Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)

The Minister's words are very nice and if I did not know better, I would be re-assured by them. However, like everything else, it is lip-service. The Minister suggests the economy is robust and the Minister for Finance suggests that it has not been stronger for ten years. In reality, we see that the Minister's own Government accepts that unemployment is going to increase, tax receipts are going down and the deficit is going to rise.

The Minister cites the EU average of 6.9%, which I accept. I accept that unemployment is higher in Romania, Poland and various other countries in eastern Europe. I will cite some other figures.

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