Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)

We have seen tens of thousands of people forced to sign on the live register over the last six months. What has the Minister of State's Government done about it? Absolutely nothing. We face into the Government's fourth attempt in six or seven months to come to grips with the gaping hole in the public finances and we still see no commitment to reform in the public sector or any measures put in place by the Government to stimulate our economy or bolster our struggling SMEs and private companies around the country. It beggars belief that we are in a situation where we are all being threatened with massive tax increases, because that will clearly help stimulate the economy. We will see swingeing cuts across all Departments. Over the last number of months we have seen that what this Government means by "cuts" is targeting the vulnerable and those it feels are least likely to vote and to take it out on the Government.

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