Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There needs to be fairness but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. People have to walk the walk and not just talk the talk.

Today sees the launch of Sinn Féin's 2020 alternative budget. It is the ninth alternative budget from my colleague, Deputy Pearse Doherty. We look forward to the day when he will be Minister for Finance presenting the actual budget. This alternative budget is fair and ambitious. It is based on the premise that people should not live their lives squeezed between billing periods. Very simply, it demonstrates what Sinn Féin would do, how it would end the rip-off and give workers and families a break while securing Ireland's future if there is a crash-out Brexit, and even if there is not a crash-out Brexit.

We provide for a radical departure from the failed policies of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. These provisions include two free GP visits for every person without a medical card to ensure that nobody is delayed in going to the doctor because they are worried about the cost.

It was awful to see people in wheelchairs wearing wet gear outside the gate today in teeming rain asking for home care packages. There is something radically wrong when such action has to be taken.

This budget has also allowed for the introduction of an emergency freeze on rents and brings in rent relief, which would save renters the equivalent of one month's rent each year.

It also contains measures to end the insurance rip-off, first, in terms of the levies charged currently by Government that would bring down insurance costs by 5% but also in terms of the legislation needed to address the situation within that.

We would invest an additional €300 million to give people with disabilities and their families a break, including the introduction of free travel for children aged five to 18 and helping families by reducing the cost of childcare by an average of €100 per month.

Something is seriously wrong when the vast majority of people have less money in their pockets now than they did when Fine Gael, supported by Fianna Fáil, came into power three years ago. The reasons for that are obvious.