Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The new assistance for first-time buyers will not work. All it will do is make builders richer. If that is the Government's answer to the problem, they do not know the question. Sean Barrett, who is a former Member of this House and a leading economist, has told me it is not a solution to the problem. The problem is supply. We need a better solution to the one that has been put forward. In that regard, Members on this side of the House will be proposing a number of amendments to the finance Bill.

Of equal concern is the child care provision. That is an issue Members on all sides of the House raised in that it must work in a better way for people. In some instances, people will benefit by only 50 cent per hour. That is merely a drop in the ocean. It is better than a kick in the head, as described by some journalists, but it is not good enough. It does not take into account anomalies with regard to babies and toddlers who require to be minded by a child minder. There are only 160 child minders registered with Tusla, so where will all those people come from if we make it open to child minders?

I express a word of caution. We have 30,000 fewer civil servants than we had in 2008, yet next year's wage bill is €20 billion. That is only €700 million less than it was in 2008. Have we learned anything over the past number of years? Have we reformed our system? We have fewer public servants but, very shortly, the wage bill will be the same.