The 2010 Budget was described by commentators in Ireland and around the world in unusually harsh terms as €4 billion was removed from the country's national deficit.
The post-budget debate was interrupted by a famous use of unparliamentary language by Green Party TD Paul Gogarty, an example which attracted international attention.
[8] Taoiseach Brian Cowen said the Government would "do whatever was necessary to stabilise the deficit" and that "a job needed to be done", whilst maintaining that the Budget was "well received".
[9] Fine Gael's Richard Bruton responded to Brian Lenihan's claim that "the worst is over" by comparing the statement to former U.S. President George W. Bush declaring "mission accomplished" on the Iraq War in 2003.
[10] His colleague Alan Shatter accused the Government of buying off children with alcohol: "Forget the food and milk — let them drink beer", describing it as being from "the Marie Antoinette school of politics" and asking "which comedian was employed to author this bizarre document".
[11] The Labour Party's Joan Burton described it as "a sort of Top Gear lads Budget" with cheaper alcohol and cars being made available.
[11] Sinn Féin's leader in the Dáil Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin described anyone who had constructed Budget 2010 as "economically illiterate".
[11] ICTU General Secretary David Begg was "shocked", claiming the Budget would cause Ireland's economy to fall further into recession.
[12] IBEC Director General Danny McCoy described the Budget as "a turning point" and one which would place Ireland "on a sustainable path".
[12][13] The Irish Nurses Organisation described the public servant pay decrease as "grossly unfair, short-sighted, damaging and provocative" and would lead to "grave hardship".
[12] The Irish Hospital Consultants Association later revealed its willingness to agree 15% pay cut announced by the Finance Minister for its members in his Budget 2010.
[12] Drinks Industry Group of Ireland Chairman Kieran Tobin said reductions on the cost of alcohol would be "a great relief" and would "repatriate some of the revenue currently being lost to cross-border trade".
[17] Global investors approved the measures introduced by Brian Lenihan, with Irish government bonds receiving a boost following the Budget.
[6] Former RTÉ Economics Correspondent turned Fine Gael TD George Lee gave his view in the Galway Independent the following week under the headline: "not fair, not clever and not going to fix economy".
[19][20] Attempts by the government to quickly legalise the Social Welfare Bill proposed in the Budget before the weekend were met with disapproval from the Opposition.
[21] Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore suggested the Government would "round up its six strays and get here this evening to vote on the measure", in a thinly veiled reference to supporting Independents as well as those within Fianna Fáil who had lost the whip.
[3][26][27][28][29][30] Fine Gael Senator Frances Fitzgerald remarked, "If only Paul Gogarty got as upset about carers, blind pensioners and dole recipients as he does about perceived slights to his ego.
[22] Ceann Comhairle Séamus Kirk, requesting the need for "decent standards", sent the expletives to the Dáil Committee on Procedure and Privileges.
[25] It was discovered that "fuck" was not actually contained alongside such terms as "brat"; "buffoon"; "communist"; "coward"; "fascist"; "guttersnipe"; "hypocrite"; "rat"; "scumbag"; "scurrilous" and "yahoo" in Salient Rulings of the Chair, an 83-page document governing parliamentary language.