Mattie McGrath slams budget as unfair to households and businesses

Hello everyone, I'm going to start to wish our team leader today, Tara, based on our first team leader in the chamber. She did a mighty job, there wasn't a better place today, we're all very quiet. Listen, the budget, like the cure would take, good in spots, but there's lots of spots in it, ministers, that can go awfully bad, and then they could turn into, or we know in the countries, is it lugger? And I think that's what's going to happen, because of the auricular spending. Energy tax credits, we have to welcome them, they're home owners, you know, and retailers that need those, but, if we tackle the energy companies, and tackle, why are we the highest prices of electricity prices in Europe? We're just government failure, because you're in the pockets of big business, full stops, clean and simple. Giving out taxpayers money, back out to them to help and pay the bills, it's nonsense, you wouldn't survive in a business like that for one hour. The help to buy scheme, yes, every year we eagerly wait to hear if the help to buy scheme will be extended, and I was glad to hear of a more substantial extension this year, until 2029, but the elephant in the room, the help to buy scheme, is that it's only eligible for people buying or building new homes, but how many new homes are really being built? That's the problem, they're not being built, and this scheme has got to be extended to second-hand homes, that market, where people stack their homes and everything else, the homes haven't been built, in spite of your figures and your spin, it's not happening, and also the support for carers, is very, very welcome, and long overdue, and of course we reference the failed care referendum, and the promises that you said to the carers, and you try to force the carers to go out and vote for you, that you look after them, it shows now that they're being looked after anyway, and rightly so, they deserve it so much, and deserve much more, and I also want to include the maternity increase for new babies, it's a wonderful initiative, badly wanting to increase that, because there's lots of costs, as Deputy Tobin said before, and after a pregnancy, the failure to reduce the fat weight, is an appalling failure, and the restaurants association were in here, and they met us all, and they met G, and they begged, and they pleaded, and they gave their budget submission, waste of paper, because they are disappearing all over the country, especially in rural Ireland, in small towns and villages, by the rate of knots, you know that as well, but you're ineptitude, and failure to act there, but how come other European countries can have it, it's an abject failure, the pressures they're under, with the energy costs, and with the cost of, and the increase in the minimum wage, now is going to put more costs on them, you name it, insurance, energy costs, sick pay, all the different new insurance, that we have as well, and also the new, the pension scheme, that's going to be mandatory, coming in, this year as well, so you're oblivious to the troubles of these companies, I met the President of the Road, Harley has gone out, he's appalled, nothing for them at all, nothing for them at all, not one bit of initiative, and only putting on carbon tax, adding up the price of fuel again, for them, a troubled industry, we can't do without, because they import, they move every bit of product that we made, produced out of this country, to the country, and abroad, and they got, sweet, you know what, it's so unfair, as I said, also the scheme, where you have this 400 euro payment, for businesses, and he called it, power up, my God, 400 euro isn't the power up much, a bit insensitive, he said, when so many businesses are struggling, to keep the power on, and you have the insensitivity, who overrides these speeches for you, power up, 70 euro a week is going to amount, 77 euro a week, I correct myself, it's had to power up a lot, in this day and age, and you have the audacity, that's the kind of bubble you're in, such a false sense of security, you can buy the boats, and buy the people, as I said, if you have less, if you have, it's for under 30,000 in rates, I have a hotel, in my own, South Tipperary, who, that was, last year, was 30,200, and they were denied the scheme, in fact, they got the scheme, and they applied for it, and they had to pay it back, and the same issue, it's not been increased, either, so, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's so unfair, there's not a sliding scale, just about 200 euro, over the threshold, they'll get nothing, of the 5,000 that was given, or 5,000 this year, and 4,000 later, so, you have to be able to tweak these schemes, as I said, the whole situation regarding the housing, and no initiatives for housing, I mean, it's a shocking situation, you had a flying kite, a couple of weeks ago, Minister Richmond, they were putting on a massive stamp duty, on the people from abroad, as I said, the bulk buying and purchase of 10 or more properties, face the 10% stamp duty, you've increased it to 15, it should be gone to 40, and I'll tell you why, because 4 in every 10 houses built in this country, are bought by these vultures, or investment companies, or whatever you want to call them, that has increased, since you committed the power, by 223%, where it's at 4 in every 10 homes being bought by these investment companies, how can the ordinary people get a home, so you can win the rest of this all you like, and fool around, play around with bits and pieces of money, here and there, incidentally, taxpayers' money, and you do that to them, the carbon tax, then, by increasing about 750 a tonne, and not a punitive measure on all the need people, on road hauliers, on the agriculture industry, and, indeed, anybody that has to put fuel in a machine, or a car, or anything else, as I said, the inflammatory pressures in the budget, the government increases spending by 6.9%, exceeding, exceeding, what's recommended, their own recommendation, a 5% threshold, this will drive up inflation, as warned by the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, potentially adding 250 euro household costs, according to the Central Bank, and yet you go along with the folly of it, because you want to buy the election, buy the voters. But I do hope that the voters out there will see to ye, and it's not going to be so foolish. I remember 77 elections were bought, and other elections were bought, and we paid dearly for them. And also the challenges of the SMEs, they're enormous, Minister, enormous, and you just see it, don't seem to get it. Across the board, you bring in regulation after regulation after regulation, and make it more cumbersome. If you have six or seven employees now, you certainly would need one secretarial assistant to deal with all the regulation. Farm after farm after farm, it's just mushroomed, and it's crazy. As I said, the inflammatory pressures on the budget are crazy. When we had a surplus, and a huge surplus, we could do something about it, and give something meaningful. And as Deputy Shannon said, we could also be a bit visionary here, like TK Whittaker, and do something with the money we have, rather than patching holes, rather than self-serving Fianna Fáil, Fianna Gael, and the Greens who are going to be obliterated, trying to buy the voters to get back into power again. We have a long-term responsibility and a duty of care to our people, and to our forefathers who built this country, and supported this country, and put it where it is, not to flitter away here on election promises and spin. You have more spin doctors now than you have anything else, and the overruns, you can't build anything. Any project can't be done by the OPW Seams, or by any of your procurement companies. There are massive overruns, can't do anything. But the enablers, the self-implied people who want to do it, won't be left to do it. Am I out of time? No, you know, 10 seconds. 10 seconds. I'm almost. So, Minister, it's a failed opportunity. But, of course, the Minister's consent won't even stay here and listen. And I thought today it was the height of ignorance that everybody fled from the Chamber and went to Finnegale, or sorry, in Sinn Féin, were given their time. Thank you.