Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Sinn Féin representative today chooses to raise as the Leader’s question hardship on a family. I am quite prepared to address that. The hardship that families have endured in this country over the past few years would be a hell of a lot worse if this Government had pursued the daft economic policies that the Deputy’s party had recommended to us. Instead of now being out of the bailout and instead of jobs being created and of at least being able to say to hard-pressed families, as we do, that we are in a position to improve things, the Deputy’s party would have plunged those families into a second bailout with possible reductions in payments, through social welfare or wages, of up to 30%. That is what the Deputy’s party would have done.

The Sinn Féin memory is very short and very selective.

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