‘Seemingly small cuts have a shattering effect on people’

Independent TDs accused the Coalition of attacking the old, the sick and the young while corporate profits and the wealthy are protected.

Budget measures for 2014 came under fire amid calls for a wealth tax and an emergency public works building programme.

The United Left Alliance leader Richard Boyd Barrett questioned the cuts in the €2.5bn budget, including the abolition of the €114 phone allowance for the elderly and the changes in the income threshold for medical cards.