Kieran O'Donnell (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I commend the budget. It recognises that people have come through very difficult times. The rebalancing in favour of spending over tax cuts in a 3:1 ratio is a recognition that we have come out of those difficult times and are now in a position to invest in order to drive further job creation and to provide proper services. It is a family friendly budget for a number of reasons. The reduction in USC which applies to everyone will help families. The home care credit has been increased by €100 and mortgage interest relief has been extended. I also welcome the fact that interest relief on rental properties will increase from 75% to 80% and will increase by 5% increments over the coming years. Hopefully landlords will pass on that tax relief by not increasing rents. That is hugely important.

I welcome the changes to the rent a room relief scheme which mean that people will now be able to earn up to €14,000 per annum tax free. I agree with the imposition of a ceiling on this because if the amount was higher, that would encourage landlords to increase rents. The ceiling will ensure that landlords do not use this as a way of charging higher rents. The home renovation incentive scheme has been extended for another two years which I welcome.

The capital acquisitions tax relief has been increased by €30,000 for class A recipients, namely, family members. I hope this is the start of a process. The relief was significantly higher a few years ago and it must be considered in the context of succession planning and so forth. I welcome the fact that deposit interest retention tax, DIRT, is coming down by 2% per annum for the next four years. This tax was increased in difficult times and I welcome the fact that it is now being unravelled. People should not be penalised for saving. There are lots of people, particularly the elderly, who have savings and the interest they were earning was being taxed at a very high rate. I welcome the changes in this regard.

There are a number of budgetary measures relating to family farms. Farmers are taxed on their profits in a particular way, known as income averaging. In recognition of the fact that they are currently going through hard times, farmers can effectively opt out of that system for this year. In the context of the rapid approach of the preliminary tax deadline, that is a very welcome measure. I also welcome the scheme to be administered by the Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, SBCI, under which farmers will be able to get loans at 3%. That measure may have to be reconsidered in future years. Consideration must be given to the depreciation of sterling against the euro and the implications for Ireland. Obviously various Departments are rolling out their plans but I would like to hear about the practical measures that will be taken to combat the negative consequences.

The issue of child care is one about which I feel very strongly. I welcome the fact that an affordable child care programme will operate from next September. The affordable scheme will be targeted at children between 6 months and 15 years but there will also be a universal subvention paid to families. While the amount itself is not enormous, it will make a difference to families on a monthly basis. I welcome the fact that those in receipt of the domiciliary care allowance will now be entitled to a medical card. This was a huge issue with people on the ground. Families with children who are ill should be given a medical card regardless of their circumstances.

I welcome the fact that the means test for the farm assist payment is to be relaxed. I also welcome the fact that the lone parent disregard is being increased by €20. We must find mechanisms that will facilitate lone parents returning to work. Lone parents are a group for whom I have a huge amount of time. They are rearing children in very difficult circumstances. We must support them to get back into education and back into work. Many of them get caught in poverty traps very early in their lives and find it impossible to get out of them. It is in that context that I very much welcome the aforementioned measure.

On a general note, I wish to refer to the investment elements in the budget. I welcome the fact that we will have 2,400 extra teacher posts coming on stream as well as an additional 800 gardaí and 500 civilian members of the force by the end of 2017. These are investments which, particularly in respect of teachers, will help families. The same is true of gardaí in terms of crime prevention. I would like to see a lot of those teachers and gardaí being employed in Limerick, which has lost a lot of such personnel in recent years. I ask that when the new gardaí are coming out of Templemore many of them will be sent to Limerick.

In the context of people with disabilities, I welcome the fact that money is to be put aside to help those who are transitioning from school to adult life.It is a big issue for me on the ground and I feel very strongly about it.

I will make two general points. The reduction of the debt to GDP ratio from 60% to 45% is very welcome. The 3:1 shift towards spending shows that we are getting back to normality. I want to see two areas dealt with. We need to see the detail on the measure relating to section 110 and vulture funds regarding how it will work in practice to ensure a situation does not arise where these people do not pay tax on Irish property. In respect of practical measures relating to Brexit that I would like to see, the largest issue for the SME sector will be the fluctuation in the value of sterling. We must find a mechanism whereby these businesses can stay afloat. Many of them will come under increasing pressure. We do not know how sterling will fluctuate. It is very possible that we may have parity and that is something we must guard against. I would like to see the detail in respect of that.

I commend the budget and think it shows that we are very much getting back to some normality, that we recognise the hardships people have had to endure and that we are putting the funding in place to ensure we can generate jobs, investment and public services.