Ivana Bacik (Independent)

——to express the view that cuts should be made in social welfare payments. What came to my mind on hearing this were the cuts called for last year by a certain senior banker, who subsequently resigned and fell from grace. He called for the abolition of free medical cards for people aged over 70 years and we have seen his fall from grace as a result. It is unjustified hubris for IBEC directors to make such calls. Perhaps we should have a debate on calls for cutbacks by people such as IBEC directors and bankers in terms of how justified they are.

On a day when we see on the front page of The Irish Examiner appalling pictures of people in Dublin queueing for food, we should reflect on the fact that those calls were unwise. I heard on radio on Sunday another IBEC director, not the one named by Senator Ross, whom I am happy to name——