Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Unfortunately, one of the slogans used to be "We will put more money in people's pockets". That was when governments were always going to address issues of a long-term or short-term nature. The worrying part was that when they got their hands in people's pockets, they had a habit of taking more out than they were putting in.

We have to recognise that there may be, as the Taoiseach warned, a short, sharp pain. How we deal with that remains to be seen but I hope we hold our nerve.

We are deemed to be one of the five wealthiest countries in the world. That is what I hear the Opposition telling us, anyway, all the time. I have my doubts about that because most of our wealth comes from wages and salaries and property prices. That still remains, I think. I will not ask Mr. Barnes to comment on putting the hand in the pocket but would be grateful for his response on the rest of it.