John Gilroy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am concerned at the tone of the debate in that the Opposition is clearly portraying that the right thing to do is to vote against the Bill. The right thing to do is the difficult thing. Previous Governments in the 1980s, including Governments of which the Labour Party and Fine Gael were part, failed to make difficult decisions, thereby extending the period of recession to the great detriment of the country. The Government has had to make some awful decisions in the budget. It has no choice but to do this and it will be for the best. I will have a great deal more to say on particular issues on Committee Stage.