Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

If a person works hard, uses his or her "smarts" and takes responsibility and risk, he or she should be economically compensated. One needs that spark within an economy for the economy to function. Ireland has one of the biggest disparities between rich and poor internationally. I am not just talking about making sure that people who work hard and use their smarts get properly paid, with a fair distribution of income.

We are talking about a society where people are currently struggling to live. For example, I know a 68-year-old woman who had a stroke and waited 45 minutes for an ambulance to arrive at her house because of a lack of ambulances. When she went into hospital, she had to wait 13 extra weeks to get into the National Rehabilitation Hospital. She had another stroke and a nurse was pulled away from her when she was in the hospital shower, leading to her falling and sustaining a head injury. After that she had a blood transfusion with the wrong blood. This is just one example of a person with four engagements with the health service and due to the nature of its crisis, that health service has reduced her life expectancy and quality of life by a massive amount. This woman is now looking at a life in a nursing home.

I am not just saying we want a fair distribution of income but rather that €169 million given to that cohort while this woman cannot access a health service unless it damages her is the wrong decision at the wrong time. The Government needs a system to ensure that those on €200,000 are not getting back an extra €902 through a USC cut at the same time as what I outlined is happening to citizens.