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missing the mark
'An insult' and 'more Westlife than Fontaines DC': The opposition has laid into the budget
The Social Democrats’ Cian O’Callaghan called it “totally devoid of ambition”.
THE OPPOSITION HAS laid into the government’s budget, labelling it variously as “devoid of ambition”, “an insult to workers” and “a budget for those who are doing well”.
Ministers Simon Harris and Jack Chambers outlined the government’s spending plans for the next 12 months in the Dáil this afternoon. It included a personal income tax package of €1.3 billion, some Carbon Tax cuts but no once-off credits like in recent years.
Responding to the announcements, Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty TD said that the “majority” of Irish workers “won’t get a sniff of the €750 tax break” that higher paid workers will benefit from.
Under the changes to the upper rate of tax, a worker on €60,000 will save €766 in tax annually while someone on €40,000 will save €263.
“The majority of Irish workers, over 1.5 million, who the government has left abandoned in this budget, will get less than €250 in a tax break. That is an insult,” Doherty said.
“It is less than €5 a week at a time when people have been seeing price increase after price increase over the last year. That is the reality behind the government’s spin. Workers and families are looking at what they will actually have left, and that is where this budget completely fails the test.”
Doherty said families across Ireland “desperately needed” the government to act on the spiralling cost of energy and fuel.
He told the Dáil that hundreds of thousands of households are “already struggling to keep the lights and heat on”, with more than 300,000 homes behind on their electricity bills.
“What is the government’s response? It is less than €50 of a reduction on the cost of a refill. That is an insult. It is nowhere near the scale of the crisis,” he said.
He said a reduction of less than €50 for filling an oil tank “is an insult”, and “nowhere near the scale of the crisis”.
Turning to the housing crisis, Doherty said that “the urgency in relation to this crisis is nowhere to be seen” in the budget.
He criticised a “miserable €150 increase in the renters’ tax credit”, saying they will be “gone before they even get it” and then criticised the government’s “refusal to ban rent increases”.
Social Democrats
Addressing the finance minister, Social Democrats TD Cian O’Callaghan said that Harris had told people that “help is on the way”.
“That was the spin. Today, we see the reality that talk is cheap, promises are easily broken, O’Callaghan said, adding:
This government cannot be relied on because this budget is totally devoid of ambition. It is lacking in any new ideas.
The Social Democrats’ deputy leader made reference to the industrial action being undertaken by public sector workers, saying:
“More than 100,000 public and civil servants have been forced into industrial action because of this government’s failure, failure to get to grips with skyrocketing prices, and a failure to meaningfully engage with unions.
“These workers keep our schools, hospitals and public services running. It’s unacceptable that the government is not engaging with them.”
Labour Party TD Ged Nash said his party had “expected little” and the government “haven’t disappointed”.
“As electricity prices soar, hundreds of thousands are in arrears, you could spend 100 million a month to cut the price of motor fuel, but nothing to keep the storage heater going,” he said.
Also referencing Harris, Nash said that the minister had claimed it would be a budget for workers.
“Some hard neck, especially after leaving them out last year,” the Louth TD said.
“That discredited phrase, remember it, people who get up early in the morning, was brought off the bench ahead of this budget for the pre-match warm-up.
“But those waking up this evening for the night shift will be sorely disappointed with what they’ve heard from government this afternoon.”
Seemingly addressing the new investment scheme confirmed today by Harris and due to begin next year, Nash said:
“A budget for those who already have a few bob in the bank, who can afford to save thousands of euros, and where their money is burning a hole in their pockets.”
‘I’m alright Jack’
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy TD described it as: “an I’m alright Jack budget. A budget for those who are doing well.”
“That’s who the government represents. It’s not ordinary working people, not those suffering from the cost of living crisis, certainly not disabled people. It’s not any of us, which is all of us, who are going to be affected by the climate crisis. But it is a budget instead for landlords, a budget for big business,” he said.
As members of the opposition sought to refine their soundbites, Independent TD for Dublin Mid-West Paul Gogarty perhaps turned the metaphors up to 11, by saying it was a budget that’s “more Westlife than Fontaines D.C.”
“There’s a few crowd pleasers, heavy on cover versions, something again for everyone in the audience, but nothing of real substance. It’s more Westlife than Fontaines D.C. at a time when we need to stick to certain parameters, but also need to be a bit more radical and visionary,” he said.
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