Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

First, I will not take lectures from Deputy Rabbitte on the genesis of my party, particularly as I am not altogether sure what was his political genesis, given that he has been in so many political parties since he entered this House and beforehand. As for the Equality Authority, I validly listed out areas in which I believe savings can be effected because we are now in a different situation. When I was dealing with the Estimates a number of months ago, I made the point I was trying to make in my earlier response. As I stated during my last Question Time, I told my officials that my number one priority in my Department was tackling crime. This is the reason that, for example, Operation Anvil's budget has been increased by €1 million from €20 million to €21 million, as well as an increase of 20% in CAB's budget——

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