Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

-----which is how it should be. It is objectively regarded as a progressive taxation system. The Deputy referred to performance and productivity and I am a strong admirer of the Irish public service and have been for a long time. That is notwithstanding weaknesses, flaws and uneven performance at times but if one looks at the evolution of the Irish State over the last 50 or 60 years or even from its foundation, one has to objectively say that the country has made a lot of progress. Some 100 years on from 1922 survival rates in health have dramatically improved and we have gained 25 years in lifespan over that 100 years. In the past 20 years, survival from cardiovascular disease have dramatically improved. Survival from cancer, on foot of oncology, has dramatically improved. National accident strategies have dramatically lowered rates of mortality on our roads and in workplaces-----

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