Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

-----is a cosy club between the Government, the development and construction industries and the banking sector. That message is grossly untrue.

I will move on to other areas. Clearly, economic, social and political cohesion are crucial ingredients in regrowing the economy. No matter what anyone says about savings, the achievement of which is important, we have a pay and pensions bill and a social welfare bill this year of €43 billion. We will have a tax revenue of approximately €32 billion or €33 billion. We are borrowing to pay wages and social welfare. If we stopped all other expenditure, we would still be left with a €10 billion hole in the finances.

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