Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)

When the tactic of confusion did not work, it sent out a south Tipperary Deputy on a national radio station looking for the head of the Minister for Health and Children in order to blame somebody else. Before the Taoiseach took the slow boat to China he said on RTE news on Friday night that he knew there would be a problem and defended the decision in the House. This was the Government's fifth attempt to explain the new income limits. It got it wrong and it is time for it to allay the fears of the pensioners it has punished. The former US President, Harry Truman, also said: "If you can't stick the heat, get out of the kitchen". I am urging everybody, including Government backbenchers, to join the revolution. Come with us in Fine Gael and vote with us tonight. The Government got it wrong and should admit it. It should rescind this disgraceful decision.

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