Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I sympathise with the Opposition. There comes an occasion when Opposition gets desperate in the face of a response from the Government to a pressing issue. There have been many pressing issues and many of them were attended to in the course of the recent budget in a progressive way and consciously on the basis that people needed a little assistance. It did not all come in one go. It came in a series of responses. It was well meant.

What is disingenuous though is when speakers on the Opposition side of the House - I like them by the way; they are very entertaining -

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