David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)

There was also a good deal of public commentary by Fine Gael's public representatives during the course of the election campaign. We then had "It's Frankfurt's way or Labour's way" and all that nonsense, and that the money would not go into the banks. As I said numerous times, Deputy Eamon Gilmore at the time made a name for himself as the tough man taking on the Government and the banks and now he is signing off on the Anglo promissory note. That is the reality. People see that and they feel let down when they remember all those promises made.

I can give two clear examples of pre-election promises that were made by Senator Whelan's party, one of which was that child benefit would not be touched in any way and that there would not be any increases in college fees but what did we see in its very first budget? Child benefit was touched, so to speak, and college fees will increase this year, next year and the year after that. That is the reality.

People are tired of hearing the Government defend the indefensible when it comes to the banks. We are calling for a different approach because we recognise that the deficit must be reduced. We put forward our pre-budget proposals in that regard. For example, we want a 1% income link wealth tax. We want to standardise all tax reliefs. We want a third rate of tax of 48% on all income over €100,000, and much more. I cannot go through all of our proposals but-----