Call for budget to be brought forward

FIANNA FÁIL leader Micheál Martin has called on the Government to bring forward the budget to next week in the wake of revelations in Germany regarding its plans to increase VAT rates.

Mr Martin said there was now no reason to wait until December to introduce the budget, given it was clear the Government had already made the various fiscal decisions it planned to introduce in the budget.

The decision to distribute the Government’s plan to increase the top VAT rate to 23 per cent to the German parliament had left the Government with no alternative but to bring in the budget immediately, he said.

Mr Martin said it was wrong to describe what happened in Germany as “a leak” as information on Ireland’s budget was formally given by the Germany federal finance ministry to the Bundestag.

“The Department of Finance need to clarify whether they were aware that was going to happen or not. Did they know about this and, if that’s the case, the budget should be brought in next week to the Dáil.

“We’ve had the fiscal framework that was announced outside of the Dáil, we’ve had the capital programme and cuts of €750 – that was announced outside of the Dáil, the comprehensive spending review is next and then the budget itself.

“It shows the utter disrespect shown by the Government to the Dáil as an institution in terms of the whole budgetary strategy and at this stage I think they should get the whole charade over and bring the budget in next week,” Mr Martin said.

At a commemoration in Co Cork yesterday for War of Independence leader Denis Barry, Mr Martin also accused the Government of trying to soften up the electorate with a series of leaks on proposed budget cutbacks, such as reports of a €10 cut in child benefit.

Mr Martin said he believed the Fine Gael-Labour Coalition was trying to manipulate public opinion through the media with a series of leaks on what they plan to do in order to measure public opinion before finally announcing a series of cutbacks.

He said that reports the Government was going to cut child benefit by €10 would go against what Labour said in advance of the election but already the“shameful deception” on third-level fees by Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn “had started to come home to roost”.