Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

The truth is hard for the Deputies opposite to take. Today we see increases in income tax, capital gains tax, DIRT, VAT and motor tax. Every tax has been increased. This is not what the country needed. The capital programme has been axed by €1,300 million, which is a cut of 11%. This was a time when we needed investment for the long-term future. The Minister has made decisions today that will threaten to turn a recession into a depression. The savings the Minister has found have not been found in the big bureaucracies that have been built up in recent years.

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