Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

-----to reach the targets set out in a budget that was his and no one else's. Society's weakest and most vulnerable camped outside Government Buildings overnight because of decisions he made or proposed to make. They depend on personal needs assistants. The airwaves were full of Government backbenchers who were rightly disgruntled and annoyed by the way the matter was handled.

The Minister mentioned cutting home help hours. Home help is keeping many people out of residential care and saving the State tens of millions of euro annually. Then he set a deadline for negotiations with consultants. Where exactly will the €200 million in savings be made, given that only the pay of new consultants will be reduced?

Once again, it is an easy target and sitting duck for the Government; it will attack new entrants and create a great disparity between them and existing staff.

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