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

Well, if it was, it is easy to condemn it as gimmickry but I would reject that. These targeted measures, which Professor McMahon says were non-targeted, were targeted in the sense that they were targeted at a particular need at the time. Professor McMahon said some people had a greater need. I would say, and I think the Minister would say, that all of our society had a need and it might not be a good idea to tilt in one direction only. There needs to be a recognition that there was a need there, that this intervention does not need to be carried on into the next budgetary exercise. It can be corrected any way we wish. We can increase or reduce it on the basis that there is not a carry-on into next year's budget and we will not start with that. For instance, in the Department of Health, issue has been taken with whether that Department had correctly assessed the need first in order to present its figures. I would say that the need was assessed very carefully, in this particular situation and I think it will do its job.