Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2025-11-26
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Ivana Bacik (LAB), Dublin Bay South

I was genuinely taken by surprise yesterday when the Taoiseach was not here. However, I said it was a nice surprise to see the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, taking his place.
I stand over what I say. Prudence is not being miserly. It is spending responsibly. It is about responsible spending. We are told that one of the Tánaiste's first meetings last week as the new Minister for Finance was with IFAC. The question is if he learned anything from this. What we have seen are persistent delays in producing a medium-term spending framework. The Taoiseach has said, as has the Tánaiste, that it will be produced by the end of this year, I think. The Taoiseach might clarify that. However, there has been a huge delay because that was supposed to happen after the last election. We are also seeing a dipping into windfall corporation tax jackpots to lavish cash on burger barons and big builders. The Labour Party stood against that VAT cut. We stood against a narrowing of the tax base. We supported Government on the legislation setting up rainy day funds. We cannot be accused of being profligate, but we are asking the Government to be more prudent.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2025-11-26/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:22+00:00
Sitting date: 2025-11-26