Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

There is a critical difference between Fine Gael and Labour on the balance between cuts in spending necessary to reach the 3% figure. Deputy Gilmore, told the Dáil on 28 October he believed roughly a 50:50 balance between taxation and spending cuts was needed in the national plan. Fine Gael suggests the ratio should be 3:1.

On property tax, about which Deputy Rabbitte was getting into a tizzwazz, Deputy Gilmore told "Morning Ireland" it would be perverse to ask people to pay a property tax. During the building boom he favoured cutting stamp duty. In its New Politics document Fine Gael proposes broadening the tax base, with which I agree.

Fine Gael also proposes introducing a modest water charge. Deputy Gilmore prevaricated on this and told the Irish Examiner he was against water charging as water is a necessity - talk about stating the obvious - and that a flat household charge would be unfair.

If his party rules out all of the basic points that his potential partners in Government are proposing, where does it leave this country in the period ahead? The reality is that the Labour Party has ducked and dodged, and has avoided making any coherent policy issues. It comes in here with the kind of trite nonsense we have heard for the last five minutes.

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