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At dawn they shot out of the traps and dispersed to the four corners of the media.
Enthusiastic ministers and a variety of energetic young men embarking on their financial tour, armed with a simple instruction: Sell, sell, sell! Quality doesn’t matter, ma’am. Feel the width.
The budget is not more important than this. The message was designed for consumption outside Leinster House, where Big Spender’s performance the day before at the Dublin Convention Center had a low-key impact on questions from post-budget leaders on Wednesday.
It has not been 24 hours since its announcement and the largest budget ever deserved a mention from the main opposition leader, Mary Lou McDonald, who focused on the most urgent and specific issue of legislation that interest groups and politicians The opposition fear it could lead to vital records related to the mother. houses for babies and children sealed for 30 years.
The Taoiseach shared his belief that “everyone in this House wants to see justice and truth for these women and children.” But Micheál Martin argued that the Minister for Children is “genuinely” introducing a bill to preserve “invaluable information” held by the Commission on Mother and Baby Homes that will soon be dissolved rather than “lost forever.”
It sounded like they were possibly singing from the hymn sheet, which would have been most unusual. Likely a side effect of post-budget burnout: in Micheál’s case, for foolishly dumping tons of money at government departments, and in Mary Lou’s case of blatantly claiming it was Sinn Féin’s idea to dump it in the first place.
Despite agreeing that this information should be available and protected in the public interest, the couple quickly discussed how it would be accomplished.
Fears that these important records will be put out of reach is “causing enormous alarm and discomfort” to survivors and families, said the Sinn Féin leader, suggesting there are “serious doubts” as to why Roderic O ‘Gorman is going ahead with the legislation.
The Taoiseach thought he was personalizing the matter. “I regret the degree to which you have criticized the Minister’s intentions and motivations, which are very sincere and heartfelt.” He did not want such a sensitive and important subject to become the subject of a Dáil dispute.
‘Tailor-made solution’
The minister, he explained, was looking for “an urgent tailored solution” to protect data before time runs out. But Mary Lou wasn’t convinced.
Similar concerns were raised in the Seanad about what might happen to this information. The Taoiseach was with his minister.
The bill was to provide “urgent and critical legal clarity” and was not an attempt to put any data out of reach. But while Mary Lou called for a cross-party effort to find a solution, Micheál was not impressed with the way she approached the issue on camera.
Even Mary Lou and her misplaced offense would have been pressured to divine aggression in the exchange
You have been attacking the good faith of the minister. Like, the Minister wants to help here. What you are doing is sensible and the right thing to do before the end of October, ”he said quietly, sounding very frustrated.
The Taoiseach, a puzzled image, addressed the Sinn Féin leader directly. He still didn’t raise his voice. “Can’t you see that? And I have no doubt that the Minister will speak to you. . . “He couldn’t finish the sentence before an acid response ran across the floor.
“You’re attacking me, actually,” declared Mary Lou.
Micheál looked puzzled. “I am not attacking you. I’m only saying if you want a crossover party. . . “
“Well, he’s being very aggressive and it’s completely unnecessary,” the Sinn Féin president snorted. The Taoiseach was puzzled. “I am not aggressive at all. I am not aggressive at all. I just say. . . “
Mary Lou McDonald believed otherwise. “Go back and hear it yourself,” she replied harshly. But her advice was aimed at the wrong person, she should have asked herself, because even Mary Lou and her misplaced offense would have been pressured into divine aggression in the exchange.
Public housing
The lack of budget support for public housing was raised by independent TD of Galway West Catherine Connolly, while another independent TD, Matt Shanahan of Waterford, drew attention to the lack of budget generosity going to his county.
Richard Boyd-Barrett of Solidarity – People Before Profit decided to leave his budget-related comments for later in the day so that he could keep the plight of the striking Debenhams workers on Dáil’s radar. A good decision because the regular schedule cleared and from 1 p.m. to midnight (or until everyone ran out of puffs) the Dáil heard nothing but statements about the Coalition’s epic pandemic draw.
Donnelly was full of promises and plans at his department’s post-budget briefing and can’t wait to start spending the money.
Paschal Donohoe and Michael McGrath, the two ministers responsible for opening the tax floodgates in an effort to prop up the Irish economy in the face of a twin onslaught from Covid and Brexit, spent most of the day doing media rounds with their budget baby. . The other members of the Cabinet took turns hosting news conferences at staggered intervals throughout the day, bragging about how much money they had pocketed for the big works they plan to do in the coming year.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly was particularly delighted. He has had a torrid few months since his appointment, but all that malaise seemed to have evaporated with the injection of an additional 4,000 million euros for his department. He was full of promises and plans at his department’s post-budget briefing and can’t wait to start spending the money.
“It’s the happiest he’s been since he got the job,” said one regular observer. “He’s probably already working on his next video for 100 Days of Triumph.” But if the government thought it could enjoy a bit of its unprecedented budget explosion, it was very wrong. Put aside by Covid and what restrictions could come next.
Biggest budget of all time and they didn’t even get the full day.
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