Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. On a different note, I have been talking to a number of people involved in the credit union in recent weeks and they have asked me to pass on their thanks for the work he has done. All politicians recognise the work he has done in that area and hopefully more progress will be made in the months ahead.

How do you define poverty? Somebody on a low-to-middle income, which we might think is a decent wage, can experience poverty because they are trying to pay a mortgage and high childcare costs. The cost of fuel is a big one for people who have to travel to work and do not have an allowance. We have to look after people on social welfare and make sure they do not fall through the net. We should also accept and realise that there are people on low-to-middle incomes who have a lot of issues with poverty.

This budget has been fair and has addressed the issues. There has been much criticism of corporation taxes in the past but by God, there are not many criticising them now. While the Minister was right to point out that relying on these taxes totally would not be a good idea, the fact of the matter is that if we did not have them now, this budget would not be as good.

The €12 rise in social welfare payments is not the whole story. The fuel allowance has increased, childcare costs have been cut and a double social welfare payment is to be made. We have introduced a renter's tax benefit and announced additional electricity credits. Some previous speakers have not mentioned those measures. It is only fair in this debate that they are mentioned. Apart from the €12 increase, there are all these other issues.

A budget will not suit everybody. Of course everybody will not get what they are looking for. Electricity costs and energy costs are huge at the moment and are definitely a worry for many families. I firmly believe the three €200 credits that are being given represent the right way to go. People might refer to Britain and other countries capping the payments or the energy bills. We do not know how that is going to work out. We are all in no man's land here. It is a new situation. I think Britain will be in a lot of trouble. It is costing it £100 billion. If Britain has no money in the kitty in February or March, where will it be then? I believe the Government here will move on a windfall tax. When that money is taken in, obviously it will be regurgitated out to the consumers. The ESB earned approximately €700 million last year in this country. The dividend to the Government was €126 million. That figure must be increased when we are going through a crisis. Companies will say they have to invest their money in renewables, which is fine. However, for the times we are in, we must ensure the consumers - the people out there who are worried about energy or keeping the lights on - are looked after.

I welcome the 9% VAT reduction. We have often spoken about this in relation to newspapers. They have been struggling and this reduction will be welcomed. I also hope the music industry will be looked after in terms of the moneys for the arts and culture because that area is still struggling. While it has got back on its feet to a degree, it will still need support going forward. I am confident there is money there for that.

I will make a final comment on vacant homes. I have said this before. There is a bit of a myth with regard to this particular issue about hundreds of thousands of vacant homes. Thinking about this in my home county, while I acknowledge there are some vacant homes, and we should go after those and put a tax on them, there are many problems involved in vacant homes. There are often legal problems, family problems and a myriad of other problems out there and many of them will never be sorted out. By all means we should go after the 20,000, 30,000 or 40,000 vacant houses that are there, put a tax on them and get them into use, but there are a lot of houses for which that vacant tax will not work. It will be found not to be constitutional and all sorts of issues will hold things up for quite a long period.