Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

Their four new parliamentary committees, their three new Ministers of State with their entourages and their own huge pay increases, which include €38,000 for the Taoiseach, have all been paid and it is others, such as pensioners, who we ask to make do with so much less. Ordinary workers on the average industrial wage are asked to pay tax at 41%, the same rate as that paid by a millionaire. Where is the sense of priority or justice from a Government that approaches issues like that?

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