Brian’s Big Budget starts to hit home.

Happy New Year! Or maybe on second thoughts commiserations, we’re here in 2009. After the pre-Christmas gloom and the festive cheer we’re where Brian Lenihan and Brian Cowen wanted us in 2009. I wonder last October were they at one stage counting down the days to January 1 so that the budget increases would take hold?
Lets look at a few and see how they may pan out. Well the increase of excise duty on petrol looks on the face of it to be painless however that combined with the currency crisis, another problem that FF and the Greens have ignored and hope will go away has eroded the competitive edge on petrol and now forecourts along the border are rapidly becoming quieter places. At its height this trade brought in an extra €100M to the coffers. The extra 0.5% VAT increase came in a month ago and it will add to inflation and while I accept that the figure in January should be down because of the sales and reduced demand, it will have the effect of increasing some prices at a time when incomes in PAYE households are going in the opposite direction.
The €100 A&E charge came in at midnight. Initially it’ll have the effect of making people think twice about going to A&E if you haven’t got the medical card and also sending patients first to the GP’s to get a letter of referral so as to avoid paying the charge. As sure as light follows day once GP surgeries are choc-a-bloc they in turn will raise their charges to €100 too so as to reduce pressure. Other charges for long stay patients will rise too by 26%, these apply in long stay hospitals and for those in psychiatric care.
Health expenses are now only allowable against tax at the standard rate, thus saving €120M. 50 cent was also added to a bottle of wine and while in supermarkets you can get 3 bottles for €20 up north you can get 3 for £10 or almost €10.
The 1% income levy on all incomes also kicked in at midnight. I believe that the Revenue Commissioners were making quiet inquiries about whether some on the €20 border line may in fact be above the limit thus catching them in the net. Meanwhile if you’ve a family business there’s always the loophole where you can transfer your business earnings to other family members engaged in the business and hey presto everyone in the family is below €20K thereby avoiding the levy. While you’re at it claim rent-a-room tax relief on money handed up by family members towards their keep!

Another major plank courtesy of the Green Party is the tax on parking space at work. While private employers may be entitled to charge €5 per annum for the parking space thereby ensuring the employee won’t have to pay the charge it’s highly unlikely that public servants will have such a benevolent approach from the minister for the Public Service who is one Brian Lenihan TD.
It won’t be too long until tax equity once more becomes an issue in the Irish work place. Loopholes are there to be exploited and the more taxes or levies FF & The Greens bring in, the more work there is for accountants to creatively shelter the cash from the perfect fiscal storm that threatens. PAYE workers have no such sanctuary for their earnings, even if you put into an account DIRT has gone up by 3% to 23%.
The new payment regime for child benefit with respect to those over 18 in full time education starts today, so this year it’s half the rate while next year it’s nothing!
Equity is a buzzword for FF and the Greens and their charges reflect this. No matter how old or young your patriotic duty requires sacrifice. So, it’s goodbye to the Early Childcare Supplement at 5 and a half. Not to mention how schools will be affected by education cuts. Farmers young and those hoping to retire, as well as those in disadvantaged areas are cut too. Labour has not in the past reached out to the farming community, given that the multi-nationals can move abroad while financial services can go down the swanee, should we not pay more attention to agriculture and its potential?
So sorry to have brought you back to the real world with a bang, 2008 may well be looked at with some benevolence in years to come judging by the way that Fianna Fail and the Greens leave it till the last moment to notice that they’ve made the mess as big as possible!

Mighty Mouse in the constituency but Mini Mouse in Dail Eireann

The late Jim Kemmy once brought howls of laughter to the Dail when he used the above to describe the ceaseless posturing of Willie O’Dea. I am reminded of that gem because I’m worried that some government TD’s may be suffering from nausea after their endless U-turning on Budget ’09. I’m not surprised Brian Lenihan now looks like a rabbit caught in the headlights as a week ago FF back benchers gave him a standing ovation on TV while now they are queuing up to call RTE Radio for a review of the proposed abolition of medical cards for over 70’s.

I’ve always valued FF voters as most are from lifelong FF families. They don’t change their minds often. As someone who wouldn’t change his own vote, I really appreciate if an FF voter says they’ll back you. It’s something I could never say back to FF. I don’t think I’m the only Labour councillor who is getting that type of feedback lately. That’s why I admire Joe Behan and what he did, He’s turned his back on the politics of speaking out of both sides of the mouth. I note Joe Behan mentioned education cuts when he took what is a brave step in slamming the FF door shut behind him. However the focus has deliberately been taken off his courageous action by the smoke and mirrors of other FF backbenchers happy to say anything on the national airwaves on Over 70’s med cards to get the media off their back about every other cut in the budget package.

A week on from the budget and other than1982 I cannot remember a budget that has been as controversial. Medical cards for Over 70’s and the 1% levy grabbed the headlines but as a teacher I always look at education estimates and budgets. What struck me straight off was the clinical shafting of everything that schools try to do. I have never seen such a blatant attack on the majority of second level schools. Cutting every school means that well funded schools lose a little but poorly funded schools lose a lot.

There’s 32 cuts. They include grants for Home Economics, Physics, Chemistry, Equipment for Resource Teachers, Paid cover for teachers out of school on school business, Centre for Talented Youth, Educational Disadvantage Committee, 1,200 second level teaching posts and 200 other primary posts are gone. Funding for English language support teachers, secondary school buildings, LC Applied Programme, LC Vocational Programme, Transition Year, Back to Education Allowance, school libraries, school transport, IT, youth services, traveller education programme is cut. To be fair to FF & The Greens, something’s have gone up. Student Registration fees up to €1.5K, Pupil Teacher Ratio, the retirement age for some teachers and the price of books in disadvantaged schools.
If there’s one that really is beneath contempt it is their decision to postpone the EPSOM Act. This act is a commitment from 2003 and the national euphoria following the Special Olympics in Croke Park. It was a promise to those children with special needs that they would have a right to an education plan for their developmental needs. This act wouldn’t cost a bob but its funding implications for schools and services would presumably put a strain on FF and the Greens need to cut stamp duty for commercial developers or the remove value for money criteria for public contracts for Tom Parlon’s buddies. The reality is that childhood development is not like infrastructure, you cannot delay the emotional development of a child and expect that when resources allow you can come back and start up where you left off. What FF and the greens are going to learn is that school kids are not like bicycles that can be parked in a shed on a wet day and taken out when it’s sunny. This government need grinds on education and I think they’re about to get it! Next week Labour table their motion on class sizes and lets see FF TD’s support their local schools.

Lenihan looks after the little people

So we’re there and it’s budget time. Much of the speculation is on how the ordinary citizen is going to be affected. You know it's as if deep down we’re putting a price on the recession, how much do I have to pay to take a trip back down memory lane to the land of milk and honey that was Celtic Tiger Ireland. Perhaps we’re looking at the balancing act that Brian Lenihan must perform from the wrong place. Given that he’s limited in how much revenue he can raise, maybe we should be anticipating how much we’ll miss as opposed how much we’ll have to pay. But rest assured this FF/Green government is looking after the little people. Traditionally the little people were the ones who hid the gold where it could never be found. I'm delighted to know that in these recessionary times FF core values still apply!

If you believe the newspapers, you’ll see means testing of medical cards for those over 70, a reduction in the early childcare payment for children under 6, 5,000 jobs to go in the public service (1K of these in HSE), Ministerial pay to drop 10%, introduce a scheme to kick start house sales, abolition of PRSI ceiling on salaries, standard rating of personal relief, Carbon tax, increase in excise duty, an increase of 1% in top rate of PAYE, sale of 2 army barracks, the introduction of €10 departure tax, a scheme to encourage insulation in schools and public buildings and after all that borrowing of €8B to balance the books

Lets think local on this one and ask what about the critical infrastructure Wexford needs. Our swimming pool should have started construction by now so will next week’s budget accelerate that project? Our library has had the archaeological survey done on the site but as yet the site is shuttered from view by a hoarding with a picture of the finished building. During the 2007 election our local FF candidate said that our second bridge was on schedule. The project hasn’t been mentioned in 18 months and its absence limits the chance to bring jobs to the town. Indeed when I met the Minister for Environment in February and raised the matter with him he looked puzzled! Our N25 dual carriageway to Rosslare was also promised in 2007 by someone who knows about prioritising or maybe it’s slipped Bertie Ahern’s mind, it wouldn’t be the first time he’s forgotten something important! Our local secondary school that was promised a €1M extension and all they got was a 2 room pre-fab see above.

All of these projects should have been underway in our town but in the last 12 months they’ve slid down the government’s to do list. That’s the real price of Cowenomics and those ordinary people who pay it are just as important as the bankers who were fast tracked to their guarantee. When developers were getting tax breaks to build like there was no tomorrow, the tax foregone should have been used on expanding our infrastructure and not hoping against hope that we could play catch up later.

So when you’re topping up mid week on home heating oil for the year ahead to avoid the Carbon tax, bought your alcohol early for Christmas ’08, filled up the tank on budget day to save a few bob because you’ve a pay freeze for 11 months, just remember it could have been very different if we hadn’t binged out on the bankers and builders in the last 10 years.