Taoiseach Enda Kenny today spoke to the Dáil on Budget 2012. The Taoiseach said:
This Government came to office at a time of unprecedented challenges for the Irish economy and the Irish people - our task was to restore our economic sovereignty; to get Ireland working again; to return our economy to growth; and to radically reform our politics and public services.
The Taoiseach described Budget 2012 as a "Jobs Budget", and outlined some of the key elements:
We came into Government determined not to repeat the disaster of the Universal Social Charge, which was a disaster for consumer confidence, spending and the incentive to work.
That is why we are now exempting from the Universal Social Charge 330,000 people with incomes of less than €10,000. This is a statement of the value that this Government attaches to work.
That is why we have chosen instead to tax wealth rather than work. We have found ways to ensure a fair distribution of the burden of adjustment that does not put at risk our core objective of growing our way out of this debt crisis.
Protecting the take-home pay of those at work will ensure that work continues to pay, and make it affordable for people to move off welfare and into jobs when opportunities arise.
The Taoiseach spoke of "Rebuilding International Confidence", and "Supporting Enterprise to create jobs":
IDA, Enterprise Ireland and the County Enterprise Boards have maintained their high budgets despite pressure to reduce spending across Government and they continue to provide essential financial and soft support to businesses.
The capital budget of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation will hit its highest ever level with €1 billion being provided over the next 2 years. This is solid evidence of where our priorities are…
Yesterday Minister Noonan announced new initiatives to attract new investment and new high value jobs.
The Taoiseach also spoke of protecting the vulnerable:
There are no changes to core social welfare payment rates or State Pension Rates in this Budget.
We have protected the take-home pay of workers by avoiding any increases in income tax.
We are assisting vulnerable homeowners by increasing mortgage interest relief to 30% for first-time buyers between 2004-2008. This meets a core commitment of the Government to help the generation worst affected by the collapse in property values.
We are providing additional funding to develop community mental health teams and services.
And we have made sure to safeguard our children and young people from the brunt of the cuts: the basic rate of child benefit has been maintained.
Schools in disadvantaged area will continue to be prioritised for targeted supports the overall number of resource teachers and SNAs is being maintained.
We have committed to building the National Children’s Hospital.
The Taoiseach addressed the issue of public sector reform:
Next year we plan to reduce the public service by 6,000. This will mean a real saving of over €400 million in the Public Service pay bill. We are targeting a reduction of a further 23,500 staff by 2015 over what was planned by the previous Government.
When delivered, this will have reduced our gross pay bill by over €2.5 billion (or 15%) since 2008. We have introduced a new and expanded programme of State Agency rationalisation. This will rationalise 48 bodies by the end of 2012, with a further 46 to be critically reviewed by June 2012.
We have cancelled the costly, opportunistic and misguided decentralisation programme announced by a previous Government. The Government has high expectations for what can be delivered through the Croke Park Agreement.
It must facilitate this reduction and restructuring of the public services with minimal impact on frontline services. It will be also used to deliver significant further savings through reduced overtime and allowances.
Finally, the Taoiseach looked ahead to the future:
We have a very important few days ahead in Europe.
The Irish Government will play its part – constructively contributing to solutions which will restore stability to the financial markets, while safeguarding the legitimate rights of the Irish economy and people.
Our ability to effectively represent Ireland on the European stage is greatly enhanced by the actions we have taken at home and abroad.
Since taking office, and in this Budget in particular, we have been clear about our economic strategy.
We have set out a clear pathway to overcoming the fiscal, banking and employment difficulties we inherited.
Read the Taoiseach's full speech here.