Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

It is hard to believe that a Government that once prided itself on having its finger on the pulse of the people should now be so clearly out of touch with what old people feel about their health. I could not help smiling last week when I heard Councillor Maurice Ahern say that his brother Bertie would never have done this. There are many things about Deputy Ahern I bitterly disagreed with but I will give him one thing. He understood people and he understood human nature. That trait has not been inherited by his successor.

See this speech in context