Boyd-Barrett: Budget will protect bankers and super-wealthy

Today's Budget cuts announced by Minister Brendan Howlin are "savage, senseless and stupid", according to the People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett.

Mr Boyd Barrett said that there were alternatives such as repudiating the debt and taxing the "super-wealthy", but it was a "political choice" to hit the least well-off in society.

Mr Boyd Barrett said: "The most obvious victims of today's budget are the children of this country."

"Children and one parent families will be hit hard by this budget with the poorest families being savaged to protect the bankers and the super-wealthy."

"Interest on debt with the €3.1bn to Anglo is costing us more than the Budget deficit gap the Government is hoping to bridge by bringing in this senseless austerity so there was always an alternative to prioritise ordinary people.

He said the cuts announced today come on on top of existing austerity measures that have already provoked a worrying rise in child poverty.

Childrens charity Barnardos estimates that approximately 96,000 children are now living in consistent poverty.

The People Before Profit TD said: "Reducing the one parent family payment will see families who are already struggling being driven further into hand-to-mouth conditions. One parent families will be hit, not just by the cut to the lone family payment, but cumulatively by the cuts to rent allowance, back to school allowance and cuts to other childrens' services.

"The cut to the fuel allowance period will see these children living in even more deprived and cold conditions while the elderly will also suffer.

The last available data showed that there were up to 2,000 excess winter deaths in Ireland each year.

Mr Boyd Barrett continued: "Many of these are older people dying from cold-related illnesses such as pneumonia, heart attack and stroke.

"According to figures from the EHRA (eastern regional Health Authority) Ireland experiences a 30-32% increase in deaths each winter, while Norway only sees a 2% increase.

"I would ask how many deaths will Brendan Howlin and Joan Burton take responsiblity for as cutting the fuel allowance season will do nothing to bring down the figures of people dying from cold related illnesses.

"Savaging the already vulnerable with these vicious cuts is going to further cripple our economy and claims that this budget is going to help the country on the path to economic recovery are ludicrous."