JOHN* IS MARRIED with children and lives in Dublin. Ahead of the Budget, he said he was most worried about a possible cut in child benefit and the introduction of road tax
“As a father of five I’m going to be hit by health insurance and child support – and it will be a considerable and immediate hit.
The Budget is very unsupportive of people with large families. I know that sacrifices have to be made and I don’t mind that, but I feel that treating people with large families differently is wrong. I think it’s my natural right as a human being to have any size family I like – but if you do the traditional Catholic thing you’re treated differently, it’s not fair. Why should a family with two children be supported by the State but a family like mine not be?
The road tax will hit us massively. We need to have a large car because we have a large family, so we have a seven-seater diesel vehicle. I’ve always said that the tax should be based on the number of people in the car rather than the size of the vehicle, that just makes more sense.
On the whole, the news is very bad. Something will have to give – we’ll be spending less on things in general and, with my economics hat on, I can see that will mean less revenue for the State. We have already cut back, we’ve gone down to one car, and so the State has lost that revenue. And like most people we shop differently and get our fruit, vegetables and cheese from cheaper supermarkets. That means, of course, that that money is not going to Irish businesses.
The Budget is also very anti-entrepreneurs and people who work, I think. Entrepreneurs are the engine room of a country – they start businesses and employ people and generate money for the state. It’s so unfair, I get up every morning and work and I’m treated less positively than someone who doesn’t.”
*person wished to remain anonymous
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