Finance Bill 2022: Second Stage Seanad Éireann — 2022-11-29 ============================================================ Eugene Murphy (FF), Agricultural Panel I will only speak for two and a half minutes because, at this point in such debates, there tends to be a great deal of repetition. I support and commend the budget. In excess of 2 million people, or 64% of all taxpayers, will benefit from the income tax changes. Many welfare supports and extra payments have also been given to people. We all know what they are. This is year 3 of the most extraordinary situation that any Government has had to face. We had two years of Covid, during which most would agree the Government did an excellent job in ensuring there was money in people's pockets, our economy remained steady and people in employment were protected. We then moved into the war in Ukraine. No matter what anyone says, that war is having a terrible effect on Europe, including our economies. Despite the challenges we face, the experts say that the economy is sound and, albeit with a note of caution, will more than likely not go into recession. I hope that we will not. Most people I meet acknowledge that this budget has been good and has looked after those who need to be looked after. Perhaps we could sometimes do more for low-to-middle-income earners. Energy costs are one matter, but the cost of having to travel long distances to work is serious. I know many people in the west who still have to come to Dublin daily. Paying for diesel and petrol remains an extraordinary cost for them and does not leave them with much income at the end of the week if they are not receiving expenses from their employers. I am mainly referring to private sector workers, but this also affects public sector workers. If they are travelling long distances to work in their own vehicles, it costs them a great deal of money. I do not disagree with everything Senator Gavan said, but none of us is happy with the housing situation. The Minister is doing a lot, but no one has an overnight solution to the housing crisis. I watched a documentary on Sky News the other night in which I saw the appalling circumstances that many people in Britain were experiencing. Thousands upon thousands of them are losing their homes with nowhere to go. I do not like comparing us to anyone else because everyone in this Chamber would say that we should be doing better than everyone else, and I do not disagree totally with Senator McDowell about landlords, the vacant property tax and so on – there was a certain amount of truth in what he said – but I am satisfied that the Government will do everything in its power to sort this matter out. None of us wants to see homeless children and people out of their houses, particularly at this time of year. It is my wish and that of everyone else that we act as quickly as possible, but no matter who comes into power, they will not be able to solve this matter overnight. I believe it was Senator Casey who referred to the 9% VAT rate for the hospitality sector. I hope that the Government will retain it. The sector is facing major challenges, and we need to acknowledge that, particularly through the VAT rate. I remind the House of what our hotels and restaurants do for our student population. Thousands upon thousands of students rely for their college money on hotels and restaurants in the main. This is an important point to take into account, as hotels and restaurants provide a great deal of employment in this regard. I saw that in my own family when my children were going to college. One is still going to college. Given the times we are in, this is a good budget. I acknowledge that there are problems and that not everyone will be satisfied, but the Government has done a good job in general. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2022-11-29/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:51:20+00:00 Sitting date: 2022-11-29