Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

Child benefit has almost quadrupled from €38.10 per month in 1997 to €150 today. The facts on these issues and others that my colleagues will deal with in detail speak for themselves. They speak of the steady and planned progress being made on the issues that really matter to people.

Ireland has seen a great deal of progress over the past ten years through the hard work of the people and a Government that has worked with them. It is truly extraordinary that the Opposition can launch a lengthy debate about the state of the nation and fail to even once mention job creation and the economic policies that have successfully delivered an end to mass unemployment and high emigration.

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