It should be no surprise to the Taoiseach - I am sure it is not - that the Labour Party and Fine Gael have very different approaches to the economy. It turns out that Labour is better at managing the public finances and protecting the most vulnerable. Several commentators who are no friends of Labour described yesterday's budget as worse austerity than anything done during the period of economic collapse. This, however, is a time of immeasurably better public finances when the Government had real choices. Even if there is a no-deal Brexit, the public finances are close to being in balance. Next year, even without a hard Brexit, inflation is expected to be of the order of 1.5%. Inflation is a factor again in our economy. It was not during the past five or six years. The cost-of-living increase yesterday means the freeze on welfare payments is an effective cut to the income of the poorest people of the land. If the Government had not needed to pay an extra €200 million for the children's hospital or rural broadband due to the mismanagement of those projects, it would have had the money to address the increase required in welfare payments. If the Government had required the banks to pay their fair share after being bailed out by the public purse in exchange for the debt they owe the people, we would have had the money to protect the most vulnerable. Fine Gael, however, has not managed the public finances prudently and it has refused to demand from the banks the full payback required for the bailout. Fine Gael now has to stand over a real reduction in the income of the most vulnerable next year.

The ESRI has warned that many common supermarket items imported from Britain will increase in price if there is a no-deal Brexit, costing the average family between €892 and €1,362 per year. That will add €17 to €26 per week to the cost of the weekly shopping of a family. It is quite clear that many in society are going to have to do without if a no-deal Brexit comes about because there will be an effective reduction in their income and a rise in prices.

The Minister for Finance did not give us details of the spending measures he intends to take, if there is a no-deal Brexit to protect the most vulnerable. I have one simple and direct question for the Taoiseach: will the Government now undertake to raise social welfare rates in a supplementary budget if a no-deal Brexit comes to pass?

We have no plans for a supplementary budget or an emergency budget. The budget was framed on there being a no-deal Brexit, with the economy growing by only 0.7% next year as opposed to 5.5%, which was the rate this year. Since this is the budget that protects Ireland from the worst consequences of no deal, there will be no need for a supplementary budget or an emergency budget next year.

The Deputy is correct that the Labour Party and Fine Gael have different approaches to the economy. We decided to base this budget on there being no deal. We believe that was the right approach. Fianna Fáil, our confidence and supply agreement partners, agree. The Labour Party did something different in its alternative budget proposal, which I have to hand; it assumed there would be a deal. All its numbers and projections assume there will be a deal. The party promises welfare increases in its alternative budget but the truth is that, if there were no deal, they would have to be taken back in a few months. This is exactly the policy we wanted to avoid because we saw what happened in 2010. The then Government announced a giveaway budget, cut taxes, increased social welfare and the minimum wage and did all those things we all want to do and then took it all back again six months later after the economic shock. The Labour Party would pursue the policy of 2010, which was so wrong and mistaken. We do not want to do that. There is a serious risk of a major economic shock to our country in a few weeks. The Tánaiste and I are working harder than anyone else to avoid that shock but we had to do the right thing with this budget. The right thing was to base it on the assumption that we will not have a deal. What the Labour Party did was wrong. All its numbers assume there will be a deal. It promised increases in welfare and expenditure but it would have to take all of them back. That was the approach taken by Fianna Fáil and the Green Party in 2010. It was wrong. While Fianna Fáil seems to have learned from that mistake in 2010, the Labour Party has not. That is disappointing.

Like a headmaster in school.

The Taoiseach should be allowed to continue without interruption.

Let me say a final word. Deputy Howlin mentioned the term "austerity" and seemed to suggest that, in some way, the budget produced yesterday was an austerity budget. He and I know what austerity budgets are like. He and I had to bring in austerity budgets.

So do the people, including workers.

He and I had to talk about how much we were going to take out of the health budget when he was Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform and I was the Minister for Health. This is not an austerity budget.

The Taoiseach got his way that time.

We are increasing expenditure on services and public infrastructure by €3.3 billion next year. This is more than an extra €1 billion for health services alone. This is not an austerity budget; it really is not.

I call Deputy Howlin, who has one minute.

With that response and with one minute, it is very hard to know where to start. That was a-----

The Deputy should start by withdrawing the nonsense in his question.

The Taoiseach is becoming more like Donald Trump every day, being detached from reality.

I want to make a few very clear points. The document the Taoiseach is holding up, Building an Equal Society: Labour's Alternative Budget 2020, which I am very glad he has read, is built on the figures presented by the Department of Finance. Unless the Taoiseach is suggesting they are completely false, they are all we can budget on. The figures were all proofed by the Department of Finance. They project a surplus next year of 0.2% of GDP, or €700 million, having provided €5 per week to every pensioner or anybody in receipt of a social welfare payment, including the disability benefit or carer's benefit. What it does do is ask the banks to pay their fair share. It is amazing that the Taoiseach believes asking the banks to pay their share in the normal times of funding the State will bring about an economic collapse and that it represents ruinous policy. It is that ruinous attitude to banks that brought us to disaster in the first place.

I question the notion that this was a Brexit budget because it ignores the most vulnerable. They are required to get no increase and meet the cost of additional price rises. Is that the Taoiseach's idea of a Brexit budget?

We introduced a measure in relation to the bank levy only last night, and I know the Deputy is supportive of it. He made a point that is worth answering, on the fact that there being no increase in weekly welfare payments and pensions in the budget means they will not keep up with inflation. That is a fair point and that is true but I have two points to make to the Deputy with respect to it. In the past three budgets, brought in by Fine Gael and the Independent Alliance, we increased the weekly welfare rates and the pension by two to three times the rate of inflation. Taking our four budgets in the round, we have kept our promise to increase the pension and the weekly welfare rates well above the rate of inflation. This budget is different because of Brexit but, taking the four budgets together, we have increased the pension and welfare rates well above the rate of inflation.

That will be a great comfort to people trying to pay their bills next year.

However, a second valid point is that the Deputy did not acknowledge that for the poorest in our society, we have increased welfare payments. There is a €5 a week increase for those living alone - 250,000 people will get that increase. They are protected from inflation. That increase will be double the rate of inflation next year. For the poorest families, we have increased the dependent child allowance. Those families will also be protected.

What about working families on low pay?

For families working on low pay, we have increased the working family payment and the lone parent disregards. The poorest families, those living alone and those on welfare with children have been protected.

What about the cuts for pensioners?

The Taoiseach is anti-republican.

I acknowledge that some have not but taking the four budgets in the round we have increased the weekly rate of the pension and the weekly rate of welfare payments by three or four times the rate of inflation. I am proud to have led a Government that did that.