Kilkenny TD John Paul Phelan has said that this week’s Budget is ‘fair’ and that it contains a number of positives for Kilkenny.
The Fine Gael deputy pointed to the reduction of stamp duty on agricultural land, which is a boost to Kilkenny’s agri-food industry, and the fact that none of the county’s Garda stations had been cut.
While disability cuts caused an uproar, Deputy Phelan also highlighted the maintenance of Special Needs Assistant numbers in schools. However, education has become one of the contentious topics of the Budget.
As Kilkenny is still without a university, the extra €250 in registration fees represents another unwelcome hike for families who are already having to fund accommodation outside the county, or meet the travel costs (which will also rise via VAT, motor tax and carbon tax ) to attend third level.
Deputy Phelan, however, points to a commitment on class sizes in local primary schools.
“Class size is a critical factor in the quality of education that young people in Kilkenny receive,” he said.
“By maintaining the student/teacher ratio despite massive economic pressure, this Government has shown that it is determined to give our young people their best possible start in life.”
However, the same cannot be said for secondary level. The rise in the pupil-teacher ratio in fee-paying schools is bad news for Kilkenny College, where – in addition to those from outside the county – some 350 day students from Kilkenny are educated.
In addition, the budget will render non-existent the role of career guidance counsellors in every school in the county.
When asked if this week’s harsh budget, coupled with the failed presidential election bid, entailed the end of the Government’s ‘honeymoon’ period, Deputy Phelan said that the holiday was long since over.
“I think the honeymoon ended a long time ago – if there ever was one,” he said.
“At the time of the election, everybody knew what was coming. That was the job for the Government that was elected.”
Opposition TD John McGuinness, however, said that the worst of the budget would only become evident in the new year.
“I think this is a budget where how it will affect people is hidden very well in the details, and I think the Government have been less than honest,” he told the Kilkenny Advertiser.
