John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

We had to take those tough decisions because in the first place we had to deal with the public finances and the banking crisis. If one looks objectively at what has been achieved one will see that a great deal of work has been done to make this country a fairer place. First, we dealt with the tax system and restructured it. We also had to ensure we got to the tax exiles which is something that has not been done before. We had to ensure we cut off the tax loopholes. We had to introduce new taxes which should have been introduced many years ago, including taxes on second homes. This was never done before and we have done it. The record will show that.

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