Underlying the major public controversy over the Government's Budget announced on December 1st lies a division concerning the vision that should guide policy development in the years ahead. In a nutshell it's a question of what kind of society we want to build in the Republic as we enter the 21st century.

On the one hand, there is a vision outlined in the National Economic and Social Council strategy document published recently. On the other, there is a vision underpinning the Budget announced by Mr McCreevy.

The NESC vision sees a more egalitarian society in which divisions are reduced and poverty is eliminated. Underpinning the Budget is a vision that uses public policy as a tool to increase radically the disparities between rich and poor and increases rather than reduces divisions in society. These are profoundly different visions and the choices made at this time in the Budget and in any new national agreement to succeed Partnership 2000 will move us in one or other of these directions.

The NESC vision: The NESC strategy document identified the foundations of a successful society as:

a dynamic economy;

a participatory society;

incorporating a commitment to social justice;

based on consistent economic development that is socially and environmentally sustainable;

which responds especially to the constantly evolving requirements of international competitiveness, understood as the necessary condition of continuing economic and social success.

For NESC, social inclusion constitutes an essential aspect of this vision, not only because of the inherent importance of citizenship rights and obligations but also because social cohesion and economic prosperity are dependent on a fair society. Social inclusion is seen as essentially about full participation in society. Such participation is only possible when social, economic and cultural rights are recognised and fully in place. The Budget is crucial to delivering on this vision as it makes the decisions concerning what policies are to be funded and resourced.

The Budget's vision: Underpinning Budget 2000 lies a vision of a society that is quite different from that outlined by NESC. It gives priority to the economy, treating its growth and development as an end in itself. It treats people as economic entities whose primary function is to work for the economy. It ignores the social context, in which people live and work, relate, develop their interests and talents and make their choices.

It distinguishes between the so-called "deserving" and "undeserving" poor. Therefore it gives £7 (€8.89) a week to the "deserving" elderly and only £4 a week to the "undeserving" unemployed. It provides far greater gains for the rich than it does for the poor. It spends two and a half times more on tax cuts than on social welfare increases. Its tax cuts are fundamentally at odds with what NESC recommended.

As a result of Budget 2000:

the number of people living in relative income poverty will increase;

the incentive to take up employment will be reduced (this was a first in our experience);

child poverty and childcare will not be addressed on anywhere near the scale required to build a fairer society;

all the resources indicated as being available for allocation within the negotiations on a new national agreement will have been used up and no money has been left for tackling social exclusion and inequality.

Having a public mandate: The Minister for Finance in his Budget speech and on several other occasions has spoken of the Government having a mandate from the people for his approach and he cites the results of the general election of June 1997 to support this view.

In doing this he ignores the recent Irish Times/MRBI poll which showed clearly that the people's preference is for a more egalitarian society. The poll showed that far more people favour social spending over the reduction of tax rates. It was clear from this poll that there was a clear mandate for budgetary resources to be more fairly distributed and for a balance to be maintained between equity and competitiveness.

What needs to be done now? The vision outlined by NESC is one that most Irish people support. It should be the vision guiding policy in a Budget context and in the negotiations for a new national agreement to succeed Partnership 2000. If we are to have a new national agreement that is fair and inclusive it is important that Government clearly indicates its commitment to this vision. It is also crucial that all four pillars of social partners indicate their ongoing commitment to the vision they already signed up to in the NESC strategy document.

In concrete terms, this means that Government commits itself to provide the new resources necessary, not just to build a competitive economy, but also to ensure social inclusion and equality are central to a new agreement. It also means that all pillars of social partners must ensure that substantial, concrete commitments on social inclusion and equality, as well as adequate resources to fund these commitments, are included in a new agreement. On this basis a fair new national agreement can be forged. If, however, one pillar seeks more for itself than is consistent with the NESC vision then it will be placing social partnership at risk.

Fr Sean Healy SMA is director, CORI Justice Commission