Michael Kennedy (Dublin North, Fianna Fail)

I want to hear the Deputies opposite to outline their tax proposals while at the same time advocating we can hand out substantial money totalling €2.5 billion at a time when the country is borrowing so much.

On the overall tax assessment situation, surely it is reasonable to suggest that those who earn €150,000, €200,000, €250,000, or €500,000, or maybe those who are lucky enough to earn €600,000 in income, should pay something towards the crisis that their country is in. That is reasonable. It is time Fine Gael and the Labour Party owned up to that fact rather than making populist remarks that may go well in Dublin South or North Tipperary-----

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