Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I am simply setting the record straight because certain people in the House are trying to state it is something less than that. It was very important that we did that to give the type of leadership that the country needs and that is what we have attempted to show in this regard.

Certain Members have criticised us for making these choices. It was not a case of trying to generate more in revenue and therefore we could cut back on expenditure. In attempting to take out €4 billion from Exchequer spending, it had to come from our expenditure.

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