Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

The jobs initiative was about giving the €30 million to beef up the amount of money on these schemes. Fair enough, last year the Government did that. However, given all the three card tricks that go on in the Department of Finance, although the €30 million is to come from the system again this year I notice the figure for spending has gone back to the initial figure of last year, more or less. What the Government is doing, therefore, is taking the €30 million and putting it into the Exchequer. That is the usual three card trick the Department of Finance plays. It says it will get extra revenue and provide it for something in particular. It does that the first year but the second year it cuts the amount from the Exchequer and the money raised becomes a tax like every other tax.

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