Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

There is talk of downsizing the public sector by a further 6% through renegotiating the Croke Park agreement. Through my business I have a number of units in the city centre. Every time a public sector job goes, there is less money in the pockets of people passing the doors of retail units. The biggest problem today in the retail sector is a lack of sufficient money in the pockets of the people who walk the streets. Every cent the Government takes has a counterproductive effect. As with other countries, this State borrowed so much for the banking sector. I made the point yesterday that the Americans borrowed $700 billion to invest into the banks on the basis that it would go towards helping people with mortgage difficulty and repossessions. Less than 1% of it went towards that - $4 billion out of €700 billion. We have had the same problem here with loans of more than €60 billion gone to banks. There is a good argument that giving money to the people who will spend it because they have no choice makes the economy healthier in the long term.

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