Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The budget and subsequent Finance Bill are discussed at a time when people should be able to see clearly where the priorities of any Government lie.This year thousands of workers and families throughout this State were desperately looking for a well-deserved and long-awaited break. They were looking for something, indeed anything, that would enable them to feel less worried about how they were going to meet the ever-increasing costs they face every week and every month, including the cost of higher rent, mortgages, childcare, health, education, travel, heating and, of course, insurance, with which the Minister of State will be familiar. They hoped that Brexit would not be used as an excuse to give them nothing again this year and to ask them to be resilient and to carry the burden for just one more year-----