Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Earlier the Taoiseach attacked people who opposed the plan. No one opposed the plan more persistently and consistently than the Taoiseach himself, the previous Tánaiste and the current Tánaiste. They voted against large measures of the plan for which they subsequently claimed credit. However, Fine Gael and the Labour Party did begin one decisive shift in policy. They have made taxation and public spending significantly more regressive. They have repeatedly ignored ability to pay when imposing taxes and charges and they have targeted cutbacks on the weakest sections of the community.

As every independent study has shown, the budgets introduced by my late colleague, Brian Lenihan, were ones where the wealthiest bore the biggest burden. As every independent study has also confirmed, Fine Gael and the Labour Party have implemented four budgets out of four where struggling families have borne the biggest burden.

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