Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is important not to kid ourselves. These measures are a drop in the ocean compared to the pain inflicted on ordinary people today. That pain has been inflicted on top of successive budgets introduced by this Government last year and by Fianna Fáil in the years before. That pain has been inflicted on a certain group of low and middle income earners; they have been deliberately targeted.

A fair budget is not just about tackling high earners but instead it is about protecting people who cannot give any more. The Government has not done that. The Taoiseach and Tánaiste have made excuses about limited resources. It seems that is an excuse to make the wrong choices. In Sinn Féin we know this State is spending more than it takes in, and that has created a bill that must be reduced. Sinn Féin has sent proposals to the Government to achieve this, providing choices that added up to €3.5 billion and allowed for new money to spend on restoring and protecting the rights of children and families.

Inniu tá úinéirí tí buailte go holc ag an Aire leis an cháin mhaoine. Tá thar céad míle duine faoi ualach trom ag riaráistí morgáiste. Tá 1.8 milliún duine a bhfuil níos lú ná €100 cu ag deireadh na míosa. Ach tá an tAire i ndiaidh cáin éagórach a chur ar na teaghlaigh céanna seo. We asked the Government to choose a wealth tax instead of a family home tax. Fianna Fáil put the family home tax on the agenda, including it in a four-year plan even before the troika came. The party negotiated it into the memorandum of understanding and looked to include it in its last budget. The current Government did not have to run with that failed policy. This tax is a fiasco waiting to happen.

I will remind the Taoiseach of what he said in 1994 when he opposed the introduction of a family home tax. I invite him to repeat the words.

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