Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

At the outset, on my own behalf and on behalf of the Labour Party, I extend our sympathy to the family, friends and colleagues of the late Garda Robbie McCallion whose life passed away tragically yesterday.

Today and tomorrow we will have an opportunity to have a long debate on the budget, on the extent to which the Government has screwed working families on modest incomes, on the decision to take mortgage interest relief from householders in negative equity and to take the Christmas bonus from pensioners and others on social welfare, and on how this budget does little or nothing to sustain jobs or stimulate job creation in our economy. There is one aspect of the Supplementary Budget Statement I wish to pursue with the Taoiseach. It arises from what Deputy Kenny has been saying. This is the plan by the Government to take all the property which represents their bad debts off the hands of developers.

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