Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The conclusion from the Department is startlingly obvious: the more one earns, the more one gains, while the less one earns, the less one gains. I suggest to the Minister that this is as a direct result of all of the regressive budgets introduced by the Government. Is she aware that in countries which also had to impose austerity such as Poland, the statistics show an entirely different result? It was possible to impose austerity but to make different choices in order that one in 12 children in this country would not be living in consistent poverty. Does the Minister agree with me?

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