Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein)

Very simply, we have said it many times and it was made obvious in our pre-budget submission that there are options available. I will use the analogy of a lot of people eating a large amount of cake who are not paying their fair share. The Government could put a wealth tax on people, create a third rate of tax for people earning in excess of €100,000 and cut the level of pay of senior civil servants. The Minister for Health would prefer to leave the consultants on their current wages rather than tackle the issue. The Government should tackle real taxation issues and stop hammering rural people and those on lower incomes.