Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

This is the last chapter in what the Minister's predecessor described as something of a great epic, which, like the works of Charles Dickens, he decided would be issued in serial form. Like the work of Dickens, this epic started with great expectations, but much of it for many ended in fairly hard times, which is part of the mark of the Government in its approach to public finances. It has been very much the tale of two Irelands, with many doing well, but, unfortunately, many more left in the margins. Many of those in the margins are people waiting for public services that should have been delivered considering the wealth available to the country.

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