Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

Nobody should preach to me about the small cuts in social welfare because the small cut to social welfare is the equivalent of the 5% cut that this Minister and the rest of us are taking. Attempts were made to imply that Ministers were taking a 15% cut when they were not. It is mean to cut social welfare when the big boys are still getting away with it. We created enormous wealth in this country and the people who created it are now on the dole and having their allowances cut. The people who benefited from the wealth are not being taxed and are being allowed to get away with it.

I do not want to get into a slanging match with Deputy Gogarty but the green of the Green Party and the green of Fianna Fáil have bled into one another. They are all the one.

See this speech in context