Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the stimulus package announced by the Government today "lacks ambition". She said that Taoiseach Micheal Martin was in Europe this week, appealing for grants instead of loans for business, but this Government, with this plan, had favoured more loans and more debt over sufficient grant aid.
When you look at it in relation to other countries, "it's actually quite miserly", she said. Ms McDonald described the Stay and Spend scheme as "very unfair" as it would not include up to one million low-paid workers.
She said it was "cumbersome" and "clumsy". In many respects, she added, the package was very timid. Catherine Murphy, co-leader of the Social Democrats, said that the stimulus package must be about