Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

The Tánaiste said the Government supported Cyprus in its hour of need. Would it not be true to say the situation was that the Government supported Cyprus as a scaffold supports an unfortunate about the hanged? That was the extent of the solidarity. Why did the Government, through the Minister for Finance, support the initial proposal to reach into the bank accounts of low and middle income workers literally to steal the widow's mite? Does the Tánaiste now disassociate himself from that policy and from the statement by the Government that this was a positive development for Cyprus, the eurozone as a whole and Ireland?

If he does disassociate himself from it, will he follow it through and instruct the Revenue Commissioners not to reach into the bank accounts and the wages of workers on behalf of the Government's new austerity property tax? Is it not the case that the Tánaiste left the people of Cyprus to the wolves just as he prostrates himself in front of the financial markets in implementing their policies in this country to the detriment of our people?

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