Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

One of the choices the Government appears to have already made - the Minister for Finance referred to it - is to rule out any tax increases for the super rich. The Government is not applying the same principle to reducing the incomes of the people who are at the lowest end of the scale. I refer here to those who are on subsistence incomes. Due to the fact that they cannot survive on those incomes - which are provided by the State - the people to whom I refer are being obliged to approach charities such as the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. These individuals are facing up to the human consequences of the economic problem.

When it comes to making a choice, the Taoiseach does not have a difficulty in stating that he will do what is needed in order to protect the interests of people who are very rich and that those who are poor will be obliged to face the consequences.

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