Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)

——nobody has contributed more, across all of the headings Senator Twomey mentioned, than Fianna Fáil in Government since the foundation of the State. That is a fact. It may be a painful one when one is sitting on the Opposition benches but it is a fact nevertheless. It pains me to hear Deputy Twomey pour water on the significant increases, in what are difficult international and national circumstances, in social welfare payments. It must be remembered that the only innovation on the part of this Opposition in Government, when the chips were down in the past, was to introduce VAT on children's shoes for fear that women might have small feet.