Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I join with others in congratulating the Minister on his new role. I wish him well and look forward to working with him. I also extend best wishes to the Minister of State, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, in her promotion. I hope she has a fruitful career in the Department of Finance.

My question relates to choices that were made at budget time whereby a very substantial tax package benefited a small minority of taxpayers. A huge number of taxpayers did not get any benefit from it. That was a political choice the Government made and with which I disagreed strongly at the time. I made the case, as the Social Democrats always do, for greater investment in and better access to public services as a better way to spend money.

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