Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

If one parses what the Tánaiste has just said, that is a change in his position. He has not just been saying all along that the adjustment can be less than €3.1 billion. What he has been saying, repeatedly and clearly, is that the adjustment should be no more than is absolutely necessary to achieve the deficit target we are required to achieve. That is what he has been saying. I still do not know what that figure is. It could be €2.5 billion or €2.7 billion. The Tánaiste has not just been saying it should be less than €3.1 billion. Will the Tánaiste advise whether it is still his position that the adjustment should be whatever is required to achieve the deficit target and no more? It is important that he confirm that.

The fundamental point I want to make in regard to the composition of the budget is that it must pass the basic test of fairness.

In my view, the two most recent budgets have not passed this test. One will never have consensus on what is fair, but the best measures are whether the impact of the budget is progressive and the burden of its measures is carried by those who are most able to carry it. This was not the case in the two most recent budgets. Is the Tánaiste's position still to have an adjustment of no more than is required to achieve the figure of 5.1%? Will the budget pass the basic test of fairness which the two most recent budgets did not?

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