Deputy Mary Lou McDonald is next and I know that she will lead by example.

As ever.

We are three weeks away from the announcement of budget 2018 which represents a real opportunity to deliver for citizens who are struggling to get by and build a life for their families but all of the signals from the Government and the Taoiseach are that they are going to pass up on this opportunity. Instead of focusing on the crises in the health service and the provision of housing, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are engaging in a sham fight over how best to introduce unaffordable and reckless tax cuts. It is the same old Fine Gael backed by the same old Fianna Fáil. We all know that the best way to give a break to those struggling to make ends meet, pay rent and keep a roof over their heads is not to give a tax break to put a few measly euro back in their pockets, a few measly euro that would do precious little to alleviate the cost-of-living crisis that is ruining so many lives. It is very clear that the best way to give low and middle income workers a break is by building decent public services. It is done by investing in the health system, delivering social and affordable homes at a level which matches the scale of the housing emergency and ensuring those with disabilities can access proper and dedicated services.

A responsible Government would reject the policies that have led to the decimation of essential services. An irresponsible Government is one that opts to make tax cuts when public services are crumbling and people are suffering. This is not just auction politics but also short-sighted and destructive politics. The Government is so deluded and out of touch that it believes this is its route to electoral success. It is about trying to buy votes. However, the people who the Government are trying to buy off will not be bought off so cheaply. It has it wrong again. Frankly, it is incredible that tax cuts versus investment in public services is even a matter of debate. The facts on the ground, in communities and our families, should have settled that argument already. The vast majority have had their fill of auction politics. They want and demand decent public services, for which they are crying out. They want children out of hotel rooms and in homes. They want patients off trolleys and waiting lists. They want to have the opportunity to buy their own homes.

Given the limited fiscal space, will the Government make the necessary investment in public services or will it insist on tax cuts that would further decimate the State's ability to respond to these crises? It cannot do both. Choosing tax cuts over investment in public services in the budget will give the clearest evidence yet that the Taoiseach, much like his predecessor, is not serious about tackling the issues which are impacting on the lives of ordinary people.

The first thing we want to do is make sure we continue the economic progress the country has seen. In the very first instance we have the capital which is provided by the Government. We have taxpayers who are paying tax and because it has been managed properly, we are now in a position to invest in services, contrary to the position inherited by the previous Government three or four years ago when there was no money available to spend on services.

We have come full circle and are investing again in the services people need. We can do this because we have an economy that is growing and developing and because there is capital to invest. There has been substantial investment by the Government in the development of public services, including health and education services and housing, and that will continue next year. We have prioritised large budgets for the provision of housing and health services. There are many challenges, but we have the capital to invest which was not available previously and we will invest it in a prudent way. We will also balance the books, which is important because we want to be able to continue to substantially increase budgets in the years ahead.

As I said, we will continue to invest wisely in capital projects that are needed in the provision of services; in targeted income supports, as was done in budget 2017, as well as in supporting the vulnerable and increasing the budget substantially for disability and mental health services. We will also continue the process of tax reductions. There would not be money to spend on services if people were not going out to work. It is the people's money that we are spending on all of these services and they also deserve support. As I said, we will continue the process of tax reductions. We will also help businesses and families to plan for the future, which is important.

We will set out our key budgetary objectives and publish a national planning framework and the ten-year capital plan, all of which will give certainty and the people can have confidence that the investment in services will continue. That will be the focus. It will be comprehensive and involve a 4.5% increase in the capital budget for next year which will lead to the investment people want to see in all public services. We will favour expenditure increases over tax reductions by at least a ratio of 2:1 in line with A Programme for a Partnership Government and the confidence and supply arrangement.

The Tánaiste's reply was most unconvincing. I do not think even she is convinced by the flawed and almost perverse argument she has presented. The people who go out to work and pay their taxes are also the ones who are casualties of the lack of investment in housing and health, child care and many other services. They are not two competing realities. They are one and the same and what they are telling us - I imagine they are also telling members of the Government this, unless they are living in a different or parallel universe - is that they are not prepared to tolerate any longer a position where there are more than 600,000 people on waiting lists for medical procedures; record numbers on hospital trolleys; people are unable to afford to pay their rent and people will never be able to aspire to home ownership. They are the tax paying, working people it seems the Government will insult in the budget with €1 or, if it goes along with its friends in Fianna Fáil, €1.50 a week or a little more according to its plan.

Every Sinn Féin councillor plays a part in-----

Despite the sensitivities of my Fianna Fáil colleagues, I put it to the Tánaiste that it is utterly reckless and irresponsible to talk about tax cuts as a means of rewarding working people.

What about Sinn Féin councillors-----

Deputy Mary Lou McDonald must conclude.

Will the Government drop that proposal and will it recognise and invest in the services on which we rely?

The Deputy is talking nonsense.

I might have to give the Deputy a yellow card.

In the forthcoming budget we will continue to take the approach that has allowed this country to invest in the kinds of services that clearly need to be developed at this time in our economy. We will have a budget that will be incremental, sustainable and fair because we want to be fair to those people who are working and to the vulnerable, and we want to make sure that we support the kind of job creation we have seen in this country. We all know that the best way out of poverty is to have a job. With the level of job creation we have had, we now have the income to invest in the kinds of services that the country now needs.

Well then, do that.

That is precisely what we will be doing in the budget. It is not about one or the other.

No, it is about one or the other.

It is about supporting our workers and the development of services in this country and, most of all, about creating the kind of economy that can invest. If we do not manage the economy properly, there will not be the money to invest, which is the position this country found itself in a few years ago.