Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to continue in the same vein because the people are bewildered and are becoming more so by the hour. After all of the Government's bluster, reports and examinations, eight times fewer people will be exempt from the property tax this year. I can only speak for south Tipperary, where none of the unfinished estates has been completed. We did not get enough money from the Government even to put up hoardings around them to make them safe. This is a total farce.

People are reading this morning that if they are struggling with their mortgages, they will have to give up their health cover and their second car in order to do a deal with their bank. People are hearing that the lenders are going to get tough.

The Minister for Finance chaired an EU meeting last week concerning the situation in Cyprus and we saw how uncaring the response was. The Cypriots are standing up-----

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