asked the Minister for Finance the total amount of Government expenditure in 1956; and the estimated total Government expenditure for 1966.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Government Expenditure.
19.
The total amount of Government expenditure for the financial year 1956-57 was £162 million.
The estimated total Government expenditure for the financial year 1966-67 is £345 million.
Is the Minister aware that in 1956 Fianna Fáil stated that they would not increase taxation further? That statement was made by the ex-Taoiseach, and yet they have kept that promise by increasing taxation by over £2 million.
Is that the year in which you ran out of office—the year in which there were 96,000 people out of employment.
(Interruptions.)
This has nothing to do with the question.
It is a fact.
It is a fact all the same.
I was asking the Deputy if 1956 was the year in which 96,000 people were out of work.
You had 170,000 out in 1944.
The Deputy must have been vaccinated with a gramophone needle—a rusty one.