Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

Let us be clear about this matter and engage in a civilised debate about it. During the decade to which I refer, demands that were made in this House in respect of increased spending in a range of areas, capital and current, are there for all to see. What those demands reflected were the raised expectations of our people who saw, for the first time, a country that had finally come to grips with the historic problems of under-employment and under-investment.

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