Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We will leave that issue to one side.

I draw the attention of the House to Sinn Féin's alternative budget which was published earlier today. It is a fully costed alternative to the failed policies on tax breaks for those who least need them which have resulted in a lack of investment in key services for those who need them the most. For far too long, any proposal Sinn Féin has brought forward has been dismissed out of hand in an arrogant, nonsensical, illogical and obstructive manner. I am more than happy to engage in any economic debate based on sound, solid actualities, but the schoolyard gobbledygook I have had to endure from Members of this House from whom I would have expected more only serves to expose and underpin the leprechaun economics with which we have been credited globally. The infantile dismissals of Sinn Féin's economic policies and other policies on key areas, including health, education and rural Ireland, do an injustice to the citizens we are here to serve.

Sinn Féin's priorities are to provide for fair taxation to reduce the cost of living and invest in public services. We have clearly shown that by using the €1 billion in the fiscal space available, combined with measures to introduce tax fairness and bring about savings, we could reduce the cost of living and invest in public services, increase capital investment to build homes, schools, health facilities, undertake flood relief works, repair and maintain roads and develop an all-Ireland economy to achieve long-term growth. We want to invest in the all-island economy to strengthen our response to Brexit, for which we have a strategy. In the document published today we are putting forward concrete and costed proposals to deal with the uncertainty in the period ahead. I commend the document to the Seanad and call on the Minister for Finance to consider our proposals and reconsider his plans to prioritise tax cuts over much needed investment in services that have been neglected for too long. It is a fully costed document that makes full use of EU fiscal rules to allow for massive investment in public services, averaged out over a four-year period so as not to be limited by the fiscal space available. This is the clearest example of an option being open to the Government and it will be interesting to see if it grasps it for the good of the people or if, as in the case of Apple, it will refuse to take it in favour of pursuing its own sectional interests.