John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Taoiseach for his compassionate reply. This is inevitable under the present economic circumstances, with the hardship that hundreds of thousands of people are feeling. My worry is, as it has always been, and I have spoken about this in regard to many issues at public meetings, that somebody might go to the end because they are at the end of their tether with regard to how they are being treated and dealt with - people on unemployment benefit, people on disability and people without mobility. This is my worry. Many of us in this Chamber would not wish that to be the case and, as I said, a number of Deputies met this man and urged him not to do this, and it is not what I would want him to do. However, the harsh reality of everyday life in Ireland today is that people have come to the bridge and they are at the end of their tether. I believe it is inevitable that, if this ongoing economic crisis continues, where we continue to allow almost 700,000 people to live in poverty and abandon half the population-----

See this speech in context