Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am not arguing with the OECD. The OECD report says that incomes rose last year but the cost of living rose faster. However, that was the first year where that was true since the crash about ten or 15 years ago. Under this Government and the previous one, almost every year, incomes have been rising faster than the cost of living and poverty rates have been falling. There was a significant setback last year because of international factors well beyond our control. We will be back on track this year. I expect that, this year, we will see incomes rise faster than inflation.

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