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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
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John Kierans

John Kierans: Budget 2023 is a great chance to help the Irish people - don't blow it

There is serious apathy in the country at the moment with severe Government fatigue setting in.

After two years of Covid hell followed by the war in Ukraine and now the cost of living crisis, people are sick to the teeth at the same old faces leading the country.

We also more or less have the same Fine Gael ministers in power for well over a decade and with Leo Varadkar set to become Taoiseach for a second time in December, it feels as if we are listening to the same voices over and over again.

Read More: What time is Budget 2023 and what actually happens? All you need to know

As we await what promises to be a giveaway Budget on Tuesday afternoon, the truth is yes, Ireland has problems, particularly the never ending housing crisis, but our country is still one of the best places in the world to live in.

If you want to work there are jobs galore - if you are on social welfare you will receive more than most other states.

But this is all irrelevant if you are lying in your bed awake at night wondering how the hell you are going to pay the mortgage, the rent or the bills.

Will the electricity be sky high this month, have we used too much gas, have we the money for coal to light the fire, is there enough cash left to put food on the table?

I know what it is like because I have been there.

I remember the currency crisis in the early nineties when interest rates hit 18-19%. For two hard, woeful years we struggled to make ends meet.

The two of us were working and we had two kids but we hadn't a penny to spare.

The country then was a different place and had very little money to help the people. We were also all taxed to the hilt.

Most people didn't whinge, we just knuckled down and got on with it. We stupidly did our protesting on the kitchen table not on the streets.

Last Saturday thousands of people took to the streets in Dublin to let the Government know they are not happy and need help. Fair play to each and everyone of them.

Critics say it was full of the usual "lefties" and students and represented only .05% of the population but so what? I admire each and everyone of them because they are prepared to march for what they believe in.

There is absolutely no doubt many people are struggling and hurting, and need some Government help.

The fact that a Government will today give away a record €10 billion to help our people is unheard of in my lifetime.

I hope we see energy credits to help families and businesses pay their energy costs.

I hope from now on you go on the higher rate of tax at €40,000 instead of €36,800 which I always felt was wrong.

I hope our old age pensioners and young families crippled with childcare costs are looked after.

The will also I hope be an increase for those on social welfare.

The politicians in this country have always been very good at paying themselves and looking after the fat cat bankers.

The least they can do in Ireland's hour of need is look after all of our people.

Thankfully the years of austerity following the 2008 crash are well behind us. We never want to go down that road again.

But with a growing population, we need to protect our economy, each and everyone of our jobs and ensure that the best days are ahead of us.

Nobody in this day and age should have to have sleepless nights wondering if they and their family can survive.

I remember in the 1970s my parents fretting over where they would get the money for our school books. They had seven kids in different classes between primary and secondary school.

If you could get them second hand from a lad or a girl up the road it would save a fortune. Now the word is that school books are to be made free. This will be a huge positive step to help big families and those on low incomes.

I always said education is the only way out of poverty.

This will be Micheal Martin's final budget as Taoiseach and probably Paschal Donohoe's as Minister for Finance.

They both have a ready made chance now to deliver one of the great budgets in history to help the Irish people. Let's hope they don't blow it.

Unless there is a sizable reshuffle in the Cabinet come December the public's fatigue with the Government will continue and voters will run into the arms of Sinn Fein.

Mary Lou's time is coming and then we will see what she will do.

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