Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is nice to see the Minister of State. I apologise in advance as I need to head to a meeting later but I will take note of his comments at the end. I appreciate his understanding about that.

In addressing this budget, I will start by saying that on television last night, RTÉ quoted Government sources as saying this budget was quite socialist. I smiled to myself and thought it was great because we would see taxes on the super-wealthy and the Government finally tackling the rental crisis and committing to capital expenditure on public housing. Unfortunately, that Government source was mistaken, much to the relief of Senator Casey, no doubt, given his contribution earlier. Let us start with the facts. As the Minister of State will know, like many other Senators, I am passionate about housing. This budget does nothing for renters. I met some people in my village of Castleconnell yesterday who are paying rents of €1,300 a month. Once people heard that we were in the village, they came out just to talk to us about how desperate the housing crisis is and how much they are struggling. The Government has done absolutely nothing for them in this budget. It is a failure of the highest order.

The talk of a zoned land tax is so disappointing. We all know about the crisis with vacant sites and the need to get people to develop on those sites. Rather than take action, what we have seen today from the Government is an action plan to delay and dither for at least another two years and to reduce the tax on vacant sites. This plays to the heart of the ideological differences in this House. I make no bones about that. I am proud to be on the left. This Government is firmly on the right. Rather than tax vacant sites effectively and get them back into play, the Government is determined to avoid taxing them at any cost.

We must also acknowledge that nothing was done in this budget to tackle the ridiculous tax breaks for vulture funds. It is some contrast. There are tax breaks for vulture funds, while working families face tax hikes to heat their homes. It is an incredibly regressive tax. A point I made to the Minister of State last year about the regressive nature of carbon taxes was that the fuel allowance just does not cover ordinary working people. It is a narrowly focused allowance. The budget has broadened it but it is only ever so slightly. People working for the minimum wage still do not qualify for the fuel allowance.What answers does the Minister of State have for working families throughout the country facing hikes to their fuel bills in addition to the already outrageous increases in energy prices this year? His answer is to do nothing. He had an opportunity to makes choices which we should consider for a moment. Some argue that the Government cannot do everything and accuse others of being populist if they say that, as Senator Casey highlighted. Let us get down to brass tacks. The Government could have made different decisions, including scrapping the special assignee relief programme which is a real humdinger. It is a tax break which helps multimillionaires avoid paying two thirds of their tax bill to the tune of €1 million each. Some 55 millionaires in 2018, for which is the last year we have figures, helped themselves to €110,000 each of tax breaks and cost €42 million. On the one hand, there are people in poverty struggling desperately and the Government decided it could only give them a €5 increase while on the on there hand, the Government believes there is no problem in keeping those multimillionaire tax breaks rolling in for the richest people in this State. Another example is the gold plated pensions. The Government could have raised €183 million by cutting back on those gold plated pensions, which only benefit the super-rich in this country, but it chose not to.

Tonight, people face the news that they will get a €5 rise in their unemployment payment. Let us put that into perspective. In 2009, the unemployment benefit was €197 per week. Following the Government's increase today it will increase to €208. Over the last 13 years of Fine Gael-Fianna Fáil Governments we have seen a total increase of €11 per week in unemployment benefit. Why was this done? It was done because the Government chose not to exact fairness in this budget, not to tackle the super rich and not to introduce a solidarity tax for which I make no apologies for suggesting. Sinn Féin's solidarity tax would apply only to individual incomes of €140,000 and above. It would be a 3% tax which would be a moderate tax that would have shown solidarity and would have distributed funds to give us a more equitable and fair society. However, it is clear this Government has no interest in that. One of the real benefits of this budget - it is clear to all of us now - is that there is absolutely no pretence of any difference between Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. This is a sound conservative Government introducing conservative policy year after year at the expense of our people, and at the expense of the ongoing housing crisis and the entire failure to tackle the health crisis.

I met with the management of the University Hospital Limerick last Friday. Yesterday morning, there were 87 people on trolleys and management knows the hospital is 200 beds short. We need a massive investment in our health services but the Government has not made that choice today. It made different choices for different classes of people. "Class" is a word we do not use often enough in this Chamber. I come from a working class family and am proud to represent working class people and ordinary workers who have nothing to gain from this budget. The facts show that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil consistently support the elite in this country. That special assignee relief programme is shameful. Funnily enough, I recall two years ago the then Minister of State, Michael D'Arcy, defend it passionately. Whatever happened to him?

Childcare is another missed opportunity. I want to be fair here and I welcome the fact that the Government has ring-fenced money for the joint labour committee that will be established. That is a welcome initiative and I hope it will deliver some kind of justice for workers in the sector. I credit my union, SIPTU, and the Big Start campaign in that regard. It has campaigned vigorously for years on this issue. The Government had the opportunity to make a real difference to working people. Sinn Féin's budget outlined how the cost of childcare could be cut by one third this year and the next year. What the Government has done is lock in the cost of childcare. We know the average cost is €750 per month. That is like a second mortgage to many families. This should be compared with anywhere else in Europe, where people in many countries typically pay less than €100 per month. We have not invested in childcare and the Government had the opportunity to do so. It could have not given that ridiculous tax break, which only benefits two out of ten taxpayers, and instead ring-fenced the €300 million to fix childcare and cut its cost for all working families, but it chose not to. When one looks into the detail, this budget looks after those at the top and ignores those at the bottom.

How does the Government believe a €5 increase in social welfare is, in any way, enough? The Green Party Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien, said to me at a sitting of the social protection committee that we need to see a significant shift in social welfare rates this year. He did not receive that because, once again, the Tories in Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil triumphed at the expense of our people.