Kathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House and acknowledge the comments by Senator Gilroy about the importance of listening to real stories about the real experiences of people in the real world. As legislators and elected representatives, it is important that we are able to listen to people and relay and record their stories in the Oireachtas to ensure their plight is known.

There are 11 specific references to the principle of fairness in the Fine Gael and Labour Party programme for Government. On the formation of the Government, we were told it was committed to forging a new Ireland built on fairness. We were promised that by the end of the Government's term, Ireland would be recognised as a modern, fair, socially-inclusive and equal society supported by a productive and prosperous economy. We were told that the Government was committed to tackling the economic crisis in a way that was fair, balanced and which recognised the need for social solidarity. Despite these clear commitments, the Bill presented to us today is anything but fair. The Minister's second Finance Bill embeds his second budget and, like its predecessor, its impact will be to increase poverty and inequality in Irish society. Recently released statistics show that child poverty in Ireland is among the worst in the EU and is increasing. This is not just my view. The Economic and Social Research Institute produced reports on each of the Government's budgets which demonstrated that more income is being taken from the less well-off in society while the upper echelons are being protected. Even in the worst days of its Government, Fianna Fáil did not have the brass neck to so brazenly hit the poor while protecting the wealthy.

While some people will have doubted Fine Gael's commitment to fairness, many believed that a Government including the Labour Party would ensure that whatever pain was introduced would be focused on those most able to pay. ESRI reports have shown that the most regressive budgets introduced since the start of the economic crisis in 2008 have been those crafted by Fine Gael and Labour Party Ministers. There were alternatives. Senator MacSharry mentioned earlier that there were choices. A long list of organisations presented fully-costed alternative budget proposals. Sinn Féin produced an alternative budget and parliamentary questions record our costed proposals, bar the wealth tax. The proposals crafted by Sinn Féin and other organisations representing the people about whom Senator Gilroy spoke earlier were ignored. Senator D'Arcy mentioned earlier that there are some positives in the Bill and it would be remiss of me to ignore them. The increase in capital gains and acquisition tax is to be welcomed, notwithstanding that it is too modest. The additional restrictions on some tax avoidance schemes are also positive although much more could have been done. The excise duty relief for hauliers and transport providers is a very necessary support for a very important sector of the economy which is genuinely struggling. However, these measures cannot outweigh the overwhelmingly negative impact the budget will have on ordinary people.

Before the Minister entered the Chamber, Deputy Brian Hayes spoke about the macro versus the micro picture and said that things were looking better in terms of the former. The effect is just not trickling down to the micro level and people's ordinary lives. Members, including myself, will have been out knocking on doors in the Meath by-election. Elections give one the chance to connect on a more personal level with the people one represents. Just this morning, I knocked on a door and the woman who answered told me that her belt was getting tighter while the wealthy seem to be getting fatter. People are suffering and it is having a knock-on effect in terms of confidence in public representatives and institutions, including the Oireachtas. Significant increases in indirect taxation through excise duties and certain tax treatments are going to take much-needed spending power out of the pockets of low and middle-income families.

This will take much-needed spending power out of the pockets of low and middle income families. It will make their lives harder, as we all hear from ordinary people, and will damage the businesses that rely on them for trade. Although there are measures in the Bill aimed at SMEs we have to consider what taking money out of people's pockets does to the domestic economy and the spill-over effect on small businesses and trade.

Taxing maternity benefit for new mothers, adoptive benefit and the health and safety benefit are clear indications of this Government's priorities. It will push many struggling families further into financial hardship while protecting wealthier people. There is no third rate of income tax for high earners. There is no real wealth tax, not even the moderate increase in the universal social charge for high earners as proposed by the Labour Party. This Bill does not demonstrate the fairness mentioned 11 times in the programme for Government. This legislation is unfair. Poverty and equality proofing of future budgets would go a long way to address many of the inequalities so far brought forward. Families and the domestic economy are hurting which hampers our social and economic recovery. That is why we will be opposing this Bill.

I have one question for my own information, if the budgetary process is being brought forward to October this year will there be another Finance Bill by the end of the year or will it be introduced next January?