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

There has been much talk and one would be forgiven for thinking that Europe is going to come to our rescue with a huge stimulus package. It is being presented that way. The Minister mentioned the MFF, the budget agreed in Europe last week, and while the figures for the billions that will be invested over that seven year period are great, if one peels off the layers one finds that the budget is reduced. It is an austerity budget. It is a budget that has been cut. If one looks more closely, one sees a 25% cut in the research and innovation fund, an 11% cut to rural development programmes, a 14% cut in health and consumer protection funding and a 9% cut in the Cohesion Fund. Germany is honest. It does not want to stimulate Europe. We need to be honest as well because many myths are being peddled. The budget the Minister said is part of a stimulus is actually a reduction in terms of the money that will be available with inflation added. Some individual measures are to be welcomed no doubt, but an austerity budget was signed off last week.

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