Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

Thankfully, we still have a situation where the prospects for growth next year will help us if we make the correction, as set out in the programme that has been agreed with the European institutions and the IMF, and proceed with it. We can bring unemployment down under 10% in the next few years. If we proceed on another tack, that of the Labour Party's point of view, which is not to proceed with the correction to the extent we suggest, it will not breathe confidence into the economy. Instead, it will do the opposite. The important point to make about the Labour Party's proposals is that it suggests we would have an adjustment of €4.5 billion next year, €2.5 billion of which would be raised through taxes, €900 billion on programme expenditure cuts, €400 million on reductions in public sector pay and €1.3 billion on capital programme cuts-----

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