Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and am delighted he is here to deal with this debate. It is important when we begin to speak about this matter that we consider how far we have come since 2008. In October 2008, there was a €2 billion increase in taxation and €1 billion in cuts. On 7 April 2009, there was an emergency budget that had a €1.8 billion increase in taxation and €1.5 million in cuts. On 9 December 2009, there was €4 billion in cuts while on 7 December 2010, there was €6 billion in cuts. Over two years, there was €12.5 billion in cuts and €3.8 billion in added taxation. That is where we have come from. Today, we have produced a budget that balances but that increases some taxation in order to assist in providing additional services. In particular, the health care budget has been increased by €685 million, which is a huge budget.

A number of people referred to Sláintecare earlier, and it is important we talk about it. One of its deficiencies is that it did not consider the cost effectiveness of the money we spend on health. That is one of my key issues. It is sad that people in this House who have a lot of experience were not included in the committee when it dealt with the matter. For example, my colleague from Sinn Féin, Senator Máire Devine, has a lot of experience.