Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

When a government has the surplus the current one does but still cannot address the multitude of overlapping issues facing our country, it is clear that there is a mismatch of priorities. A budget is about setting out a path for the future. It is about setting out our vision and our values. Today’s budget makes clear to workers and families that the Government cannot and will not deliver for them.

The number one issue facing workers and families is the housing crisis. Since the Government took office, the average house price has increased by more than €60,000. Children are growing up in emergency accommodation. Sixty-eight percent of adults between 25 and 30 still live at home with their parents. In Denmark the figure is 4%, in Finland it is 5%, and in Sweden it is 6%. In Ireland, 68% of adults between the ages of 25 and 30 still live in their childhood bedrooms. A whole generation can only dream of homeownership. Those who rent live in a complete nightmare, paying extortionate, sky-high rents and getting no protection in return. They get no protection if the home is sold, no protection from eviction and no protection if the landlord or landlord’s family member decides to move in. There is no protection for a renter’s deposit and none if his or her name is not even on the lease in the first place.

Children are growing up in emergency accommodation. Under Fine Gael, homelessness has gone up by 250%. Businesses cannot get workers, schools cannot get teachers, and doctors are sleeping in their cars. Gardaí, nurses and members of our Defence Forces are leaving their professions because they cannot find somewhere to live.Entire generations, as I said, have been locked out of home ownership and many young people are reaching the conclusion that their futures, for now, are not here, but abroad. We needed a budget for renters and homeowners but we got a budget for landlords.

Budget 2023 provided €2.6 billion for the capital housing programme. Today, budget 2024 provides €2.6 billion again for the capital housing scheme for next year. Instead of a ramp up in housing, we have tax breaks for landlords. Next year, this Government will give landlords a tax break of €600 at a cost of €160 million. This will increase up to €1,000 by 2027, all while rents continue to spiral and renters pay nearly €5,000 more per year. A Sinn Féin government would have introduced a budget that would have gotten to grips with the housing crisis and built the homes we so desperately need. We would have delivered 21,000 public homes next year, increasing the supply of affordable homes to rent and buy. We would have introduced a three-year ban on rent increases. This would make sure that our proposed tax credit would put one month’s rent back into the pockets of renters, in stark contrast to Government proposals, which, without a ban on rent increases, might as well be a cheque written directly to landlords.

People are being squeezed from every side and in recent years half of all households have seen their real incomes fall or stagnate. These are not issues that can be addressed by once-off measures alone and this budget needed to deliver a fair tax package, yet the most expensive element of today’s tax package is a €2,000 increase in the standard rate band. This package will see a worker earning €35,000 or more benefit by less than €320. Meanwhile, someone earning above €200,000 will benefit by more than €890. Well over half of all workers will not even benefit from this package. Sinn Féin has been clear that the fairest way to reduce taxes and put money back in workers’ pockets is through cuts to the USC. In 2020, we stated our intention to remove the first €30,000 a worker earns from the USC. That road could have started today by abolishing the first rate of USC, lowering the second rate, and increasing the point at which people start to pay the third rate of USC.

I want to touch on arts and culture. I welcome the changes in section 481. I studied film and television production and I care deeply about that art form but what about every other art form? From my research, the figures in 2021 show that section 481 was worth €137 million in tax reliefs. The Arts Council, representing all other art forms, is funded to the tune of €130 million. The National Campaign for the Arts was asking for €150 million of an investment in the Arts Council. Sinn Féin made that commitment in a roadmap over five years and over a term of government but today we have seen no increase for the Arts Council, and no roadmap to show how we will reach €150 million. It seems to me that the Government considers the basic income for the arts scheme to be a job well done, and while it is a welcome policy change and initiative, it is not all sorted now. The basic income for the arts scheme has only created more of a demand in terms of the Arts Council's need and in terms of our theatres, bursaries, festivals, literature and so on. It is disappointing, therefore, that the Arts Council has seen no increase in funding this year, and it would be interesting to see what section 481 is worth. The cap is not doubling but it is going from €75 million to €125 million and it will be interesting to see how much that is worth to the industry.

This should have been a budget that made life more affordable for ordinary people. This should have been a housing budget and it should have been the budget that used the resources that we have to fix the problems that we face across housing, health and climate. Instead it is a missed opportunity.