Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)

The crisis we are in is the result of the Government's deeply flawed banking policy. What the Government is trying to do is turn a banking crisis into a sovereign debt crisis and it has been aided by its partners in the EU. All of this is about political choices. It is about having the political will to stand up and put ordinary people first. That is what the Government should be doing today and it is what Sinn Féin would do. Those on the Government benches know the budget will cause untold hardship for hundreds of thousands of people. It will mean little hope of economic recovery in the years ahead. It is a disaster for society and a disaster for the economy.

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