Mary White (Fianna Fail)

I have three points and will try to be as quick and succinct as I can. First, I draw the attention of Members to the achievements of the previous Fianna Fáil Government. We delivered the peace process. Nobody can deny that. In addition, for many years there was very little unemployment. It is no harm reminding people about that.

I am fascinated by the pride the Taoiseach and the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, take in talking about foreign direct investment as if they had achieved it all by themselves, all of a sudden. The jobs that are being delivered for Ireland at present through foreign direct investment have been worked at and nurtured by IDA Ireland for many years. For 14 years Fianna Fáil sustained international credibility in Ireland with the result that foreign direct investment continued to come into the country. That cannot be denied. My colleague, the leader in the Seanad of my party, Senator Darragh O'Brien, drew attention to the whole infrastructure we have, the magnificent roads throughout the country and the Luas which is relentlessly packed, day in, day out. That must be put on the record.

I draw attention to the impact of the 2012 budget. Research done by the ESRI in analysing the budget under a sophisticated model states that it is clear that the greatest reduction in income will be for those people on the lowest income, with a fall of between 2% and 2.5% for the poorest 40% of households. The Government parties should be ashamed of themselves. If it had been up to me, I would have introduced increased taxation on income. This is a most regressive budget, with indirect cuts. I refer, for example, to cuts in welfare such as the reductions in child benefit payable to families with three or more children. I spoke on this point on the day the budget was introduced and was shocked that everybody was able to sit so quietly. There is also the restriction of the fuel allowance to 26 weeks. Now, in March, it is still quite cold yet the Government is cutting the allowance for older people.