Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

They did not promise people they would implement these taxes. Deputy Gilmore promised "Frankfurt's way or Labour's way". Angela Merkel's way has stepped forward.

At the end of the day, we have policies rather than the fairytales the Government has made up. The legislation attempts to reverse this unfair tax. People who deal with poverty every day of the week are saying the Government has made the situation worse for people on low and middle incomes. The Government has mishandled the introduction of the tax and it will not alleviate the suffering people are experiencing. It will not help people in local authority areas who want more services. The Government parties need to ask themselves what are the alternatives. Sinn Féin has suggested alternatives.

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