Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thought this was a day when we could not add any more to the confusion regarding whether it was a Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael budget. I thank the Minister of State for taking the time to come in to us. There are two things I would like to say about this budget. The first is that it will go down in history as the triple F budget - the Fianna Fáil budget, the Fine Gael budget and the dilemma of what to do with the other "F", which is the famous "fiver". It gives me no joy to say that.

I note the usual nonsense from Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael regarding the clearly costed alternative that Sinn Féin produced recently. We make no apology for closing the tax avoidance schemes and for asking those earning over €2,000 per week to pay a little extra on the amount over €2,000. They used the same language they have used for the past ten years, namely, that we have no grasp of economics. Our document detailed each and every figure on how much money we had to spend, where it would come from and what we would spend it on in the years ahead. I remind Fianna Fáil that it cost us to the tune of €64 billion. I have a 15-year-old son who will be 54 years of age before we are finished paying off the Fianna Fáil debt. That is a burden to him and all 15-year-olds in this country. We have paid almost €40 billion over the past five years in interest alone. We are squabbling here over €1.2 billion. We pay €7 billion servicing the debt of Fianna Fáil economics every year so I will not take any lectures from Fianna Fáil about economics and budgets not being costed. I regard Fianna Fáil criticism of our economics as a compliment and take great comfort that we in Sinn Féin differ so much from the party that drove this country to the ruin that it would like people to forget about.

The only figures in the Fianna Fáil alternative budget were the page numbers at the bottom of each page. Many Fianna Fáil representatives protested that it was not their job to produce an alternative budget giving their unique position in supporting this minority Government. If that is the case, they urgently need to be honest and clear with the people. The budget read out a couple of hours ago was their budget. If, as they say, it does not reflect their ideology, they should vote against it if their ideology is worth anything. All of us here choose to enter politics of our own free will. Those of us in parties choose which one to join. Politics is about choices. Peddling a lie that there is no other choice available is a trick as old as politics. Today's budget was presented as such. That Fianna Fáil may abstain from the vote is another get-out-of-jail card that has been floated. As a public representative for the past seven years, I can say that I have had to deal with the truly awful situations that people were in after it drove the economy into the ground and yet managed to hold on to power. I am certain that many, if not all, of these people now wish it had abstained from Government before it closed our hospital beds and savaged so many other areas that have still to be fully restored.

Many of the major issues I have been contacted about have not been addressed today. Much is made of the small decrease in USC but this means very little to those who have seen their car insurance premiums double, treble and quadruple in the past number of years. The USC cuts will erode the tax base by €5.6 billion by 2021. That makes this measure very regressive for such a paltry gain. A worker struggling on €20,000 per year will get €1.90 back every week. The Nevin Economic Research Institute tweeted during the Minister for Finance's speech that it was a disastrous move and there was no foundation for a recovery. The issue of rents was not addressed and rent certainty was absent. Indeed, it fell to Sinn Féin to introduce it to the Dáil and I look forward to the Bill being debated in the Seanad tomorrow. This will be an opportunity for Fianna Fáil to show the public that it is not the same as Fine Gael and to vote in favour of the Bill in accordance with its manifesto.

The Minister announced a €5 increase in the old age pension to take effect in five months' time. These are five long winter months where the increase could have helped with money for fuel, which is hardly covered by the twenty odd euro per week in fuel allowance. I spoke to a pensioner from Castlebar earlier today and asked her what she thought of the budget and what she was going to do with the €5. She said that there was only one thing she could say, which was that it was disgusting. She said that the Government did not think it worthwhile to give pensioners the Christmas bonus - 85% of it was given back - in the same way it did not think pensioners were worth one full hour of home help. It is either 15, 30 or 45 minutes.

There was also an opportunity to reverse some of the cuts that have cruelly impacted upon the most vulnerable. The 15% cut in funding for children with special educational needs could have been reversed but instead this will have to wait. I went down to Limerick with a disabled child to get physiotherapy two weeks ago, which involved an 80-mile round trip. The litmus test of this budget is whether that child and their family will be helped. Today does not give me confidence that they will be helped.

The package for first-time buyers, which will supposedly be worth €500 million, will not see one extra house built. I am beginning to think that even after six months, the Government does not fully understand that we have a housing crisis. The problem is with supply so these measures will do nothing to relieve the imbalance between supply and demand.

The Sinn Féin budget would have seen a capital investment of €1.23 billion. That is the stark figure that should be compared with the weak and disappointing investment plan announced in the Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael budget today. The real test of this budget will be whether it will take the elderly and sick people off trolleys in our hospitals. Will it give one child an extra seat on the school bus? Will it give young people anything more than €100 per week whereby they are told to get out and seek employment on €100 per week? Will it take those young people out of poverty? If this is the best that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil combined can offer 100 years after the 1916 Rising, it is surely time for an alternative. This should have been a budget where we clearly demonstrated that we cherished all the children equally - north, south, east and west.