David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

This is a most unusual budget, which was introduced in the face of the coronavirus. For a start, that makes it extremely unusual and extraordinary. We are extremely fortunate to have this Government in place, in particular this Minister for Finance. The Minister knows very well I would say very clearly if I thought he was useless, but I have watched his career with great interest since the days when he sat in front of me here in Seanad Éireann. I remember his very clear grasp of financial matters, which was extremely welcome.

Large numbers of submissions came in and it was impossible to deal with them all, but I am sure the Minister has received most of them. I welcome the reduction in the VAT rate to 9% for the hospitality sector, but I wonder why that was not done earlier. It should have been done earlier.

I have a specific interest in the car tax, which I will declare. I have a lovely old Jaguar XJ 16.5 l, which I bought for €5,000. It costs me that, between tax and insurance, to keep it on the road every year. That is absolute madness. I made this point before when the Minister in the chair was Mr. Gormley. I said to him that he should put the tax on petrol, based on the polluter-pays principle. That is the most efficient way of tackling the issue and I return to it now. This crisis has produced a situation in which there was a possibility of readjusting the global financial system, as there was also with the economic crisis, to make things a little fairer and reduce the enormous, grotesque amounts of money that some individuals have in contrast to the poverty we see. However, the Covid crisis has increased this divergence, which is extremely sad. That is something that will have to be tackled in the long run.

One of the submissions I received was from the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, which is a marvellous organisation. It wants to extend the ban on evictions. How could people be evicted under these circumstances? The submission also asked that we put in place an adequate financial guidance and support package for tenants in rent arrears, to help them out. The psychological strain of being in this situation is very difficult. The submission also called for an increase in the rent limits for rent supplement and housing assistance payment, alongside enhanced rent certainty measures, so that supports are adequate and in line with market rents. It called for the designation of sufficient funding for the homeless prevention workers required under section 10 of the Housing Act 1988. I know the Minister will have received these submissions and I ask him to look at them very carefully.

Let us look at some of the sectors that are especially hit. Travel agents have been badly affected by the pandemic. They are very strongly in favour of the traffic light protocol, which I hope the Government will adopt as it would be very useful. Travel agents are probably the only sector that has had to keep paying employees, despite having no income. They have been in a terrible situation since 1 April.

The employment wage subsidy scheme is a help but it is not sufficient to keep businesses open considering all the overheads such as rent, electricity and telephone charges, IT costs, legal commitments, audit fees, insurance and financial charges, among others.

Disability is a very sensitive area. There was a call for a cost of disability payment to be introduced in budget 2021 to address the inadequacy of income support for people with disabilities. People with disabilities on low incomes should be properly protected against increases in the carbon tax. Additional funding should be assigned to address the digital divide to ensure that people with disabilities and other disadvantages are not left stranded during the pandemic. The wage subsidy scheme for people with disabilities should be improved to boost employment opportunities.

Turning to the international context, I have been contacted by Concern, which is another extraordinarily valuable organisation. Prior to Covid-19, a record 168 million people required humanitarian assistance. That is a hell of a lot of people and we are a rich country. Now, thanks to Covid-19, that number has rocketed to 421 million. This is a disastrous situation. We must maintain the overseas development aid, ODA, budget. This is a song the Minister may remember me singing loud and clear in the Seanad when there was a possibility that it would be reduced. Concern suggests that we recognise the humanitarian need precipitated by Covid-19 and allocate additional funding accordingly. It says we must work to ensure the Government's budgetary support to Irish organisations such as Concern is adequate and proportionate to the amount allocated to multilateral mechanisms.

Returning to the domestic situation and housing, I know the Government has made a very brave and courageous commitment. Taking into account the fact that if we go to level 5, which I think will have to happen, unless extraordinary measures are introduced to protect the building industry, building sites will close down as well. How are we going to get those houses built? I simply do not know.

Then there is the question of the psychological services. I have a great friend who is a psychotherapist. I suggest that in response to this situation tax relief be provided for counselling and psychotherapy sessions. I also call for an extension of the medical card service and the benefits under the PRSI system.

On aviation, Aer Lingus has been hopeless. It has not supported its employees but as far as I can see, the Government has not supported the employees either. We should do something for them. On top of that, Aer Lingus is being difficult on the issue of social welfare benefits in not supplying the information and filling out the forms. There is an awful lot more I could say, for example, on the Irish Cancer Society.I had a thick file to bring into the Chamber. I am very grateful for the time I have been allowed and I congratulate the Minster on his wonderful work for this country.