Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will take that reply as a long-winded "No". The Minister could just have said, "No". If he had just had said "No", at least we would have the clarification that he had heard my question and also that he had heard the voices of the people. They want the certainty and simplicity of the abolition of these charges. People want the certainty and simplicity of knowing that when they turn out in their tens of thousands in the middle of the week, on a working day, two weeks out from Christmas, in the freezing cold and give the Minister a certain and simple message, that he will certainly and simply hear it and that he will certainly and simply respond to it.

The Minister's answer is "No". He is hell-bent on these charges, hell-bent on them in the full knowledge of the widespread public dissent and in the secure knowledge that so many people cannot pay them, that this will be the straw that breaks the camel's back and sinks these families into real financial difficulty and, indeed, poverty. Búla bos for the Minister and for his Labour Party colleagues.

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