Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

What the Tánaiste is engaged in is Bertienomics. He is trying to convince people that the Government can cut their taxes, tinker around with public services and it will all be fine. What the Labour Party has suggested is that there should not be tax cuts. The Tánaiste may think that is an easy thing for an Opposition party to say but it is not. We are telling the people of Ireland straight that if they want to have a proper decrease in their cost of living, the State should provide it and we should not wait for the market to provide solutions on rent or on childcare, and we should not be married to the market as much as this Government. We believe in direct State investment and support. This Government will not introduce a rent freeze. It just will not do it. It will not support a proper publicly funded childcare system, as in every other European country. People in Northern Ireland do not have to pay for schoolbooks or for GP visits but this Government does not have the same vision for citizens in this part of the island.

What we in the Labour Party are saying is that we do not want play cheap politics. We do not want to do the auction stuff on tax cuts. We believe in State intervention. What the Tánaiste is trying to do is make cheap political jibes while people are battling for bread, milk and butter.

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