Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

I repeat that the way to deal with the public finance crisis is to get the economy moving again. That is not to suggest we can ignore the state of the public finances because we cannot. What matters now is not the deficit this year or in any one year. What matters is whether we have a credible plan to address the problem over a period of years. We must send a signal that we are serious about putting our affairs in order. This must be done in a fair way, however. Those who have most should contribute most.

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