Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)

Ba mhaith liom cúpla nóiméad eile. The reality is that the people who will be sacked are those who are supplying vital public services. The reality also is that despite the commitment to safeguard front line services, the scale of redundancies targeted and the overall reduction in key public services for budgetary reasons will mean it is inevitable that teachers and nurses will be among those who are sacrificed on the altar of austerity.

Sinn Féin opposes any attempt to downgrade the Irish language and the axing of capital projects such as metro north which will deliver real jobs and benefits to local areas. We cannot cut ourselves out of recession. We will fight any attempt to lower the standards of ordinary people. There is a better way. There is an alternative. Sinn Féin has articulated this way.

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