Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)

The Minister spoke of the philosophical differences between his party and the Opposition parties. This is nowhere more marked than in this provision in the Finance Bill. His predecessor believes his greatest achievement was individualisation of the tax system. The reality is very different. If anything, those measures saw the introduction of a two tier society with the rewarding of greed. The message it conveyed was that the role in society of a social actor, parent, carer, volunteer, was the lesser. If one is to be properly recognised in society, one has to be a vibrant economic actor. Although this is the Minister's first budget——

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