A Ceann Comhairle,
This Government was elected to solve the deep crisis, that has been inflicted on our country. A crisis with its roots in the greed and recklessness of the banks and the developer class – and the irresponsibility and political opportunism of the party opposite, that they supported.
For too many of our people, this crisis is about surviving. Surviving a job loss. Surviving with their business intact. Providing for their children. Keeping their home. Keeping going. And what they really want to know – the question they would ask of every deputy in this House – is what are you doing to fix the problem? What are you doing – by your actions – to leave our country in a better situation than you found it?
Because that is what every single member of this Dáil was elected to do. Not to exploit the problem, but to fix it.
Ceann Comhairle, tonight’s motion from Sinn Féin, is about exploiting the problem.
It is not an attempt to be constructive. It is not about an alternative approach. It is sheer political opportunism. But then that’s nothing new for Sinn Féin. Only three weeks ago, out of the blue, they had a sudden conversion to legislating for the ‘X’ Case – because a tragic case had pushed it to the top of the news. Yet when the Report of the Expert Group on the ABC Judgement was published – a report which outlines the options to achieve a clearer, safer legal framework for pregnant women – its Deputies are nowhere to be found. Only three Sinn Féin members bothered to speak on the report in the House – and then they asked for time allocated to that debate to be cut short. It seems that party’s passion only lasts as long as the next news cycle. No interest in solutions – just soundbites.
This Government was elected, by the people, on a single promise, and with a single purpose: to solve the crisis, and to do so in a way that is fair and balanced.
Unlike others, the parties in this Government has not promised fairytale solutions to the complex problems our country faces. This is a three-pronged crisis – a banking crisis, a fiscal crisis, and an unemployment crisis. We have to solve all three. And we don’t have the luxury of picking and choosing our fights.
The Labour Party went to the people – and the Labour Party entered into this Government – with the same mandate.
We promised to fix the banks at the lowest possible cost – and we are doing so.
We promised to fix our public finances – and we are doing so.
We promised do everything in our power to grow employment – and we are doing so.
We never once said that it would be easy. And we never said that it would be quick. Labour never told fairytales, or pretended that there was a magic bullet that would solve the crisis.
No one solution, like defaulting on our debts, which would only rebound on our children, and their children.
No one tax, that someone else always pays, that will make our problems all go away.
Instead, the Labour Party was honest with people. We said it would be difficult. That every single person would have to play their part. That every aspect of public spending was going to be on the table. But that those who could afford to bear a greater share of the burden, would do so.
In this Budget, and the last, it was Labour’s priority to protect the incomes of low and middle-income households, while also making the necessary decisions to continue fixing our public finances, and helping job creation.
Yes, we have had to cut expenditure, and there’s no easy way to do that. Between them, social welfare, health and education account for 80 per cent of Government spending – it is simply pretend to say that they could be sheltered from all cuts.
But the approach of this Government has been realistic, and fair: the social protection budget accounts for 40 per cent of public spending, but was only asked to contribute 10 per cent to the three-and-a-half billion adjustment. We have protected the most important payments for those who depend on social welfare – their weekly rates are unchanged. And we found the money to reduce the ask from both health and social protection by €150 million each.
We have protected class sizes for primary school children. Protected special needs and disadvantaged schools. Protected household benefits for older people. Protected, as far as possible, the aid we give to the world’s poorest people. Restored the budget for home helps and home care packages. Re-invested €30 million in 6,000 childcare places for low-income parents; in school meals; in tackling child poverty in the most deprived communities; and in 10,000 extra training places for people out of work.
And yes, we had to raise additional taxes. But we have done so in a way which raises more than 500 million euro from the assets and income of the highest earners. Wealth that isn’t captured by the PAYE system that the majority of people pay into: large pension pots, multiple properties, rental income, share dividends, buying and selling assets, or work from private income streams. That’s a €500 million contribution from real wealth that has – up to now – been lightly taxed, if taxed at all.
Because unlike the deputies opposite, the members of this Government, actually want to solve the problem.
We don’t magic figures out of thin air, like Sinn Féin and their pretend ‘wealth tax’ – a wealth tax that excludes pension pots, and family mansions, and farms, and whatever else might lose them votes. Even Deputy Doherty has admitted he can’t say how much that tax would raise, when it has more holes than his leader’s biography.
As for Fianna Fáil, their approach to this Budget has been a tour de force of cynicism. When the country was high on receipts from a property bubble that was rapidly overheating, it was all down to their economic genius. When that bubble burst, taking our banks and our economy down with it, it was all the fault of Lehman Brothers. Now that they’re in Opposition, it’s the fault of the Government elected to clean up their mess. In their scramble to distance themselves from promises they made to the Troika – such as a property tax – they have left the last scraps of their dignity behind them, exposing the full breadth of their naked self-interest.
And as for the deputies from the technical group, you can continue to peddle your particular brand of fantasy economics and hot air, comfortable in the knowledge that you are not – and never will be – responsible for the single livelihood of a single citizen in this country.
This Government – every one of the men and women who sit on these benches – is in this fight for a reason. We are moving forward, day by day, taking the steps that will stabilise our finances, get the economy moving and businesses hiring, get us out of the bailout programme. Your alternative has us moving backwards.
We are taking the decisions that will stop our Exchequer haemorrhaging money. You are bottling it.
We are laying the foundations for a recovery that will last. You are playing a short-term political game.
Let me be clear about one thing. Over the last twenty months, this Government has made significant progress. Stopping the rot in the banks. Getting credit moving again, with new initiatives where necessary. Restoring our international reputation, and seeing foreign investment and jobs return. Growing exports. Turning our energies to helping people off the dole, and into jobs, work experience or training. A stimulus package, focused on jobs, health and education. Taking a balanced approach to spending, while protecting those who need it most, and getting more from our public services.
We know that the sharp end of this crisis is being felt, every day, in households in every town, village and suburb. We will not exaggerate our achievements. But the end is in sight. And when we win this fight. When we say goodbye to the Troika at the end of next year. When our economy is sound and healthy, and creating more jobs and more opportunities. It will be the men and women of this Government, alone, who can say that they stood shoulder to shoulder with the Irish people, at our country’s darkest hour.
That they did not falter, because the task was too hard.
That they did not measure success by newspaper headlines, changing day by day, or week by week.
That they were not swayed by narrow political interest.
And that it was they who acted – they who stood up – to secure the future of our country, the lives and livelihoods that depend on it, and the opportunities it will offer to our people.