Mr. Tony Gallagher:

May I respond to that question? As I tried to say earlier, the opinion will be based on whether the draft budget is in line with the requirements of the Stability and Growth Pact and recommendations of the European semester before the budget is adopted. It does not give the Commission the power to change budgetary plans and they will not comment on the mix. The idea is that they want to inform the stakeholders at an early stage with information that will equip them in the course of the national budgetary process to make informed decisions. Deputy Donnelly said the proposals are an indictment of the Irish political system. They apply to everybody in the euro area and we signed up to this specifically under Article 136 of the Lisbon treaty.