David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

-----but I fully accept the thrust of the amendment which I support.

I said on Second Stage when the Minister was in the House that the test of any Government is whether, at the end of its term, it has increased or reduced poverty and inequality. In terms of all the reports, even the right wing ESRI, which is so-called independent, has indicted the Minister's Government with regard to the past four budgets. The ESRI report on the recent budget showed that the top 40% benefited the most and the bottom 60% benefited the least. The previous three ESRI reports on the Government's three previous budgets were even worse in that they found they deepened inequality. That is the legacy the Minister, her party and this Government have left behind, namely, more people in poverty and more inequality.

In recent days we had the tragedy of two homeless people found dead in Cork. A few weeks ago, unfortunately, Jonathan Corrie was found dead only a few yards away from Leinster House, the seat of Parliament. We have children in this State who go to bed hungry and go to school hungry. Families cannot afford to pay basic bills. If we look at some of the cuts made by the Minister's Government in recent years, it is giving a small amount - crumbs from the table - in terms of a meagre increase in child benefit in this Bill but it has cut child benefit twice. It does not make up for the cuts made. The cut in the respite care grant was seen as cruel. There have been cuts in benefits for older people, the telephone allowance and lone parents allowance. The Minister should know that the rental cap is causing huge difficulty for families in Dublin and across the State where people cannot get access to housing.

I am appalled at the society we have now where children are in poverty, people are dying on the streets, there is structural inequality and low pay, and people who put in a week's work do not have money to provide basic needs for their family. That is the society we have now. When we raise these issues the Minister, his party and the Government say the money is not there. The money is there but they are not prepared to tax wealth and the people at the top to get that money to provide the services people need. I thought that was what they were elected to do. That is the promise the Labour Party made to the people of this State.

It is a shame on this Government, and on all of us in the Oireachtas, that we have a society in which there is so much poverty and suffering for those at the bottom.

If I was in government, if I was in the place of the Minister of State, sitting in his chair, I would look at those ESRI reports, and not just those reports but the reports from Social Justice Ireland, the Irish League of Credit Unions and others. All of the independent reports which have been done in regard to his party's participation in government have consistently shown that more people are living in poverty and we have more inequality, and this budget has not done anything to make up for all of the cuts we have had since 2011. While I will reluctantly support the Bill today because it gives something back to people, and I would not want to be voting against an increase in child benefit because those families need whatever extra income they can possibly get from the State, the Minister of State has to accept that all of the independent analysis, on which he might comment, has shown there are more people now in poverty than there were when his party and this Government took office. I accept it took over in very difficult economic circumstances but that is still the legacy of the Minister of State and his party.

We need to review all of these policies. One of the things my party has called for, as have some Independent Senators, is that all budgets should be equality proofed and poverty proofed. We should not be passing budgets that increase poverty. I would have thought that is a basic principle of the Labour Party, namely, it would equality proof and poverty proof budgets so we would not end up with a budget where a right-wing organisation, such as the ESRI, is saying the top 40% have benefited the most and those at the bottom have again taken the hit.

I wonder sometimes do politicians in government really care about those at the bottom and the suffering that is out there. Are they even conscious of it? Is it something they just pass over and are they just immune to it at this stage? I am not. I see it every single day in my constituency office, as I am sure we all do, but I am prepared to do something about it. I am prepared to argue for a fairer society. I am prepared to argue for fair, just and progressive taxation. It sickens me that we have budget after budget which increases inequality and poverty, while at the same time does not ask the wealthy in society to make any contribution at all - not one red cent extra in income tax did the Minister of State's party seek from the top earners in society. There were regressive taxes like the property tax and water charges but not one extra cent in wealth tax or higher taxes on higher earners, yet we are happy to allow children go to school hungry and have more adults in poverty. We are happy to see that happen and allow it to continue, but let us not talk about increasing taxation on those who can afford to pay it. Then there is this nonsense that if we do it, it will cost jobs. It is low pay and poverty that is driving the inequality and the injustice that many people have to put up with in this State at the moment. Unfortunately, this Government has done nothing to address it.

While I will support the Bill, the legacy the Minister of State and his party have left the people of this State is shameful. We reluctantly support the Bill because it includes provisions for Waterford Crystal workers as well as the increase in the child benefit. However, the Government cannot be applauded for bringing it forward today because of the cuts it has imposed on people over and over again in the past four budgets. I am sure we will have a lot more to say on all of these issues.

Senator Norris pointed out we cannot even make amendments to the Bill and most of the recommendations are again ruled out of order. This is a consistent theme. We go to the trouble of putting down recommendations and we are then told they are ruled out of order. Where is the debate? Where is the political reform and the new politics that the Minister of State's party promised us? There is no evidence of it at all. The Government has trampled over the rights of the Seanad time and again, and then, when we in an earnest way try to put down recommendations and have a debate, we cannot have it as they are ruled out of order, as is the case with many of the recommendations today. Anything that is in any way critical of Government is ruled out of order. It is more nonsense from the Government.

This is a clever recommendation tabled by Fianna Fáil which I am prepared to support. It gives us an opportunity to remind the Government of its past failures and of the deep inequality and poverty which is in this State because of policies the Government has pursued - not as an accident but because of the policies which it has pursued and supported.

It is a shame on all politicians and the Oireachtas that so many people are in a desperate situation but the Government is not prepared to do anything about it.