Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

With every budget this Government has passed, it has made Ireland a more unequal place. Fine Gael and the Labour Party seem intent on creating deeper and deeper divisions in society. The way the Government targeted lone parents, women and the elderly will live long in the memory. This Government does not like independent analysis very much, but the analysis of the Government's approach to its last four budgets has been very clear. The first three austerity budgets were found to be regressive, placing the greatest burden on those least able to carry it. Last year's budget was the first in seven years where there was scope to give something back and, incredibly, it resulted in the bottom 10% of households in income terms losing the most and the top 10% gaining the most. I have no doubt that when an objective analysis is done, this budget will be deemed to have had the same effect. Against all of that, one would have to wonder what is the point of having the Labour Party in government at all.

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