Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

It seems that she did not want to play, and so the Minister's flirtation with Ms Prudence has proven rather shortlived. He decided that he had an election to win, and so prudence was left on the shelf. When I hear Fianna Fáil Ministers assure us that they will be prudent in an election year, I inject a dose of scepticism. In my bones, I know the opposite to be true. One cannot get a leopard to change its spots; when Fianna Fáil sees an election around the corner, its first instinct is to buy it.

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