Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)

The Minister, Deputy Howlin, told the House the advice from the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council is independent and will be weighed up. The Minister, Deputy Noonan, has already accepted at least one piece of its independent advice, namely that the extent of the cuts should be ratcheted up to €4 billion in the forthcoming budget. As the Minister weighs up this matter, do the social costs of this type of brutal austerity feature in his thinking on the comprehensive spending review? The Minister's colleagues on the Government benches skulked in here last night and refused to support the community and voluntary sector.

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