Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)

We in Sinn Féin put down a Private Members' motion yesterday to scrap the universal social charge and replace it with the system that was in existence prior to the December budget. Everybody on that side, including Labour Party Members, voted to keep it there. They voted to keep the tax on the working poor. It would cost €420 million to revert to the old system. That is a great deal of money but it is a pittance compared to the money the Government has announced today that it will inject into these defunct banks.

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