Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge that the budgetary process has significantly improved, certainly in the three years since I have been in the Dáil. However, I ask that the Minister answer the specific question because it would be incredibly useful both for public consideration and for Dáil Éireann's consideration. Of course crisis budgets are different from steady-state budgets. None the less, it is probably more important in a crisis than at any other time, because very tough decisions are being made, to know if particular groups - whether males, females, different age groups or people along the income spectrum - are being asked be asked to carry a disproportionate share of the pain of the correction. Some of the budgets since the crisis have been unbalanced in asking certain groups, particularly lower-income groups and especially sub-groups such as lone parents, to bear an unreasonable share of the correction. It would be an incredibly healthy thing for parliamentary democracy and for the socioeconomic effects of the budgets if we knew on the day the budget was released the proposed distribution of the pain of the correction.

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