Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with Deputy Joe Carey.

On the last point made, I am not sure Deputy Seamus Healy and I are discussing the same budget. I feel like I have come in here to talk about a different one altogether. When an untruth is said, it needs to be tackled. This ESRI uses a switch model that examines the fairness and social impact of any given budget. It is a model that works on a non-indexed basis. It was found that, under the social welfare package, the 20% who are least well off in society are the greatest beneficiaries of this budget. It is not the Government that is saying this; it is the ESRI.

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