John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)

In the minds of the majority, the volume of election promises have not been kept. Where then is the honesty? They still see the banks and speculators sticking their two fingers up at society and walking away scot free. They see the rich becoming richer, as the statistics prove, but what about the poor? Some 650,000 people are on the poverty line, 210,000 of whom are children. These are the statistics provided by the Government, which it received from Social Justice Ireland a few weeks ago. However, the Government did not have the decency to get back to Social Justice Ireland on its budget submission.

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