Two-timing Prudence for floating votes

BRIAN COWEN deceived to conquer yesterday, appearing to remain faithful to his true love Prudence while winking at every floating voter behind her back.

The unseasonal look of gloom which settled over the Finance Minister as he slumped back into his seat belied the standing ovation erupting from the benches behind him.

The delighted-looking Government TDs realised their Santa had delivered Christmas early.

For a man who insisted buying votes was the last thing on his mind, Mr Cowen managed to scatter the embarrassment of cash at his disposal to a jittery electorate with the deftest of touches.

Young families, home buyers, pensioners, tax payers and social welfare recipients were all carefully targeted, but the payload was delivered without the smug brashness of the McCreevy years.

Pledging to build a “fairer and stronger” Ireland, Mr Cowen unveiled a €1.25 billion tax give-back, led by slicing a point off income tax, nudging it down to 41%.

The move was partly a sop to the Progressive Democrats who were soundly put in their place on stamp duty reform.

That dog didn’t bark, instead, mortgage interest relief for first-time buyers was doubled and made available to people in the first seven years of their repayments.

It seemed scant reward for Tánaiste Michael McDowell’s loyalty during the Bertiegate crisis. Especially as he told friends in September, he was not prepared to pull out of Government as that would mean sitting in the “eaves” of the Dáil chamber with the rag bag of independents when the Budget day billions were being handed out.

The loudest cheers during Mr Cowen’s 55-minute speech came with the announcement that pensions would break the €200 a week barrier as part of a €1.4 billion welfare package which saw significant social benefit increases.

It wasn’t quite the ‘socialism in action’ Taoiseach Bertie Ahern had once hinted at, but coupled with the drive to push health spending to €15bn next year, it made the right noises for any voter floating towards the Coalition.

In a show of tough love, smokers and high-income earners were both hit in an effort to boost hospitals.

The 50c price hike slapped on a packet of 20 cigarettes is set to reap €112 million, and the levy on those earning €100,000 a year goes up 0.5%.

Extra charges for private stay beds in public hospitals will also boost medical coffers — but at the same time put up insurance costs.

In a move which could rebound in the sprawling “baby belts” around Dublin, Cork and other cities, meagre attention was paid to childcare, as Mr Cowen gambled that the annual €1,000 payment unveiled last year would suffice.

The Finance Minister was clearly on the thinnest of winter ice as he talked up the Government’s “green agenda”, which seemed to mainly consist of forking out €270m to impoverished countries to buy our way out of our Kyoto climate change obligations.

Promising to combat greenhouse gases by punishing drivers of environmentally unfriendly cars with tax and VRT hikes, Mr Cowen made sure no such measures would take effect until well after the next election.

It was a difficult Budget for the opposition to oppose. The only real blow landed by Fine Gael was that mortgage relief would be wiped out by one flick of the European Central Bank’s interest rate pen.

It was the day Mr Cowen held Prudence with one hand, while he doled out €3.7bn with the other.