved in the promotion of Ireland as an international education centre will be cut by 56%. We were told that the focus of the Tánaiste was on bringing people into Ireland and promoting Ireland as an international education centre-----