Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

It is appropriate to reiterate that the Government had trebled the amount of expenditure on social welfare. It has moved from a level of expenditure of €6.7 billion in 2000 to €20.9 billion. It is a bit precious of the deputy leader of Fine Gael to come forward with his new found empathy for those who are less well off.

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