Burton: 'Budget will be difficult for middle/working-class families'
This week’s budget will be 'difficult' for middle and working-class families, according to Labour Party Finance Spokesperson Joan Burton.
Speaking on RTE Radio today, Ms Burton said: "It’s an extraordinarily difficult set of circumstances. Some of the circumstances are of our own making, like the property bubble and the crash. And we also have a situation where Irish public finances have deteriorated incredibly dramatically in a very short period of time.
"The action that the government took in July was unfortunately too little, too late, and it now looks as though a lot of middle class and working class families next Tuesday are going to get quite a difficult scenario being painted by the minister.
"‘It also looks as though the preliminary guarantee, which was offered to the banks in Ireland hasn’t actually worked. The taxpayer is now going to have to bail out the banks so these are very difficult circumstances for the Minister for Finance on Tuesday.
Ms Burton said that ‘nobody foresaw the depth’ of current economic situation but that there were ‘an awful lot of warnings given’.
"Remember that in 1997 when Labour was last in government as part of the Rainbow [coalition], Labour left government with a small modest surplus, but a surplus nonetheless. When this government go to the electorate in two to three years time they will probably be leaving the biggest deficit in the history of the state.
"There’s been inflation. There’s also been all the projects that have failed, projects that cost from €60m to €160m because whenever there was a problem, just throw money at it was the response of the Ahern years. We’re now in a different landscape.
Ms Burton said that the Minister for Finance has a ‘particularly difficult job’ with the budget this week ‘in that he has to balance several different things.’
"He is going to have to raise some revenue and I presume some of that will be in relation to excise duty on certain areas. He is also going to have to cut back frivolous and wasteful public spending and trim back expenditure. He is also going to have to invest for the medium term in the public transport and the education system because when this recession ends we’re going to have to become competitive again to pick up the economy.
"If, however, he continues to deny the extent of the problem, say he continues the tax-breaks or expands them simply to reward maybe people close to the government parties, that will be disastrous for the economy", she added.
