Conor Murphy (Sinn Fein)

My colleagues and I will be opposing the Bill before us. It seems the Government has been determined from the outset to steamroll the Bill and the measures contained within it through the Houses. Not one Opposition amendment was accepted.

We can only conclude that the budget, which the Bill before us enacts, is for the wealthy, the developers and the bankers. It turns its face away from ordinary citizens of this State who have struggled for years with the cost-of-living crisis that continues to turn the screw on workers and families. It is a budget that refused to acknowledge the hardship that would be felt by hundreds of thousands of households as vital cost-of-living measures were ruthlessly scrapped. The budget contains a hard message from the Government parties: that the pre-election courtship of voters is over and the promises made then are now abandoned until the next election campaign.

This Finance Bill spends big. We are surrounded by millions and billions of euro, which the Government would say is evidence of an economy that is firing at full throttle. Who benefits from the roaring economy? It is certainly not workers, since the Government failed to introduce any income tax cuts to benefit them, never mind measures to support struggling families with the cost-of-living crisis. There were tax cuts for some. In fact, the Finance Bill will herald a total of €2.5 billion in tax cuts for landlords, developers, investors and others. The Government says these are choices that will support industry and infrastructure across the State, but budget after budget, homelessness continues to rise, public services are reduced and the Government can never explain that. It never takes responsibility for the tens of thousands of working people for whom home ownership is a pipe dream.

We in Sinn Féin asked the Government to deliver a fairer tax package by abolishing the USC on the first €40,000 every worker earns. This would have put €746 in the pocket of workers. We were ignored and, as a result, workers will be worse off next year.

Renters have also been thrown to the wolves by the Government, which committed to increasing the renters' tax credit in the programme for Government. It is another pledge that was not honoured, which means that in 2026 landlords will see their tax credit increase but renters will not. Are we not right to say this is a landlords' budget? When we add to that the VAT reduction on the sale of apartments, it will result in a direct transfer of millions of euro from the State to the pockets of developers for apartments that would have been built regardless. The list of dig-outs to developers is extensive. The Bill makes provision for: extensions to the rent tax credit and the deduction for retrofitting expenses by landlords; a corporation tax exemption in respect of certain cost-rental income; an enhanced corporation tax deduction for certain apartment construction costs; the extension and amendment of the residential development stamp duty refund scheme; and amendments to the residential zoned land tax. Developers have been handsomely looked after in this Finance Bill.

The banks will also look forward to a good year too on the backs of the people of the State who bailed them out when they almost wrecked the economy in 2008. These are the same banks who essentially pay no corporation tax. They do this because the Government permits them to carry forward historical losses from the bailout to offset against profits today. That means the banks are avoiding paying about half a billion euro each year. The bank levy itself is woefully inadequate too. Sinn Féin would have doubled it.

The burden of Government policies is reserved for the poor, the sick and the hard-working people of the State who are running to stand still. Is it any wonder that emigration is soaring? We are again hearing stories of three and four rural GAA clubs being forced to amalgamate due to falling underage numbers. On a recent visit to Australia I met scores of recent emigrants who were bemused by the Government's come-home-to-build-Ireland campaign. Come home to live where, they asked me.

This Finance Bill and the budget it enables will do precious little to tackle the inequalities in society. It will keep the rich rich and the poor poorer. It lacks any real ambition for the country – a fact proven by the failure of the Government to make planning for constitutional change an integral part of the budget.

We must harness the potential of our island-wide economy. That is the best way to provide housing, health and other services for all the people who live on the island. It is long past time that the Government began planning in earnest for the constitutional changes that are on the horizon. I welcome and commend all of the work of the shared island initiative. It is excellent work. We have heard a lot of success stories in the Good Friday Agreement committee. However, an all-island funding pot is not a substitute for the structural reform necessary to unify the country. The Government parties must live up to their manifesto commitments and begin active preparation to plot the course to reunification.

Sinn Féin rejects the Finance Bill before us. It will do nothing to ease the burden on hard-pressed citizens. It benefits the elite, the developers and bankers. It is the wrong focus from the Government. Sinn Féin will vote against the Bill.