Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

All I said was that I saw that the indicative cost of the dinner was €500. In anybody's language that is a lot of money.

The situation regarding pensioners, those on low incomes or those dependent on social welfare income was a cornerstone of the budget for the first time in a series of budgets. The past six years have been a period of great difficulty for this country which the people of the country have bourne with enormous fortitude. I agree with the Deputy that it is has been difficult for them, but I am happy to say that for the first time in the budget there are cuts to the lower rates of USC, 80,000 people have been taken out of the USC system and we have a social welfare package which, in a month or so, will see the partial restoration of the Christmas bonus, something which was, rightly, much beloved of the people-----

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