Matt Carthy

So let's be very clear.

Fianna Gael promised in black and white in their manifesto before the last election that there would be tax cuts every single year in every single budget.

And in last year's budget, instead, what happened was that working people's lives were made more difficult because they were made worse off as a result of the budget that was brought in.

brought forward by Fianna Gael and Fianna Fáil.

So the truth of the matter is that people are in a cost of living crisis.

I actually think it's bizarre that we're talking about next year's budget when people are struggling in the here and now.

I meet workers and families who are telling me they can't even afford to drive to work.

So we need measures in terms of supports.

What Sinn Féin have advocated in terms of tax packages is that we have to ensure that everybody benefits.

So what we have suggested, and I think it's the fair proposition, is that the 45,000 euro of everybody's income is exempt from the USC.

That's the type of measures that actually help everybody rather than measures that will only help the very wealthiest and so on.

Well, the difficulty is that people are under severe, severe pressure.

I don't think that there's a realisation, certainly within government buildings, of just how hard-pressed people are.

Well, if there was that realisation, then you would be moving much faster and much more comprehensively than you already are, John, because the truth of the matter is, as a result of last year's budget,

No tax package.

So that meant, in effect, people's wages were decreased when you take into account inflation.

College fees increased.

Fuel increased.

Rents increased.

These were all measures that this government made.