Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)

There were choices to be made this week and my party's pre-budget submission set them out. Our submission chose not to go after ordinary families but to invest in growth and jobs. It chose to cut the high earners in the public sector and tax those who could afford it. The Government claims it could not have implemented such choices but that is untrue. Members of my party have met representatives of the troika and they told us they would accept such choices as long as the main budgetary targets are met.

All of these choices damage the economy and will damage people's families. Last night a homeless man was found dead in Dublin and it is suspected he died from hypothermia. Does that move the Taoiseach? He is a member of a Government that allows people to die of cold on the streets. Every year after the budget, since I have been elected to the Seanad and Dáil, I leave Leinster House by the Kildare Street entrance. Every Deputy and Senator will know there are two places where homeless people sleep that are within sight of the plinth. I walk past those homeless people and wonder if the budget has changed their life in any way. The answer is always "No".

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