Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

One of the mistakes made was thankfully reversed and the thresholds were at €1,400 and €700. I quoted the "shame on you" declaration of the then Deputy Enda Kenny and the whine about the contribution made by the people who built the nation by the then Deputy James Reilly, as well as the rhetoric from the then Deputy Gilmore. They spoke about their difficulties at the time with what were much more generous criteria than we have here.

The Minister of State did not manage to see the Fianna Fáil pre-budget submission concerning the 3% proposal for those on over €100,000. It was part of his own party's proposal behind the scenes, but they did not manage to get it across the line.