Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)

It will never be forgotten.

A Fianna Fáil Government of ten, 20 or 30 years ago would not do this. I will hand it to Fianna Fáil that it was good at these matters over the years. However, all sense has left the party. The men and women over 70 spent their lives gallantly working for Ireland but the only response Fianna Fáil had to a recession was to take the medical card from them. There is no logic, good, bad or indifferent, in that.

The budget is the cause of all the Government's troubles. Those troubles started on budget day. The budget was a false start. The Government has apologised for what it did to one group or another every day since the budget was introduced. As a long-serving Member of this House, I know people are waiting in the long grass to get a rattle at the Government. They will do so next June because the Government lost touch with its roots and hit the most vulnerable. Shame on the Cabinet.

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