David Norris (Independent)

The impression has been given by the Government side that it is merely the Labour Party which takes offence at these miserable, wretched and unutterably mean cuts. It is not. It is this entire side of the House plus The Irish Times which in an editorial on Saturday outlined its position under the headline "Aiming the cuts at the weakest" as follows:

The Estimates for 2004 make grim reading for anyone with a social conscience. The coalition Government is presiding over an outrageous assault on the living standards of the most vulnerable and impoverished sections of our society, as an alternative to higher income tax or more extensive borrowing.

Those unfortunate people who saw the fruits of the so-called Celtic tiger pass them by will be forced into even greater poverty.

The Irish Examiner published the headline "McCreevy's plans to hit the vulnerable". As has already been quoted by a colleague on this side, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, which should certainly be seen as politically neutral, has said these cuts are wretched and will cause misery for many.

The amounts involved are comparatively small. That is certain in light of the fact that Senator Mansergh told the House with gay abandon this morning that €310 million was negligible and a mere bagatelle. If the Government feels like that, it should put the money back into the pockets of the poor from whom they filched it. Punchestown has been invoked, but this issue is greater than that. A large proportion of the 100 wealthiest individuals in this country pay no income tax at all because they have good accountants. We should forget Punchestown and look at the fact that bloodstock breeders pay no tax on stud fees which often run to tens of millions of euro. Despite this, the Government is taking away assistance in drugs, hospitals and back to education schemes. The Government is hitting the people who already cannot afford to have a decent life and are trying to do something with the help of social benefits. Of course, scroungers should be got rid of, but their number is pathetically small.