Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Government is throwing money at the problem in the hope that it goes away but it will not, as we have learned from the past. The problems we have in this country are systemic and this budget lacks the ambition to drive real and meaningful change. Most of the measures are reheated, half-baked or will simply not be enough to help people. The wealth divide in this country is growing. We have a multi-track economy and it is breaking up the social contract. That is why so many people are angry and despondent. Parents are afraid of losing their children to emigration or if their children stay here, they are afraid they will become a part of a lost generation of people who are unable to fulfil their potential, to live their lives in security or to achieve what they deserve to achieve. People see reports about Ireland's booming economy and bulging surpluses but feel completely disconnected from them. They feel left behind, disenfranchised and marginalised. That is my experience. It is what I and my Labour Party colleagues are seeing in our constituencies. The gap between the have-lots, the have-somes and have-nots is copper-fastened by this budget. We need to close the gap. The reality is that those on the side of the better-off got more than they expected from this budget and those of us on the side of the many got less than we need to survive and thrive. They have been left behind.

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