The Transport Minister says he’s had the most harrowing six weeks of his life, deciding where the axe would fall in budget cutbacks.

He says he understands that public sector workers are annoyed by what happened yesterday, but he says everyone has been badly hit in the past 18 months.

The Dail is set to debate the social welfare cuts included in Budget 2010 later this morning.

Minister Dempsey told Breakfast here on Newstalk the process of making the cuts has taken its toll on him too.

“I haven’t spent a more harrowing six weeks in my life, going through Hobson’s Choice basically” he said.

“Certainly there are people who have been hit, people who have been affected – but there’s 165,000 people extra on the dole queues from the private sector; they haven’t the cushion of a certain job” he added.