Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Why does the Government keep going back into the pockets of the ordinary citizens of Ireland instead of going after the banking classes and the people who made money during the bubble? We do not see any of these people being taxed. Why has the Government not implemented the wealth tax, as the Sinn Féin Party has suggested? The Members opposite know quite well that if they are calling our economic policies laughable, they are casting aspersions on the figures that have been given by the Department of Finance. Every single element in the Sinn Féin pre-budget submission was costed by the Department of Finance. All of our measures were implementable but the bottom line is that we have had conservative government going bing and bong, both the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael parties have engaged in party political politics since the State was set up. This has maintained the status quoand kept certain classes in power in the banks and in all strata of Irish society. Certain classes have always pulled together in times of crisis and have looked after their own and have made the citizens pay when the charges come in.