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

One of the big fears among ordinary people is that they are going to pay for the Covid-19 crisis, as was the situation during the most recent crisis, which was not of the people's making but of the making of bankers and developers. Their actions caused an unprecedented economic crash and ordinary people paid the bill through income losses, job losses and crushing cuts to areas such as housing, health and education. The people want to know that austerity is off the table and they are not going to be asked to pay the bill this time because it would be grossly unfair and counterproductive, as clearly was the case in previous cuts to areas such as healthcare, housing and education. In the context of Covid, one thinks about the price that we are paying for the cuts and lack of investment in areas such as those. Am I hearing our guests right that the advice of the Central Bank is to the effect that austerity of the sort where ordinary people pay the bill for the Covid crisis should be off the agenda?