Patricia Stephenson (Social Democrats)

This budget is a missed opportunity to deliver for families and women, and childcare in particular is an example of that. The budget does not address the Government’s election promise to cap fees at €200 per month. Some families are paying more than €1,000 per month at the moment and have been for quite a while. That is leading to women making decisions about not going back to work after having children, such is the cost of childcare. So much for women's equality when women are making decisions about remaining at home because they cannot afford to send their kids to childcare. The cost of childcare continues to soar and, at the same time, workers in the sector are struggling with precarious hours and incredibly low pay. This budget has done nothing to address those issues. We need to roll out a public model of childcare if we are going to address the root causes of this crisis.

When it comes to disability, this budget is a failed opportunity for people living with disabilities, who, I am sure, are reeling from what disability rights organisations are describing as a big step backwards for people living with disabilities. Shamefully, this budget could leave disabled people €1,400 worse off a year. I do not know how we can stand here and call that progress. The Government has not put forward any measures to address the cost of disability. I find it disingenuous when, on the one hand, we are talking about supporting the disability sector, but we are not delivering on one of the key asks of disability advocates, specifically in the form of the incredibly cruel and inhumane means test for carers. As we all know, the State saves billions off the back of the unpaid work of carers. They are essential workers in our society but this budget does not lift the means test for them. The budget also does not acknowledge the extra financial pressures faced by disabled people every day. What the Government has decided to do today is abandon disabled people and force them into deeper poverty and exclusion.

Is there any better example than the “McBudget” giveaway to the hospitality industry sector in a blanket tax cut that is going to put money into the pockets of McDonald's and Starbucks? McDonald's recorded a €42 million profit last year. Why does it need a VAT reduction? The budget is putting money into the pockets of people making huge profits instead of taking a targeted approach to support small, independent, community-based coffee shops, as the Social Democrats proposed in our alternative budget. The VAT reduction will not do anything for families, specifically the 300,000 families who are already living with energy arrears. This is before the winter months kick in and higher energy costs are really going to affect them.

Today, the Government could have chosen to lift children out of poverty. There are almost 200,000 children living in poverty in Ireland. How appalling for a country as wealthy as we are. This budget could have introduced a second tier of child benefit but yet again, the Government made a choice - a political choice, a social choice - not to do that. The Social Democrats were not alone in thinking that a second tier of child benefit was a good idea. It was first proposed back in 2012 by the official advisory group on tax and social welfare. This is a practical way to address child poverty but instead, the budget is putting money into the hands of developers and the owners of fast food chains.

Today, the Government chose to move away from the blanket energy credits. I commend it on this because it was spending millions on second-homers. However, instead of keeping energy credits for those most in need, it decided to scrap them altogether. I do not understand why the Government could not have kept targeted supports for those most in need as energy costs soar.

The budget is not just a document but a demonstration of priorities. It reflects what matters to those in government. People across the country today are going to look at this budget and, honestly, they are going to feel like they do not matter. It is clear that the Government is content to act in the interests of developers and wealthy investors and, on the other hand, ignore families who need the support of the State the most. The families who really need to hear that they will not have to choose between food and heat this winter will be feeling bitterly disappointed with this budget.