Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)

They wanted to speak to them. Do they know their message? It was that Fine Gael and the Labour Party should keep their promise. It seems their call has fallen on deaf ears.

Not only are cuts in education unacceptable, they fly in the face of any prospect for the knowledge economy we need to build to help us recover. In other jurisdictions faced with recession a conscious decision is taken to ensure full education and training is supported. This is a choice and the Government has chosen not to tax high earners or wealth and not to go after high-rollers. Instead it is going after children's education. These are the wrong choices not only for the short term, but for the long term.

Cuts in health will amount to more than €543 million. We must remember this is on top of a €1 billion cut inflicted on these services in 2011. There is no doubt savings can be made-----

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