Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I wrote down what the Deputy said. Apparently our recovery is due to the ups and downs of the global economy. The Deputy's view is that if we had just waited for the swing back all would come well again, such that we did not have to do anything. That is the sort of economic analysis that would have destroyed us in 2011 had we not began the process of getting things back on track.

Deputy Boyd Barrett also believes that we should restore pay to everybody immediately. He posits the way to do that is to increase taxation by €1.9 billion. Obviously, an additional €300 million would also have to be found, which means we would have to increase taxes by €2.2 billion. I would be interested in hearing what particular tax increases the Deputy has in mind.