Before I begin, I want to mention the developments overnight which have raised the prospects of a ceasefire and an end to the Israeli genocide in Gaza. I hope for a peace that is lasting and brings justice and freedom to the Palestinian people.

Tá stampa Fhine Gael ar gach leathanach den bhuiséad seo a bhí foilsithe Dé Máirt, buiséad a thréigeann daoine atá ag obair chun aire a thabhairt dóibh siúd atá ar an bharr. Cuireann briseadh na ngealltanas mór a rinne an Tánaiste ó thaobh cáin ioncaim, táillí mac léinn agus cúram leanaí é seo i gcuimhne dúinn. Some 48 hours have passed since the introduction of the budget. I hope that the real shock and anger of working people and families is starting to register with the Government. They have spent the past two days shaking their heads in disbelief at what the Government served up on Tuesday. It was a budget that abandoned workers in order to look after those at the top. This budget has Fine Gael's stamp on every page. It is a budget that shows up for developers, landlords and investors, but leaves workers behind. It is as though the Government sat down before the budget and asked, "How many of these election promises we made can we break in this budget?" That is what it did.

I want to address some of the broken promises the Tánaiste himself made. The first one is on income tax. He said: "[I] believe we can do about €1.4 billion each year in tax measures over the next five years. And that will be made up of both the changes to the income thresholds ...[and] also changing the entry points to the various USC ban[d]s". That is what the Tánaiste said to The Irish Times in November last year, one week before the general election. He broke that promise on Tuesday. In one of the largest tax-cutting packages in the history of the State, at a time when it was never more needed, he could not even give ordinary workers a single cent in an income tax boost. The Tánaiste betrayed more than 2.5 million workers. That is on him. However, he found the money for big tax breaks for developers and landlords. It says everything about his priorities.

The second broken promise that he delivered on Tuesday was on student fees. Speaking on social media in November last year, just two weeks before the general election, he said: "I think we need to really phase out third-level fees. I've strong views on that." What happened? How can student fees be phased out while parents and students are being asked to pay €500 more this year than they paid last year?

Hear, hear.

That is what the Government did in this budget. No matter how hard the Tánaiste tries to spin - no doubt he will try to do it again - he said he had the backs of the students of Ireland. He has double-crossed them. It is another broken promise.

The third one is on childcare costs. Speaking to the Irish Independent in October last year, just a month before the general election, he pledged to deliver €200 per month childcare and to do so quickly. Here is what he said: "I actually believe the cost bit we can deliver quite quickly. I believe it can be delivered in the early time of the government." Fine Gael pledged to produce an action plan on childcare costs within the first 100 days of Government. We are now on day 259. Where is the plan? Where is the urgency he had in the run-up to the general election to deliver €200 a month childcare? It is not in the budget. Families are again shortchanged.

The broken promises have caused a lot of hurt out there. You do not get to raise people's expectation when you need their support and then come back empty-handed when they need yours.

Hear, hear.

That is not good enough, but it is what the Tánaiste did. Does he get why so many workers out there are so angry with what the Government has delivered in the budget? Does he understand that they feel really let down by the litany of broken promises?

Hear, hear.

Before I answer that question, I too want to take an opportunity to welcome the developments in relation to the Middle East overnight. I welcome the announcement that Israel and Hamas have now agreed on the first phase of a ceasefire and a peace deal for Gaza. We are now at a critical moment where we all hope and pray that we can see an end to this brutal, horrific humanitarian catastrophe, an end to the bloodshed, the killing and the famine. I also hope all the hostages are released. It is a day of hope for the people of Gaza after the darkest of times. This morning I directed my own officials to prepare for a substantial contribution and effort to Gaza to assist in the humanitarian effort that is going to be required immediately. Right now, a consignment of 1,500 tents is being loaded by the International Organization for Migration, IOM, in Amman today for delivery into Gaza in the coming days, including indeed 750 tents from Ireland's humanitarian stocks. We will not be found wanting in doing more as well.

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue of the budget and of course completely reject the way in which he framed the budget. What he does not tell the people at home is that his alternative plan proposed 23 new taxes at a cost of €3.3 billion. In terms of economic impact - not in my view but in the view of anybody who can understand economics - that would have increased inflation in this country by spending €4 billion more. What happens when you increase inflation? You increase everybody's cost of living. In Sinn Féin's economically illiterate way of assisting people with the cost of living, it actually would have hurt people with the cost of living. That is why, when we had a general election, people rejected Sinn Féin's economic philosophy.

Hear, hear.

They said, "No, thank you very much." They also heard what we said and what Deputy Paschal Donohoe said during the general election as well, when we said, "Yes, we want to do measures on income tax", but we put in black and white in the programme for Government that if it was a choice between doing certain things or doing income tax we would choose the other things because we have to keep this country safe. The Deputy only asked me about tariffs once at Leaders' Questions. He never wants to discuss the economy or the global headwinds that the country faces. We have to keep our country safe. There are people watching in on this programme today who remember what it was like when wrong choices were made in budgets. They remember what it was like when too much money was spent. They remember what it was like when people did not manage the country prudently.

What we did in this budget was set out to deliver a five-year programme for Government, and it is a five-year programme for Government. The Deputy is conveniently picking up our programme for Government and saying, "Why have you not done in one year everything that you said you would do in five?" That is not how it works. We need to be honest here. What we have done is we have taken steps to help those most in need.

To take the issue of fuel poverty, we extended the fuel allowance to 50,000 more people. We regularly discuss that issue. I am sure the Deputy welcomes that fact. We embedded a reduction in college fees permanently so that students will not have to wonder what the fees will be next year. It is now on a downward trajectory and that is embedded, and it has been extended to apprentices.

We are going to deliver on the €200 per month per child commitment in the lifetime of this Government. That is what we said we would do; it is what Sinn Féin said it would do. It is what we all said we would do. However, we also have to make sure we deliver the capacity and that we have the places. That is why there are 21 commitments in the programme for Government and we are working through them already. In this budget, we actually delivered funding to significantly increase the number of childcare places. That is really important. I regret Sinn Féin did not do that in its alternative budget. Reducing the cost of childcare but not having childcare places is not much use to anybody.

This budget is being completely misrepresented by Sinn Féin. It should look at what the CEO of Inclusion Ireland said yesterday morning when she welcomed the significant uplift in funding. There is over €680 million extra for disability services, €1.5 billion more for our health services, and more than €800 million more for our education system. The budget is investing in public services, targeting the resources at those who most need them, particularly at the issue of child poverty. I was disappointed at Sinn Féin's lack of ambition on the issue of child poverty. It would have done a hell of a lot less than we did. Let us look at what it said it would do on child support payments. It promised the people it would do €12.50 for under-12s. Its pre-budget submission only did €6. We delivered €8, so let us get real.

Seriously? Does the Tánaiste really believe that?

Yes, we do.

Try to be serious.

Sinn Féin is proposing 23 new taxes.

Order, please.

The Tánaiste speaks about honesty. I will read back his words from before the election-----

Yes, when Sinn Féin thought it would win.

-----so maybe he does not put much credence in it.

Sinn Féin proposed 23 new taxes.

Wait until he hears what Fine Gael promised the people. It was to increase the higher tax-band threshold, raise the point at which a worker enters the higher tax-band by at least €2,000 each year.

Every year.

That is what Fine Gael promised.

The Deputy should read the next bit.

It promised a plan-----

The Deputy should read the next bit.

----on childcare costs within 100 days.

The Deputy should read the next bit.

The Government has no plan. Fine Gael has broken promise after promise because that is what Simon does.

The Deputy did not finish the first bit.

He says what needs to be said at a point in time-----

The Deputy has not read it.

-----and then forgets all about it. The families of scoliosis know that and now the workers right across the State know what he is all about.

Hear, hear.

Two and half million workers have been abandoned in this budget. I put it to the Tánaiste, at a time when the Government made tax breaks available to investors, banks, developers and landlords, why did it consciously decide to leave workers worse off in this budget? That is shameful.

Thank you, Deputy Doherty.

What it has done is shameful. It has broken its promise. Can the Tánaiste explain-----

The Deputy's time is up.

-----why he made a pledge that it would lift the burden on workers and decided consciously to favour developers-----

Thank you, Deputy.

-----investors and landlords over the people who are out working and building our economy?

Hear, hear.

I am delighted that Sinn Féin is now in favour of reducing tax on work.

Hear, hear.

My party found that to be a lonely journey in the past several years-----

Fine Gael promised to abolish the USC. Does the Tánaiste remember that?

-----as Sinn Féin opposed it every time we did it.

It was to abolish the USC.

Deputy Doherty might read the programme for Government, where it specifically says that if it comes to a choice between investment in public services or tax, we know which we will do.

The choice was to tax developers.

Now, Deputy Doherty talks about-----

The Government made a choice on tax to give €2.5 million of taxpayers' money-----

Settle down, settle down.

Deputy Doherty.

I will use my time, if that is okay.

Did the Deputy hear the town planner yesterday on "Morning Ireland" talk about how the measures we have taken will help more apartments to be built? Sinn Féin wants more homes to be built, but spends half its time objecting to them. It says it wants to treat housing as an emergency.

Answer the question.

We treat it as an emergency, using the tax code to stimulate viability.

Why did you break your promise?

Sinn Féin proposed 23 new taxes, €3.3 billion more-----

Yes, on banks and developers.

It would be a failure.

You gave them your sweetheart deals.

It is an alternative budget that would blow our economy. The people rejected it.

Why did you break your promises?

Thank you very much. We will keep this country safe.

Why did you break your promises?

We will develop and invest in our public services-----

Why did you break your promises?

----- and deliver homes, and we will deliver our promises-----

Why are you breaking your promises?

-----in the programme for Government over five years.

Deputy Alan Kelly.

Answer the question.

The Deputy saying it is so, does not make it so.

Deputy Alan Kelly.