Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

There cannot be any social services or nurses, teachers and fire service personnel in their posts unless we get the economy right. I do not think it is fully understood how grave the situation was when this Government took over. We were on the edge of the abyss. That is how serious it was at the time. Deputy McGrath referred to Cyprus and what is playing out there at the moment. I could not believe my eyes when I saw the leader of Fianna Fáil on television last night, standing on the plinth and talking about what the Euro group ought to have done in the case of Cyprus, in the context of the proposal with regard to private bank accounts. He seems to have forgotten that his Government gave away the National Pensions Reserve Fund when the troika came in here. Fianna Fáil gave away the National Pensions Reserve Fund. Deputy Martin's party gave away the Irish people's future pensions-----

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