Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

As hinted at by Deputy Pearse Doherty, there is nothing electoral about our perspective on this issue. Some of us believe in the concept of universal provision. We believe that is the fair and right way to go. While I accept that there have been populist and electoral moves by Fianna Fáil in the past, Fine Gael has done likewise. The quid pro quo for some of the nasty cuts introduced in the budget was a similarly populist and electoral move.