Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the budget. The Minister of State indicated that ¤24 billion has already been taken out of our economy. I sat where Senator Michael D'Arcy now sits while ¤20 billion of that adjustment was being made and I had to defend the measures that were announced. I know how difficult that position can be. However, I found it a walk in the park to defend some of those cuts when compared with the some of the inhuman approach taken in this budget.